Theme two: Motivations

The second theme was about the motivation of students. It included questions: 1) Why did you choose Chinese language at the first place and what are your main motives to learn Chinese language? 2) do you think that the time you spend on learning Chinese language is worth it? If yes, why so? 3) what Chinese are you focused on (ex: Business Chinese, Conversational, etc.)?

Question number 1: Why did you choose Chinese language at the first place and what are your main motives to learn Chinese language?

According to students answers the main motivations are:

Motivation Student %

Career opportunity 60%

Culture 60%

Trending 13%

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Parents influence 6%

Opportunity to go overseas 20%

Coding the answers from the first question researcher realized that all the answers are quite different. Every interviewee has his/her own reson why he/she chose particularly Chinese language. The researcher thinks that there is a difference between the motivations of learning Chinese and why the person started to learn this language in the first place. A lot of people start to learn this language, however quickly give up due to the difficulty of the language, however many people maybe are not very interested in the language but they see many opportunities in the future and their approach is more pragmatic.

Almost every student mentioned his/her interest in chinese culture, customs, traditions and history of China. One student even mentioned an interest in chinese medicine. Many of them said that China remains for them as something mysterious and “different”. Few students mentioned that they love watching Chinese movies and dramas and that their favourite actors are also from China. One intervieew is preparing for getting marry to a Taiwanese man and she thinks it is essential for her to speak chinese language and understand the culture. Also, one student even mentioned that studying chinese language has a positive impact on our brain.

And of course, many students mentioned good relationhips between two countries and that they hope to find a good job after graduation.

All the interviewees have very unique stories on how they got interested in Chinese language.

“The study of such language has a very positive impact on both intellectual development and human linguistic abilities.”

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“I was always very interested in Eastern languages, especially Chinese and Japanese. But I chose Chinese, because Russia has more joint projects with China in different spheres, which will make it easier to find work after graduation.”

“Of all the countries of the eastern world, China has always been and will remain for me the richest country. It is impossible to entirely embrace the entire historical and cultural environment of the China, but it was the desire for knowledge of this mysterious world of calligraphy.”

“I liked Chinese language because of its complexity. I was pleased to realize that I can speak in a language that few people in Russia can. In addition, by the time I was preparing to enter the university, China had already emerged as one of Russia's main trading partners.

Therefore, there were prospects for building a good career after graduation from the university.”

“In the 9th grade I realized that my favorite actor knows Chinese, then my friend advised me to go to the Confucius School. From the first classes I fell in love, although at first the language was given with great difficulty. Since then, I decided to connect my future with the Chinese, I did not even consider other directions when entering the university.”

“As mentioned above, I really like the culture and history of China, as well as their way of thinking / worldview, formed on the ancient canons and rules (although in the real world subjected to the processes of globalization. When I started to study Chinese, I did not expect and did not think that it can become a part of my profession, but now, getting a higher education in Oriental studies, I consider Chinese, to be a part of my future work, and I understand that the knowledge of this language will expand my possibilities.”

“Of course, first of all, it is an interest in culture and traditions. Since in the future I'm going to marry a man for whom Chinese culture is native, I must understand the culture and traditions of China. The second motivation is the desire to become an interpreter. This is my dream since childhood. I hope that the Chinese language really will give me this opportunity.”

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“The desire for self-development. To some extent, the desire to connect a career with the “I love Chinese culture, especially poetry, costumes, historical movies and dramas. Of course, I was initially tuned to the fact that in the future I will work in this direction, but then it was a secondary issue. I studied because I liked it, because I wanted to understand movies and dramas, watch interviews with my favorite actors (Takeshi Kaneshiro, Liu Yifei), read poems in the original (Wang Wei, Cao Zhi), learn more about the dynastic period in Chinese history and related culture, literature and so on. Now the main motive for studying is getting a good job in the field of trade or translation.”

Question number 2: do you think that the time you spend on learning Chinese language is worth it? If yes, why so?

Answering this question all the interviewees (15) said that it is worth to spend so much time on learning this language. From all these answers, it is clear that all the interviewees don’t regret learning Chinese language and hope to use it in the future and mostly for job opportunities. Some of them mentioned that sometimes they want to give up due to complexity of this language, however every small success makes them feel very happy and the desire to continue learning.

“Since I chose Chinese as the most important component of my future profession, of course, the harder I learn, the sooner I will be able to find a job, to realize myself as a specialist.

Plus, I really enjoy doing it, it brings me pleasure. Therefore, the study of Chinese definitely worth every minute spent on it.”

“At this point of time, I cannot exactly say that I see myself in the profession directly related to the language, but definitely it's worth the time. First, for me, the process is interesting, when you reveal logic and consistency, whether it is grammar, or various words and phrases.

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Secondly, in the process of studying you not only learn the language, but also get acquainted with the culture, traditions, thinking of people from a completely different world.”

“It is worth it, if there were more free time from other academic disciplines, I would spend it on language. It seems to me that a desire to quit comes up to every Sinologist or just a person who learns Chinese, but for me, this is the most exciting thing in the world. This is also a personal interest, because I have already spent three years of my life on Chinese language.”

“In moments of failure and despair, it seems that Chinese is not worth my time and my energy. But firmness of spirit, small successes and hope for the future shows that I am on the right track.”

“This is a very good question. I realized that learning Chinese is worth my time, when I was able to enter Chinese society. It's wonderful - to understand that the Chinese respect you and are ready to make business with you, to work with you. In addition, I believe that knowledge of the language is an indicator of the education of a person. This applies not only to Chinese, but also to the Russian language.”

“Yes, since the time spent studying the Chinese language can significantly change the outlook on life, gain patience, perseverance and learn to appreciate this time.”

Question number 3: what Chinese are you focused on (ex: Business Chinese, Conversational, etc.)?

The next question interviewer asked interviewees was about what kind of Chinese language they mostly focus on. According to the answers business Chinese is the main aspect.

However, there were some other aspects such as: speaking Chinese, slang, modern-literature, scientific-journal, ancient Chinese,

“At the moment, I'm trying to learn the language as a complex without focusing on a certain course. I think that you need to have a good base in every direction. However, in the future, I

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will probably focus on business Chinese, because when looking for a job, the employer will probably look far that.”

“At this stage, I focus on spoken Chinese, because I consider it as a base. And when I will figure out what sphere I want to work in I will move in that special direction. If business, then business Chinese, if the historical and cultural relations, probably the ancient Chinese.”