Southeast Asia wants Mandarin teachers  

东南亚高校校长谈“汉语热”：需要更多中文老师

在出席2日举行的广西师范大学建校80周年庆典时，来自韩国、泰国、越南等高校的校长均表达了谋求与中国高校在汉语教育领域开展更深层次的合作，希望中国派出更多的教师赴海外进行教学的愿望。

Guilin (CNS) -- Several presidents of Southeast Asian universities called for more Chinese teachers at the 80th anniversary ceremony of Guangxi Normal University on Sunday.

Yeong-Moo Song, president of South Korea's Sunchon National University, said almost every university in South Korea has classes for Mandarin learning, but most of the teachers there are not native speakers.

Student exchange programs would help alleviate the shortage of Mandarin teachers, said the president of Vietnam's Hanoi University.

Somkiat Saithanoo, president of Thaksin University in Southern Thailand, also supported the program. He said that because of the trade prosperity between China and Thailand, the Thai people have formed a growing interest in Chinese culture, and that more than 10,000 people have learned or are learning Mandarin.

Saithanoo said he expected more cooperation between Chinese and Thai universities in teacher exchange programs and international conferences.