Chinese language teachers training course starts in Bangladesh

    DHAKA, April 15 (Xinhua) -- The 1st Chinese language teachers training course in Bangladesh started here Tuesday.

    Seventeen trainees from different schools, colleges and one university are attending the training course, which was organized by the North-South University Confucius Institute.

    Khaliquzzaman M Elias, director of the Confucius Institute said at the inauguration ceremony that the training course will last for one month, the trainees will study in the North-South University Confucius Institute for three weeks and the last week they will go to study in China's Yunnan University.

    Elias said the purpose of the training course is not only to teach the trainees Chinese, but also teach them how to teach Chinese.

    He hoped after the one-month training course, the trainees will start teaching Chinese in their respective schools.

    Elias said the Confucius Institute will render as more help as they can to promote the Chinese language teaching in Bangladesh.

    Salehuddin Ahmed, pro-vice chancellor of BRAC University, a private university of Bangladesh, is the only trainee in the training course from university.

    Ahmed told Xinhua the BRAC University has great interest in opening Chinese class. He said he already contacted with the Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh to ask for a Chinese volunteer who will teach Chinese in their university.

    Shaheen Ara Khan is a teacher from a private school in Dhaka. She said she likes to learn languages including Chinese.

    Khan said their school has planned to open Chinese class, so she must study hard during the one-month course and take the responsibility to teach Chinese in their school.

    Confucius Institute Deputy Director Jiang Yinlian, who is a professor from China's Yunnan University, is in charge of the training course.

    Jiang said most of the trainees know nothing about Chinese language, she hoped through one-month study they can have an idea about the Chinese phonetics and characters.

    The North-South University Confucius Institute was co-established by the North-South University and Yunnan University on Feb. 14, 2006. It is the first Confucius Institute in South Asia.