2018年CRI African scholar: study experience helps demystify China

 

A young African scholar, who has studied in China, is suggesting her China experience enables her to demystify China to African people.

"Hello everyone. My name is Wa Yuhua. I graduated from Peking University in 2017 and now work in South Africa."

25 year-old Wadeisor Rukado is one of the first group of students that were enrolled¹ in the Yenching Academy of Peking University, one of China's top universities.

She was among the four African students that were admitted to the academy in 2015, learning China's language and culture for two years.

Wadeisor admits she knew little about China before she began her studies.

She says the opportunity to study at the Yenching Academy opened her eyes to China.

"One of the objectives² of the program is to build young scholars from around the world who could act as bridge between where they come from and China. And I think the opportunity has completely allowed me to do that. The strongest lesson was to realize how important it is to understand and learn about China as an African who cares about African development."

In the wake of her two-year stay in China, Wadeisor has become the one to demystify China to her friends and family.

And she suggests more and more African people should be following in her footsteps.

"China is incredibly exciting. I think that more people need to put themselves out there to try and get a China experience, whether it's learning about the incredible³ Chinese History, experiencing Chinese food, Chinese ways of thinking about development as well, which are quite influential⁴ at the moment as African people try to develop their own ways of industrializing, developing and moving into the fourth industrial revolution. I think more African people need to make efforts to understand Chinese people, either in their countries or in China, in order to be able to better engage with them going forward."

Wadeisor says she is one of those who have and are benefiting from the increasing people-to-people exchanges between China and Africa.

She's calling on more to be done to increase engagement⁵ between the two sides.

"I do believe it's an important aspect of China Africa relations for both china and African countries to focus on because if people don't understand each other we can't say we've got all the wonderful things happening on the state level."

She says one of the ways to increase inter-personal exchanges is to develop more academic links, which she says she believes is becoming a more popular option for African students, rather than the UK or the United States.

"In my opinion, the US and the UK options are comfortable, very similar to the education that might get here in terms of the Eurocentricness approaches. I think a China experience is really what will distinguish⁶ my generation from the previous generations. People who are interested in knowing about the world who go to China and who don't go to China."

Inter-personal exchanges are expected to be one of a leading discussion topic at the forthcoming⁷ BRICS summit⁸ here in South Africa this week.

1 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 objectives   

n.目标( objective的名词复数 )；[光学]（望远镜、显微镜、照相机及其他光学仪器上的）物镜；[语法学]1)。 宾语 2)。 宾格；[军事]出击目标

参考例句：

• Our objectives need to be precisely delineated. 我们的目标需详细解释清楚。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives. 要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

4 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

5 engagement   

n.订婚，婚约，约定，约会

参考例句：

• I can't see you on Monday because I have a previous engagement.星期一我不能见你，因为我有约在先。
• It was my mother's very own engagement ring.这正是我母亲自己的订婚戒指。

6 distinguish   

vt.区别，辩明，识别，辨认出；vi.区别，辨别，识别

参考例句：

• It is not easy to distinguish cultured pearls from genuine pearls.辨别真正的珍珠与养殖的珍珠不容易。
• Some people find it difficult to distinguish right from wrong.一些人认为很难辨对与错。

7 forthcoming   

adj.即将到来的，可得到的，乐于提供消息的

参考例句：

• He gave me a list of their forthcoming books.他给了我一张他们即将出版图书的目录。
• Her letter may purport her forthcoming arrival.她的来信可能意味着她快要到了。

8 summit   

n.最高点，峰顶；最高级会议；极点

参考例句：

• They climbed up the mountain and reached the summit.他们爬山，最终达到了山顶。
• The summit of the mountain is lost in the cloud and mist.山顶隐没在云雾之中。