In a classroom at the East China Normal University (ECNU), teacher Zhang is speaking in Putonghua about fruit with her four foreign students. "What fruit do we usually see at supermarkets?" she asks. The students respond slowly with the standard Chinese words for watermelon, banana, grape …

"Carrot?" a student asks. "That's a vegetable, not fruit," his classmate, Arif Gunawan, responds. Gunawan is an astute student. He also happens to be a consul from the Indonesian Consulate General in Shanghai.

Early this April, Gunawan participated in the two-month Diplomats' Program, a sub-program under the Shanghai Summer School (3S) Program sponsored by the Shanghai government. The 3S Program consists of more than 20 sub-programs which offer foreigners in Shanghai free Chinese language and culture lessons.

Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.

Including Gunawan, 55 officers from 28 consulates in Shanghai became students of the Diplomats' Program this year. Twice a week they gathered at the ECNU, taking a three-hour language class after work.

"Before the classes began, we tested them on their oral Chinese, then divided them up into five different classes according to their language ability," said Zhang Lu, a director with the ECNU's Global Education Center.

Zhang taught the program's upper-intermediate class. "In my class most students have already learned some Chinese, and they can communicate with people using simple words," Zhang told the Global Times, adding that she tried to teach her students more practical conversations. "Such as making a hotel reservation, interviewing a job candidate, making a speech at banquet - all these can be used in their daily lives."

ECNU started holding the Diplomats' Program in 2011. Among the 160 or so officers from 42 consulates who have participated in this program over the past five years, some have enrolled more than once. "Every year we see a few familiar faces," Zhang smiled. "The program is so popular that we must regulate that each officer can attend no more than thrice."

This was the second time that Gunawan participated in this program. Two years ago he registered for the courses on his consulate's recommendation six months after he first arrived in Shanghai.

Though he had learned some Chinese while working in Guangdong Province, Gunawan did not think that the language was easy. "Especially the writing part, I think it is more difficult than speaking," he added. "But my teacher taught us in a simple way that is very easy to understand."

Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.

That evening, while the upper-intermediate students were practicing daily conversations, the advanced class was learning something a bit more challenging - Chinese rhetoric, similes and idioms.

"Have you heard of the Chinese saying 'someone looks like an ant on a hot pan?'" their teacher surnamed Jin asked. "No, but I can imagine how worried that ant must be," a student named Michael Mangelson joked. This class clown also happens to be an officer with the US Consulate General in Shanghai.

Mangelson speaks fluent Chinese. Prior to coming to China he studied the language in college in the US, followed years later by a study abroad program at Nanjing University in Jiangsu Province. The ECNU program will help him perfect his nearly flawless Putonghua.

"The teachers engage us in discussions about China's major policies and social phenomena, such as its one-child policy or the aging population, and we try to use the new words we learned," Mangelson said. "We are from all around the world, so it's interesting to hear everybody's perspective."

Jin praised her students. "They have good language basis, rich knowledge and broad experience, which made our group discussions very interesting and thought-provoking."

For Mangelson, Gunawan and other participants, taking a three-hour language class after a long day of busy work is a sacrifice of some much-needed downtime, but they consider it an investment in their careers here in China.

"At first I was reluctant, but I'm glad that I finally made the decision to it," Mangelson told the Global Times. "Through this program I improved my ability to speak the language, and also made good friends with my teacher and classmates."

Students and teacher Zhang Lu in class Photo: Huang Lanlan/GT

Students and teacher Zhang Lu in class Photo: Huang Lanlan/GT

Students and teacher Zhang Lu in class Photo: Huang Lanlan/GT

Students and teacher Zhang Lu in class Photo: Huang Lanlan/GT

Students and teacher Zhang Lu in class Photo: Huang Lanlan/GT

Michael Mangelson, an officer with the US Consulate General in Shanghai, studies his lessons. Photo: Huang Lanlan/GT