At 29, Huang Liang, has been a Spanish translator in many trading companies for more than six years.

A graduate from Beijing Foreign and Culture University, he said learning Spanish has changed his way of thinking and even his personality.

"When I speak Spanish with clients from Spain, or other countries where Spanish is the native language, I tend to express things with more emotion and pitch in my voice," said Huang, who is now working for Li Ning Company, one of China's leading sports enterprises. "However, when I speak Chinese, I'm likely to be more gentle and conservative."

"Spanish grammar is the most difficult part for me," he said. "When we speak Chinese, we don't change the verbs. But in Spanish, we have to change verbs all the time."

Huang chose Spanish as his major partly because it meant he could get admitted without taking the national entrance examination.

"In 1999 when I was applying for college, I heard that for some majors like minority language, there was no need to take the national entrance exam. You only had to pass the exam organized by the college," Huang said. "But I also liked the fact that by learning a foreign language you can get to know different people and cultures."

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On graduating in 2003, Huang was employed by China World Best Group Co., which sent him to Mexico for more than two years. Since the beginning of 21st century, many countries have established strong relations with China, especially the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America. So there was a high demand for Chinese who can speak Spanish, said Huang.

Huang said that he found the Mexicans generally passionate about everything, "food, sports, and fashion. Everything except for work."

"Unlike Chinese people who work even on holidays," he said. "Mexicans on holiday will turn off cell phones and computers. No matter how important the work is, they will ignore it and enjoy their leisure time."

In 2003, minority languages started to become a popular major for high school graduates, given the increasing number of foreign companies looking for business opportunities.

"In our class, we have 25 students most of whom were well-employed. Seven of them got a job offer from Xinhua agency and some were employed by Foreign Ministry."