Seguy is teaching his students how to say different college majors in Chinese. In 2020, after graduation, Seguy started his own Chinese language center in Brazzaville.
BRAZZAVILLE, July 28 (Xinhua) -- In downtown Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, Likambiabeka Merveil Seguy, with a chalk in his hand, is busy getting his students to remember all the phrases and expressions that he wrote on the blackboard. Today, Seguy is teaching his students how to say different college majors in Chinese.
"I love being a teacher and I love languages very much, including Chinese," said Seguy in fluent Chinese. Speaking of his five-year studies in China, Seguy, who got himself a Chinese name called "Zhao Chen", said that he found his passion for the Chinese language from day one in China.
After spending the first two years respectively in Beijing and Shandong city of China's Shandong province to study Chinese from the scratch, Seguy then moved to Sanya in the southern part of the country, to study urban planning, a dream major for Seguy's parents.
"My parents wanted me to study majors like architecture, engineering, or urban planning. But I just love languages and teaching," said Seguy. During his days in Sanya, on the Hainan island embraced by the South China Sea, Seguy dedicated most of his time to studying Chinese and the Chinese culture. Out of his passion for teaching, Seguy also tutored local kids in English and French for free.
In 2020, after graduation, Seguy returned to Congo and started his own Chinese language center in Brazzaville. Despite his parents' wishes for him, Seguy still insisted on pursuing his love for languages and a teaching career no matter what. "After graduation, I returned to Congo. I now work as a translator and teach English, French, and Chinese."
In nearly two years, more than 50 local students have been enrolled in Seguy's Chinese classes, most of whom seek to study in China like Seguy. "Many of my students told me that their parents want them to go to college in China", said Seguy. As Chinese could be difficult for beginners, Seguy also wrote a textbook, incorporating French, Chinese characters, and Pinyin, a romanization system for the Chinese, to help his students better grasp the language.
Louange, who just started learning Chinese a week ago, now could introduce himself in Chinese and remember a few characters. For him, Seguy's class gets him closer to the dream of being an international businessman. "I want to be an international businessman. It is necessary for me to speak good Chinese if I want to travel to different parts of the country," said Louange.
"The first steps are always difficult. But one could make it if he has the conviction," he said, who seems confident despite a little struggle with remembering the Chinese characters on the blackboard.
Now Seguy is also working on his Chinese proficiency test, also known as the HSK, to secure a job at the Confucius Institut in Brazzaville as a Chinese teacher. "(The test) is to make sure if the candidates are qualified enough to teach Chinese there. I might have a chance working there," said Seguy.
