Confucius Institute in Argentina

Another part of the world that's become increasingly interested in Chinese culture in recent years is South America. It has the fastest growing population of Chinese language learners. With the spread of Chinese culture, Confucius Institutes have sprung up all over the world. Let's pay a visit to one at Buenos Aires University in the capital of Argentina.

A Chinese martial arts class by a senior master from Argentina. Andres Valdes is 67-years-old and has been training for over 40 years. He has won prizes in various Latin American competitions. Students of every age have made his class one of the most popular in the Confucius Institute.

Confucius Institute teacher Andres Valdes said, "I teach the students Chinese martial arts moves, and I ask them to practice and do some research on their own. Martial art is not just about your body, it's also about your thoughts. I want them to understand the history and culture behind martial arts."

Andres Valdes is just one of the local teachers at the Confucius Institute at Buenos Aires University. Since it opened in 2008, the Institute has offered various courses to introduce Chinese culture to Argentine students. Today, there are 30 teachers from Argentina in the faculty.

Lyu Xiaoduan, director of Confucius Institute, said, "It's great to have them on board. This year we have 2 new teachers, who used to study Chinese in the Confucius Institute here. And both of them got scholarships to study in China. Their language skills and understanding of Chinese culture are great. Plus they are Argentine themselves, so they know the difficulties of learning Chinese as a second language. They will become great teachers."

The Confucius Institute at Buenos Aires University is a joint effort with northeast China's Jinlin University. The institute has attracted more and more local students. Last year, more than 3-thousand locals participated in cultural events organized by the Confucius Institute.

The first Confucius Institute was opened in South Korea back in 2004. In the last eight years, it has been launched in more than 100 countries. There are now nearly 900 institutes and classrooms around the world. And the number is only growing.