A foreign student showcases her graduation certificate at the Taiyuan University of Science and Technology in North China's Shanxi Province in 2018. Photo: VCG

A short Chinese essay written by a foreign student in China Photo: VCG

Remedan Alemar, 24, is busy interacting with Ethiopian and Chinese coworkers at a landmark construction project site in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Alemar, who is one of the many young Ethiopians who make their living out of interpreting Chinese into Amharic, Ethiopia's working language, facilitates the working procedure at the project site, eventually bridging the communication gap often witnessed across foreign-contracted projects in the country.

The young Chinese-Amharic interpreter earned his bachelor's degree from Taiyuan University of Science and Technology in North China's Shanxi Province, majoring in the Chinese language.

"I wanted to learn the Chinese language considering the thriving economic relationship between China and Africa," Alemar said.

Alemar opted to study the Chinese language in light of the growing demand for Chinese-speaking bilingual Ethiopians due to the increasing number of Chinese companies that are involved in the construction sector and other businesses.

"I did not know a single Chinese word before I left for China's Shanxi Province to proceed Mandarin studies," said Alemar, who is presently serving as an interpreter in the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) in Addis Ababa.

"It took me not more than six months to communicate in the Chinese language after I took basic courses which helped me to express my feelings and make Chinese friends," he added.

Amid the growing Chinese engagement in Ethiopia, the presence of Chinese-speaking Ethiopians has injected a much-needed momentum toward the smooth undertakings of Chinese-contracted projects across various sectors.

"If you see the global phenomenon, China's involvement is becoming immense, which eventually creates abundant opportunities for Chinese language interpreters," Alemar said.

Tsgereda Tigro is another young Chinese language graduate, who is presently working as a Chinese language interpreter and assistant to the manager at mobile phone manufacturing factory in Addis Ababa owned by the China Smart Opus Mobile Phone Manufacturing Plc.

"The role of interpreters in Chinese-owned companies is decisive. In absence of these interpreters, companies could face critical problems including bankruptcy," Tigro said.

Tigro, who was set to pursue journalism while joining the Addis Ababa University, joined the Confucius Institute in Addis Ababa University after attending a promotional event by the Chinese instructors on the benefit of learning Chinese.

In a country like Ethiopia, where Chinese language teaching institutions were scarcely available before the arrival of the Confucius Institute, Chinese companies faced critical problems finding Chinese-Amharic or Chinese-English interpreters.

Liu Xiaolin, general manager of China Smart Opus Mobile Phone Manufacturing Plc, spoke highly of the benefit of having interpreters such as Tigro in facilitating smooth operations at his plant.

Courtesy of ever-growing demand and apparent better career opportunities, the number of students pursuing the Chinese language at the Confucius Institute in Addis Ababa University and other universities is on the rise.

In light of the ever expanding Chinese engagement in the East African country, the demand for Chinese interpreters is growing, creating better career opportunities for Alemar, Tigro as well as fellow Chinese-speaking Ethiopians.

Tigro landed her first job within a few days of her graduation, with a monthly salary of 25,000 Ethiopian birr ($580), about five times higher than her former schoolmates pursuing other fields of study and careers. For comparison, the median salary for a new graduate in Ethiopia is estimated at around 5,000 Ethiopian birr a month.

In addition to the lucrative career opportunities, Chinese language studies at the Confucius Institute is also augmenting people-to-people relations between the two countries.

"The sessions combine elements of Chinese language and culture, helping us to better comprehend various dimensions of Chinese culture," Tigro said.

The Confucius Institute in Addis Ababa University, which started operation in Ethiopia back in 2012, has so far registered over 10,000 students who passed through various levels of Chinese language studies at different facilities across the country. Among them, close to 100 were able to get their bachelor degree in the Chinese language, according to figures from the institute.