Zimbabwean students chase their dreams by learning Chinese

"The trick is on making the classes interesting. As a teacher, you have to understand your students. You have to know them well. Above all, you have to create a relationship with the students. It has to be a family," he remarked.

Zimhindo said learning Chinese has become popular among youngsters in Zimbabwe as they seek to be more competitive in the job market.

Chinese investments have seen a large number of Chinese nationals moving to the country, thereby increasing interaction between Zimbabweans and the Chinese.

"The reason why I am learning Chinese is because at work we interact a lot with the Chinese, and usually we have some misunderstandings just because of the language barrier," said Mandiriko.

In Zimbabwe, China has become a competitive study destination, surpassing some traditional English-speaking destinations. Given China's status as a manufacturing giant, the Asian country is also the most preferred destination for traders and business people.

"Initially what motivated me to learn Chinese was the good economic relationship between Zimbabwe and China," said Rebokile Setoboli, an Economics graduate from the University of Zimbabwe.

Due to the lack of people who can speak both Chinese and local languages, there is a huge demand for those with Chinese language skills.

Chinese translators with a good command of the language can earn more than $500 a month, a huge amount considering that public servants such as teachers are currently earning less than 250 dollars a month.

Setoboli, who is now a Chinese teacher at Zimgro, said knowing Chinese opens doors to vast job opportunities.

"Studying Chinese has a lot of opportunities here in Zimbabwe. And for me one of the opportunities it has given me is that I am teaching Chinese right now," she said.

While learning Chinese is arguably a formidable task, technology and the internet is making it less difficult to learn the language, even for those with no opportunities to interact with native speakers of the language.