Chinese nationals are the number one source of foreign tourists to the Voortrekker Monument. More than 150 000 Chinese people visited South Africa last year and imports from the communist state are booming. But there is also a growing trek the other way. South Africans are learning to speak basic Mandarin and are figuring out the cultural traps that could stop them from doing business with China.

 

Sarah Malan said Mandarin is growing as a medium of communication in South Africa. A private tutor, she said wealthy people are trying to make it a second or third language for their children. “You see people almost hedging their bets for the future and making sure their children are fluent from an early age,” she told the Mail & Guardian.

 

Malan, who teaches children the language in the evenings, is seeing more schools and tertiary institutions offering Mandarin, enabling pupils to communicate with nearly a billion people. “It’s pragmatism. You need to speak with people you are doing business with, and in both directions that language is increasingly Chinese.”

 

Prior to 2009 she mainly taught the children of Chinese immigrants, but with the intensification of political and business ties between the two countries, the demand has rocketed.

 

Related News in Chinese: 南非的普通话时代即将来临