A school in Eastern Europe is first bilingual school in the region

CGTN Europe

Strong business links between Hungary and China have prompted an increased interest in Mandarin. A school in Budapest is fueling this interest by being the first bilingual school in Eastern Europe. #ChinaEurope2024

Transcript

00:00 From decorations to the school's special tea room.

00:03 While this school is thousands of miles away from China,

00:07 it could be mistaken for any from Beijing to Guangdong.

00:10 Here, young people learn to speak Mandarin

00:13 with some graduates going on to study in China.

00:16 I didn't believe it.

00:18 I still don't believe it because this university is

00:23 one of the top universities in the whole world.

00:27 I think I'm going to realize that I actually study in Beijing

00:31 when I arrive at Beijing.

00:33 Located just 15 minutes from the center of the Hungarian capital,

00:37 this Budapest school is unique.

00:40 It's the only bilingual school in Central and Eastern Europe

00:44 teaching in Mandarin and Hungarian.

00:47 When it first opened its doors in 2004,

00:49 the school was mostly targeted at the Chinese diaspora.

00:53 20 years later, 7 out of the 10 students are Hungarian.

00:58 Since I have been learning this language for 12 years now,

01:02 it has become my second native language.

01:06 So I sometimes think in Chinese.

01:10 And those language skills are useful,

01:13 especially as trade between Hungary and China

01:16 continues to increase.

01:19 Many of these students will go and work with Chinese companies

01:23 while others will go and study there.

01:27 It was a dream come true.

01:28 And now it's going to come true.

01:32 In the coming year, 10 students will study in China.

01:37 I hope they will find their place there.

01:40 And the language skills they have acquired over the years

01:44 will be enough to get a job in this language.

01:53 Over 10 years ago, Hungary was one of the first countries

01:57 in the European Union to sign a Memorandum of Understanding

02:01 joining China's massive infrastructure program,

02:05 the Belt and Road Initiative.

02:07 It's given rise to projects such as the Budapest to Belgrade

02:11 Railway.

02:12 Now, with more than half of the country's foreign investments

02:15 coming from China, interest and student enrollment

02:19 in this bilingual school has never been higher.

02:23 Evangelos Ypsas for CGTN, Budapest.

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