Tianjin university trains students in language of globalization

Updated: 2014-11-10 17:06

By Bao Wanxian and Lyu Shuang in Tianjin(chinadaily.com.cn)

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Asuka Nishijima does not know much of the Chinese language, but that has not stopped the 20-year-old Japanese from pursuing her dream of learning traditional Chinese medicine.

"I'm very excited about learning Chinese and its traditional medicine here," said Nishijima, who recently completed her courses at Tianjin Foreign Studies University.

Just like Nishijima, more than 100 Japanese students from the faculty of pharmaceutical sciences at Japan's Hokuriku University have joined the program since 2012.

The program, jointly launched by the Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, aims to provide foreign students with the opportunity to promote their capabilities in the discipline.

The subject spans five decades of Tianjin Foreign Studies University's history and has involved about 12,400 foreign students in various programs.

"Our stellar reputation comes from word of mouth, not from advertisements," said Tianjin Foreign Studies University president Xiu Gang, whose institution celebrated its 50th anniversary on Oct 25.

"Many international students in my university come from Asian countries including Japan, South Korea and Vietnam but in recent years, our programs have also attracted applications from Western countries," he said.

Students from the West actually formed 60 percent of the total number of foreign students this year, university figures showed.

But Tianjin Foreign Studies University is also committed to the target of Chinese talent going global.

Direct Chinese investment abroad involved 5,090 enterprises in 156 countries or regions worldwide in 2013, Ministry of Commerce figures showed.

Driven by such economic expansion and the increasing needs of globalization, China is also seeing growing demand for speakers of multiple languages in the decades ahead.

The country needs not just foreign language talent but also requires them to possess business and management competence to meet the demands of such internationalization, Xiu said.

With its motto "In Pursuit of World Knowledge and Distinguished Character", the university has since 1964 a tradition of training foreign language professionals equipped with such specialized knowledge.

Its students have multiple options for their course of study. They can spend several semesters overseas or attend a second degree program – the "TFSU Honors College" -- which selects candidates through a series of examinations in their first year.

"We currently offer students 14 languages to learn, combining subjects like literature, economics, management and education," he said.

"Students who accept this integrated language education can go a long way in building their future careers."

The university also offers students opportunities to grow their language capabilities by being involved in a number of international events that have included the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Committee, Tianjin Summer Davos Forum and Central Compilation & Translation Bureau.

The institution is now an important academic force for supporting regional development.

One of the advantages of TFSU is its proximity to and ties with Beijing and the Tianjin Binhai New Area, which offer bright employment prospects for its graduates who can get hands-on experience, Xiu said.

The university has also strengthened efforts to cultivate top faculty and educators.

It works with Tianjin Marriott Hotel to enhance young teachers' vocational training and about 60 percent of full-time teachers get opportunities for further education or work experience abroad.

The year also marks Xiu's 30th anniversary of working at TFSU. After being intimately involved with college education for the past decades, he said the role of the university is to forge a mutually beneficial relationship between students and society.

Established in the Fifth Avenue Area of Tianjin in 1921, TFSU's initial predecessor was Catholic university Hautes Etudes Industrielles et Commerciales. Under the proposal of then Chinese premier Zhou Enlai in 1964, the university was integrated into Hebei Foreign Language Junior College and Tianjin Foreign Language Junior College.