Ruth (a.k.a. 金若曦 jīn ruò xī) from Kenya is twenty three years old and studying Chinese at Tianjin Normal University. The twist in her tale is having found fame in China. How did that come to happen? Find out by reading her story as shared in a recent interview with JIN.

Ruth partying with her Kenyan friends

Her father has been doing business with China for some time. As such he thought it would be a good idea for Ruth to study Chinese to set herself up for future success in the family business. He knows personally the pain associated with a language barrier, as he can't speak Chinese himself. Based on dad's suggestion, Ruth began studying Chinese at a Confucius Institute in Nairobi, Kenya about 3 years ago.

Ruth isn't alone in her attempt to learn Chinese, as she reported that a number of other students are also studying it in Kenya. Before coming to China she had limited Chinese. Although having studied it for some time, she still found it particularly challenging to speak and understand Chinese after arrival. While the classes provided her with a basis for future learning, she didn't have much opportunity to hear or speak Chinese. There was limited instruction related to Chinese characters. The focus was on Pinyin (拼音 pīnyīn), the romanized representation of how each character is pronounced. Another issue which led to limited progress was the teacher although being Chinese mainly taught using English. The school she was studying at has a partnership with Tianjin Normal University. Therefore the opportunity to further study Chinese in Tianjin opened up.

Life in Tianjin

Life in Tianjin has meant adapting to a new environment. Particularly the cold and dry winters have been a challenge. Ruth has been to other cities, like Beijing, Changsha, and Guangzhou. She prefers Guangzhou because it reminds her of home as a number of fellow Kenyan's are there. Here in Tianjin, she studies at the Bailtai (八里台 bālǐtái) campus of Normal University. She shares her dorm room with another schoolmate from Kenya. When it comes to food, take out is preferred over the school cafeteria. Usually things like Kong Pao Chicken, lamb meat, and stir fry top the list. Her first year studying in Tianjin was very difficult because of not being able to understand a lot of what was being said. The course content was too complex for her level of Chinese and there was noticeable differences in teaching styles.

The biggest difference in teaching method was at the Confucius Institute in Kenya, teachers taught in English. Whereas in Tianjin Normal University, the teachers teach using Chinese. A similar problem existed with writing. The teachers back home would write in English, Chinese and Pinyin, but here everything is written only in Chinese characters. The speed of speech was also an issue. It resulted in not understanding everything that was being said. To her the Confucius Institute taught at a much slower pace and was considerate of the language level of the students. Thus, it took her an entire semester to adjust to these new conditions.

Ruth has taken and passed the HSK 4 test. She prepared by reviewing content from previous HSK's. When it comes to ranking the four main areas of Chinese language, that of listening, speaking, reading and writing, she feels her listening skills are the best. After that is speaking, then reading and last writing. She laments that Chinese characters are hard to remember. From her perspective, listening and speaking are the most important. Her view is that to be able to speak, she must first know what is being said to her. This opinion has links back to her father. He feels that speaking Chinese is sufficient and had originally encouraged her mainly to focus on that. However, since her major is Chinese, Ruth is finding that learning the characters is more and more necessary, along with the history of China. When in school she wakes up around 6:30 or 7:00 am. Classes start at 8:30 am and end at 12:00 pm. After the mandatory classes are complete, she sometimes attends additional elective classes. Normally by about 4:00 pm she is free. Depending on the amount of homework given, it takes about 1-2 hours to complete. She takes her classes seriously. Changes in class schedule brought with it a number of challenges. After her first year of study, she was moved into a more advanced class which made it quite difficult to keep up. It included topics like ancient Chinese and complex grammar.

Ruth was at work in shooting a video.

Outside of Class

Usually evenings and weekends are open for other activity. She loves to meet up with friends, chat and catch a coffee. Some of them are studying at other universities such as Tianjin University and Nankai University. Another hobby is participating in the production of short movies. The opportunity came after meeting a local Chinese producer called Liu Dongdong. He liked chatting with expats and met Ruth one day. They had a common bond, as she was also looking to talk to as many locals as possible to improve her Chinese. He has a media company and invited her to join in filming. Seeing it as a great opportunity to practice Chinese and better understand local culture, she accepted. It has been a very positive experience. The team writes a script and helps her prepare to go on camera. She is very appreciative for the opportunity as it seems to have helped improve her Chinese. The videos involve Ruth experiencing new and uncommon things to expats. For example, eating unique foods. In the past she was filming a new video at least once a week. Recently though she has taken a break from filming.

Ironically, she had never been involved with video production before coming to China. The goal in doing so at first wasn't even to get famous. She mainly saw it as an opportunity to learn Chinese and explore culture. The production process has been enjoyable, however the press that resulted was hard to accept. Especially early on, she didn't like all the extra attention around town and on campus. Another challenge is needing to always appear happy on camera regardless of what is going on at the time in real life. Not mention handling comments, criticism, and questions from fans via social media.

Conclusion

In many ways Ruth is similar to other expats studying in Tianjin. Dealing with a new culture, language and lifestyle are just a few of the initial challenges. She has also learned to live independently. With her parents in another country far away, from finances to loneliness, Ruth had to grow up and handle things on her own. Finding fame in a foreign country wasn't her original plan. That experience stresses the need to count the costs before getting involved with a project. After all, especially when it comes to digital media, there's no real way to delete content. Likewise, there is a cost to fame. Loss of privacy probably tops the list. JIN thanks Ruth for sharing her story and hopes she enjoys the rest of her time in Tianjin.