汉语和中国文化实在太有意思了

李艳

一直想来中国多看多接触多体验的周丽彤，在金华处处感受到中国的博大和神奇。她感慨地说：“中国的发展很像高铁，又快又稳。”

来自喀麦隆的周丽彤（Mvuh Zouliatou）说一口地道的汉语，这个很中国的名字是她自己根据译音取的。

周丽彤是一位货真价实的非洲“学霸”，在来中国前，已通过4级汉语水平考试（HSK），在语言学习上几乎没有障碍。这位4岁男童的母亲，三度来到中国，现在是浙江师范大学非洲研究院的第一位博士生。

对汉语和中国情有独钟

周丽彤出生在一个大家庭，上有八个哥哥姐姐，下有一個弟弟，她排行第九，和老大相差20多岁。兄妹中有学阿拉伯语、意大利语的，唯独她对汉语情有独钟。

“第一次接触中国文化，是通过成龙、李小龙的电影，看了几十部。觉得好厉害，感觉每个中国人都会‘飞。汉语和中国文化实在太有意思了。”

2008年，喀麦隆在中学、大学大力推广汉语。为中国痴迷的周丽彤看到了汉语的广阔前景，上大学时毫不犹豫地选择了喀麦隆马鲁瓦大学高等师范学院汉语专业。在她眼里，“汉语和西班牙语、德语等世界上其他语言都不一样，看不懂，不知道怎么发音，是象形文字，很神奇。”

周丽彤第一次来中国是在2011年。当年，她参加“汉语桥”世界大学生汉语比赛，一路过关斩将，以喀麦隆赛区冠军的身份来到中国。

“那是我第一次来中国，感觉好远，下了飞机，机场特别大特别漂亮。那一次我去了北京、长沙，看了长城、故宫，特别震撼。中国给我留下了很好的印象。”

周丽彤当时是大三学生，回到喀麦隆后，她更加发奋苦读。2012年大学毕业后，周丽彤以优异的成绩获得喀麦隆孔子学院奖学金，到浙江师范大学（以下简称浙师大）攻读汉语国际教育，如愿以偿地为自己赢得了在中国学习深造的机会。

“在我的国家，很多年轻人会选择到欧美留学，但是我坚定地选择了中国。现在，中国在非洲的影响力越来越大，我认为中国才是未来。”

在金华感受到家庭般的温暖

2012年夏天，周丽彤来到浙江金华。这是她第二次来中国，但来金华还是第一次。“金华对我来说并不陌生，之前就听浙师大非洲研究院的学长们经常说起，说金华人很热情。”刚来时，金华的饮食和气候让她很不适应，但她克服困难，很快地融入了。

“老师对我们很照顾，和我们谈心，还时常买水果等好吃的来寝室看我们。我们在远离家人的异国他乡，感受到家庭般的温暖。”

一直想来中国多看多接触多体验的周丽彤，在金华处处感受到中国的伟大和神奇。最让她咋舌的是，中国居然有淘宝这样的“神器”。

“同学告诉我，中国的淘宝网上可以买东西。我不相信，刚到金华没多久，试着在网上下单买了一双拖鞋，没想到第二天就送到了我手中。天哪，太神奇了！”周丽彤感慨中国发展快、很发达，她觉得中国的高铁很了不起，在中国还可以用手机点外卖，生活非常便利，“中国的发展很像高铁，又快又稳。”

无论是“非洲学霸”，还是“中国学霸”，要想取得好的成绩，不二法宝就是天赋加勤奋。在浙师大攻读研究生的两年时间里，周丽彤几乎把所有时间都用在了学习上，全班15名留学生，她的成绩妥妥地名列第一。

“学习不仅要多看书，还要尽可能多地到外面看看，认识世界。”紧张的学习之余，周丽彤走遍金华各县市，还去了广州、上海，中国为她打开了一扇瑰丽的窗，精彩而多姿。

想把中国经验介绍到非洲

2014年夏天，周丽彤学成回到喀麦隆，在喀麦隆的一所学校当了两年中学汉语老师。

原以为，周丽彤会和大多数人一样，从此安心地相夫教子，没想到她却做出了让人出乎意料的决定：再回中国学习，把中国发展经验介绍到非洲。

“当时，我心里有一个强烈的愿望：一定要回中国，一定要读博士。”周丽彤说，她坚信贫穷不是非洲人的命运，非洲只是缺乏合适的发展战略，学习中国，非洲能从中得到借鉴，找到自己的发展道路。

在家人支持下，2016年9月，周丽彤第三次来到中国。当时，她的儿子只有一岁。

“这是我这辈子作出的最艰难的决定。有时视频聊天，儿子在喀麦隆那头哇哇大哭，我在中国这头哭得稀里哗啦。”哭归哭，周丽彤最终咬牙坚持了下来。

读博期间，老师带着周丽彤和同学深入中国城市、乡村、企业，调研、考察中国发展模式。浙师大非洲研究院让她参加学校和研究院组织的各类学术会议，还资助她去非洲开展学术调研，周丽彤的学习有了很大提高。

