Feature: From curiosity to love, a Cameroonian devoted to Chinese teaching

Nama Didier never expects he could go this far in Chinese study when he decided to attend a Chinese language class 7 years ago.

He is the first local Chinese teacher in far north region of Cameroon, and the first Cameroonian who got Confucius China Studies Program scholarship to do his doctor's degree in Beijing.

"There were two reasons for me to study Chinese at that time. One was for curiosity, the other was I can become a civil servant after graduating from the school," he said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Graduating from Yaounde University II Law School in 2008, Didier heard Higher Normal School of Maroua University opened a Chinese department, and he enrolled himself as one of the first 14 students in the school.

Didier knew nothing of Chinese language and knew very little of China before he studied Chinese in the school, but after three months of studying, he is fascinated by the oriental language and culture.

"Chinese language is so fantastic, no language in the world can compare with Chinese language, the more I study, the more I like it," he said.

"I told myself I will promote Chinese learning in Cameroon, train more local teachers who can teach Chinese in Cameroonian middle and primary schools."

Didier's remarkable performance in Chinese learning won him a Confucius Institute scholarship in 2011 to study in Zhe Jiang Normal University. After 4 years, Didier got two masters' degree: one education and the other translation.

During Didier's study in Zhe Jiang Normal University, he edited with the help of Chinese classmates and teachers a series of Chinese learning books which have been chosen by Cameroonian Education Ministry as Chinese learning books used in public middle schools.

Didier spends at least 2 hours a day reading Chinese books, for he knows "the level of a teacher must be at least 5 times higher than the students, so I must study harder than students."

Didier will go to Beijing Language University to pursue his doctor's degree in September this year, but he will teach Chinese in Higher Normal School of Maroua University for two months every year during his study in China.

Most of the graduates from the Chinese Department of Higher Normal School are teaching Chinese in the public middle schools of Cameroon. According to the Chinese Director Yu Guoyang of Yaounde University II Confucius Institute, around 50 public middle schools have opened the class of Chinese studying.

The Confucius Institute was established in 2007 between Zhe Jiang Normal University and Yaounde University II. Yu said the number of students learning Chinese in the institute will reach 10,000 this year. Endit