Teaching Chinese in Zambia: Four Years of Lessons, Culture, and Growth

By Fu Qiuyu

In the late summer of 2015, I boarded an Emirates flight at Beijing Capital Airport with my two-year-old daughter, leaving behind tearful family and friends. After more than ten hours, we landed in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. On the runway, my daughter spotted her father—my husband, a Chinese diplomat posted here—after two long years apart. She ran into his arms, and the three of us finally reunited on African soil. I thought it would be a short stay. In the end, I spent four unforgettable years teaching Chinese in Zambia.

First Impressions of Zambia

Before arriving, my knowledge of Zambia was limited to a few lines in a geography textbook: a landlocked country in south-central Africa, 750,000 square kilometers in size, with about 15 million people, known as the “country of copper mines.”

Living there quickly gave me a more vivid picture. Lusaka streets were lined with bright bougainvillea—the national flower. The people were warm and polite, greeting Chinese visitors with smiles. Yes, there were daily inconveniences—power and water cuts, limited medical facilities—but overall, life was stable and welcoming.

Two things stood out to me early on:

• Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia’s first president, who led independence from British rule in 1964 and established ties with China.
• The TAZARA Railway, built with Chinese support, still one of the largest foreign aid projects in Africa.

I was also struck by the large Chinese community—over 30,000 Chinese people live in Zambia, contributing to local business, infrastructure, and education. Many Zambians greeted me in Chinese thanks to language and technical training from Chinese professionals.

The Rise of Chinese Education in Zambia

Zambia’s only Confucius Institute was established in 2010 at the University of Zambia in partnership with Hebei University of Economics and Business. In just a few years, interest in Chinese skyrocketed:

• From small adult classes, it grew into a nationwide program across 10 provinces with 20 teaching sites.
• By 2018, over 6,100 students were formally studying Chinese.
• In 2014, the Ministry of Education officially included Chinese in the national curriculum for secondary schools, with standardized exams starting at Grade 9.

Today, Zambians see Chinese not only as a language of culture but also as a bridge to study abroad and career opportunities. Each year, nearly 4,000 Zambian students go to China for higher education.

Becoming a Teacher in Lusaka

When I joined my husband in 2015, I didn’t want to just be a diplomat’s spouse. I applied and was accepted as a Chinese volunteer teacher through the Confucius Institute. After diplomatic approval, I began teaching at Rhodes Park School, a private school in Lusaka.

At first, I faced daunting challenges:

• No textbooks.
• No teaching experience with primary school children.
• Unclear goals for student proficiency.

Then inspiration struck. Watching my daughter learn English songs through phonics and rhymes, I realized I could apply a similar approach. Chinese is a tonal and rhythmic language, and children learn best when singing. So I began creating simple Chinese rhymes and songs.

Singing Chinese: A Breakthrough

On the first day, I asked a student in Chinese, “What’s your name?” She looked at me blankly. I quickly shifted gears, set my lesson to the tune of “Two Tigers,” and we sang:

“你叫什么名字? 你叫什么名字? 我叫露露, 我叫露露…”

The children lit up. By the end of class, every student could sing their self-introductions. The applause that followed told me the experiment had worked.

From there, I developed themed songs:

• Fruit Song (to the tune of “London Bridge Is Falling Down”): “香蕉，芒果，苹果，梨…”
• Numbers Song (adapted from “Ten Little Indians”).
• Even Chinese versions of “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

These playful tools made Chinese fun and memorable. Soon, even teachers from other classes were humming our songs.

Teaching Challenges

Despite success with pronunciation—Zambian children are talented mimics—grammar remained a hurdle. For example:

• Distinguishing “又” (already happened again) vs. “再” (will happen again) confused many.
• Directional complements like “出来” (come out) vs. “进去” (go in) often left them puzzled.

I later realized the difficulty stemmed from their linguistic worldview. Many Zambian languages are oral only, with short, simple grammar structures and fewer synonyms or abstract markers. Compared to that, Chinese—with its layers of function words and subtle nuances—felt overwhelmingly complex.

Interestingly, some parts of Chinese grammar they mastered with ease:

• Topic–comment sentences like “这个电影我喜欢” (“This movie, I like”).
• Passive structures like “书找到了” (“The book was found”).

Perhaps their native languages had similar structures.

Beyond Language: Cultural Bridges

Language teaching soon blended with cultural exchange. At first, students thought all Chinese people knew kung fu or could fly like in martial arts films. We began including cultural lessons from the start.

When I introduced the Chinese zodiac, a boy felt insulted when classmates laughed at his being born in the Year of the Monkey. In African culture, calling someone a monkey is deeply offensive. I explained that in Chinese culture, the monkey symbolizes intelligence and agility. His frown turned into pride.

We also compared symbols like:

• Pigs – lazy in Chinese tradition, neutral in Zambia.
• Eagles – sacred in Zambia, a national symbol of freedom, also admired in Chinese culture.
• Buffalo – revered in Zambia as a symbol of bravery and teamwork. After witnessing buffalo face down lions on the savannah, I finally understood why.

Through stories like Journey to the West, students came to see Chinese animals and legends in a new light, and even grew fond of characters like the mischievous Monkey King and lazy Pigsy.

Finding Classroom Discipline

Zambian schools gave teachers immense authority. Once, during my class, a local teacher punished misbehaving students by making them kneel before me. I was horrified. After speaking with the principal, I suggested handling discipline myself.

Inspired by students’ love of kung fu, I introduced a new rule: misbehavior earned horse stance training (马步). Within minutes, even the rowdiest students begged for mercy! Soon, other teachers adopted the method too. Alongside punishments, I created a reward system—stars, candy, and small gifts from China. This balance of strictness and warmth kept my classes lively yet disciplined.

Reflections: Loving Zambia, Loving Teaching

At the end of each term, I asked students to write their thoughts about Chinese class. Their heartfelt words of appreciation reminded me why I was there.

Walking across the dusty schoolyard, hearing children’s voices singing Chinese songs, and seeing their eager faces filled me with pride. Teaching in Zambia wasn’t always easy, but it was deeply meaningful.

As a Chinese teacher abroad, if I can change even a small part of these children’s lives—giving them a new language, a new perspective, a new opportunity—then my work has been worthwhile.

I left Zambia with gratitude, knowing that I had given my heart to this land, and in return, it had given me joy, resilience, and unforgettable memories.

About the Author

Fu Qiuyu is a lecturer at Beijing Chinese Language and Culture College. She earned her Master’s from Beijing Language and Culture University in 2010. From 2015–2019, she served as a Chinese teacher at the Confucius Institute in Zambia, where she specialized in children’s Chinese education and cultural exchange.