“我非常赞成中国提出的‘一带一路倡议，这对非洲国家来说是很好的机会，可以实实在在帮助非洲人民。我希望‘一带一路可以延伸到我的国家，让更多中国企业在喀麦隆投资。”周丽彤以自己的经历，切身感受到中非教育合作正在全面提高非洲的教育质量和建设能力，中非合作前景美好。

当初对饮食、气候不适应，现在的周丽彤显然越来越习惯。“不是在中国不适应，而是回喀麦隆不适应。喀麦隆没有淘宝，没有外卖，也没有这么多美食。我在金华吃了很多好吃的，最喜欢酸菜鱼。今天晚上，外卖点的就是酸菜鱼。”

周丽彤感慨，在中国，从来没有一个人待在外面的孤独感，她在金华交了很多好朋友。每次放假回来，都有回家的感觉。在她眼里，金华发展很快，变化很大。“最近一次从喀麦隆回到金华，在全新的火车站，我都走迷路了。”她笑着说。

周丽彤喜欢中国汉字、中国书法、中国功夫。在她影响下，在喀麦隆首都雅温得计算机公司工作的丈夫报名去孔子学院学汉语，儿子也已经会说简单的汉语“你好”“喝水”“抱抱”。

周丽彤回非洲前依依不舍，她接过笔者赠送的金华风情文创袋、《金华古道》等礼物时开心极了，笑着说：“我一定会回来的，我和中国早就‘结婚了！”

Mvuh Zouliatou：“I Am Married to China”

By Li Yan

Mvuh Zouliatou， from Cameroon and the first doctoral student at the Institute of Africa Studies of Jinhua-based Zhejiang Normal University， speaks fluent Chinese. Now a mother of a four-year-old boy， she passed HSK before her first visit to China in 2011. “Zhou Litong” is the Chinese name she made for herself.

Born in an extended family， Mvuh Zouliatou has eight siblings older than her and a younger brother， and is the only one in the family who fell in love with the Chinese language. “My eyes were first opened by Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. The Chinese can fly， I thought to myself. The movies I watched back in those years triggered my curiosity about the culture as well as the language.”

Chinese officially became a big thing in middle schools and universities in Cameroon in 2008， which opened a new channel for Mvuh Zouliatou to envision about the prospects of learning Chinese. She chose Chinese to major in at the Normal School of Maroua University without any hesitation. “Chinese is so unique that it looked like a mystery to me. It is totally different from other foreign languages such as Spanish and Germany. ”

The girls China adventure started in 2011， when she stood out at the “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students and won the chance to visit China as the Cameroon champion of the year.

“I was in my third year at college at that time. It was the first time I traveled so far from home. Finally I saw the Great Wall and Forbidden City with my own eyes. I also visited Changsha. I fell in love with the country. It was an unforgettable experience.”

The girls dream of furthering her Chinese study in the source of the language finally came true in 2012， after she won a scholarship from the universitys Confucius Institute. “Europe and America would be the first option of the majority of young people in Cameroon when it comes to the consideration of overseas study， but I never thought about anything other than China. I have faith in China， and I always know I made the right decision.”

Mvuh Zouliatou landed in Jinhua in the summer of 2012. “The first few months were a hard time， but everything turned out to be fine. The teachers were helpful all the time， making us feel at home.”

“Surprises came every day. Wherever I turned， I felt the magic of the country and its amazing achievements. My Chinese classmates taught me how to use Taobao. I tried ordering a pair of slippers， and I got the slippers delivered to my door the next day. It was amazing！ I felt lucky about being in such a great country where the high speed train and many other small things were making everyones everyday life so easy and convenient.”

Mvuh Zouliatous stunning fluency in Chinese did not come easy. She was the most hardworking foreign students in her class， and ranked first in academic performance for the first two postgraduate years in Jinhua.

Mvuh Zouliatou went back to Cameroon and became a Chinese language teacher in a middle school in the summer of 2014. However， it did not take long before she realized it was not the end of her China adventure. She landed in China again in the fall of 2016， to pursue her doctoral degree.

“It was a hard decision to make. The separation with my one-year-old son was the most difficult part of the whole thing. Seeing him cry was heartbreaking.”

Back in China， she busied herself in all kinds of seminars， meetings and field trips in many cities and the countryside. Her doctoral years in China bore rich fruit.

“I am all for Chinas ‘Belt-and-Road initiative that promises to bring great opportunities for the African people. I hope my country can benefit from such a great scheme in many wonderful ways. I look forward to seeing more Chinese companies invest in Cameroon， not only in industrial sectors but also in many other social undertakings such as education.”

“I felt so at home in China that sometimes when I went back to Cameroon I felt a little clumsy， because there is no Taobao or any takeout Apps to use there. I made a lot of Chinese friends here， and I never felt homesick. Jinhua has become my second home， and every little progress the city made would make me very happy. When I came back here earlier this year， I almost got lost in the new train station，” Mvuh Zouliatou laughed.

Back in her hometown， Mvuh Zouliatous husband， an employee at a local IT business， has signed up for Chinese classes in Confucius Institute in Yaoundé， capital city of Cameroon. “I will definitely come back to China someday. I am married to China！” She told me at the end of the interview.