Brazilian Sinologist: My Chinese Story

Lucia Anderson Ferreira da Silva attends the 2016 Young Sinologists Program in Beijing.[Photo provided to Chinaculture.org]

My name is Lucia Anderson Ferreira da Silva, I was born on Nov 29, 1982 and am studying for a PhD. in China-Brazil relations at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Studying at Peking University has always been my dream and the Confucius Institute program of a PhD fellowship is giving me the opportunity to try to realize this dream.

Since the age of 17, when I was admitted to the university, I've worked part time in a school as an English teacher. Later, I got interested in international trade, and went to the University of Sao Paulo (USP), Brazil, to learn about international trade for two years. After graduation, I started to work for IBM Corp. (IBM), where I stayed three years and accumulated a lot of experience.

By the end of 2007, I joined AIESEC, a NGO that promote internships around the world and chose to go to China to work as a trainee. I worked 10 months in Beijing in a Chinese pharmaceutical company's import and export department, and was responsible for sales to Brazil. During this period, I lived in Wudaokou for almost a year. Since then, studying at Peking University became my biggest dream. I often went for a walk and thought how it would be to study there. I lived in Beijing for five years and gradually became obsessed with Chinese language and culture.

Later, I decided to stay in China, and had the opportunity to work as a Portuguese specialist for Xinhua News Agency, translating texts from Spanish and English into Portuguese and also proofreading texts translated by Chinese colleagues. Working for Xinhua News Agency gave me the opportunity to learn more about China, including aspects of the economy, culture and so on. At the same time, I also felt that I needed to learn more about Chinese language and culture. Then, I applied to study for a master’s degree in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages at Communication University of China (CUC). During the master’s program, I studied very hard and with the teachers’ and students’ help, I achieved excellent results and was approved with honours in the master's degree graduation.

At the end of 2012, after graduating from the master's program, I decided to go back to my home country, Brazil, and got an import-export position as a sales manager. I was responsible for exports and often went to China to visit factories. Through years of study and work experience, I have more understanding of China and Brazil and would like to engage in the academic field.

In early 2015, I successfully applied to study the relationship between China and Brazil at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil, and was the only one approved in the selective process for the PhD. program. During the selection, I still remember the fierce competition and this made me realize that I should cherish the opportunity to learn. When I finish my doctoral studies, I would like to become a university teacher to introduce China to Brazilian students and to strengthen relations between China and Brazil.