The Chinese language is considered one of the most difficult languages to learn in the world. But more people are becoming interested in the language and would like to learn it. In recent years, the office at Chinese Language Council International has enrolled many volunteer teachers to teach Chinese abroad, most of whom are young girls. Their work ethic has won people's respect. Let's hear about their experiences in Germany.

Here is our reporter He Fei.

Germany has a relatively good foundation for Chinese language teaching. Many German universities have a Chinese major and some elementary schools also include Chinese class in their curriculum.

This is a Chinese class in Bettina-von-Arnim Middle School. They are the first middle school in Germany to have such classes and have held them since 2007. There are three Chinese teaching volunteers in the school and Kong Jingqian is one of them.

She is now studying at the Free University of Berlin for a doctorate degree in German education and she is one of the volunteers that the Office of Chinese Language Council International recruited in Germany. Kong lives far away from the school that she gives classes, so she has to get up very early in the morning. But she is always full of spirit and energy in front of her students and says she loves her German students.

"German kids are different from Chinese kids. They are naughty but have great enthusiasm in learning. They are all interested in Chinese cultures."

Wang Shaolan has a master's degree from Beijing International Studies University. She is also a volunteer that was sent to Germany by the Chinese Language Council. At present, Wang is working as an assistant Chinese teacher in Romain Rolland Middle School. She thinks that in teaching Chinese, she learns more about her home country's culture.

"When teaching and introducing Chinese grammar to foreigners, getting them to understand it is a tough issue. For example, I don't know how to explain to them what a stroke is and what the components of a Chinese character are. Therefore, I need to do a lot of preparation before I give a lesson. At the beginning, I felt like I was learning together with my students. Through teaching, I know more about Chinese culture."

With the efforts of all these volunteers, Chinese language teaching achieves fairly good results in Germany. Learning Chinese and about Chinese culture is becoming increasingly popular. Kong Jingqian's student Paul Hardtke is one of them. Although he thinks Chinese is hard to learn, he studies conscientiously, takes notes carefully and raises questions when needed.

"Chinese culture is really quite interesting. Our school also has other optional courses such as French and Latin, but they are both composed of letters and the Chinese characters are completely different. Sometimes it's really difficult for me but I finally learned them. Also, Ms. Kong always corrects our pronunciations and that's great."

Monika Beuerle is the principal of Bettina-von-Arnim Middle School. She points out that more and more parents would like their children to learn Chinese and the school now doesn't need to advertise its Chinese classes.

"In my opinion, to learn the Chinese language is an important drive for German kids' future. If they learn Chinese in school, they'll have more connections and communication in the fields of economy, politics and society related to China. I feel happy that our Chinese classes are getting popular and we don't need to advertise like we did three years ago when we first launched the course."

Dr. Jiang Feng, a counselor for the Chinese Embassy in Germany speaks highly of these volunteers.

"They work in different positions and schools in Germany and show a youthful and vigorous China to the country. I appreciate their efforts in bringing the Chinese culture and the image of a new China to the world."

Because of the volunteers' work, they are called the 'folk envoy for Sino-German communication.' They are happy to do their part to broaden cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Here is volunteer teacher Wang Shaolan again.

"In daily life, if my landlord, new German friends or my students have some questions about Chinese culture, I always take my time to answer them. I also invite friends to my home and cook Chinese dishes for them. When I go to a party, I sing and teach them Chinese songs. I think communication between us is a long term process and should be undertaken in a gradual way. I hope our efforts can let more people know about China, love the country and maybe visit China in the future."

These volunteers don't ask for rewards. For them, hearing their German students singing in Chinese is enough.

For China Now, I'm He Fei.