A specialized group of foreigners is studying the country's non-Han tongues. Belle Taylor speaks with overseas students of ethnic vernaculars.

Chinese is becoming a second language of choice in schools throughout the world as the country's economy rises - but not everyone is interested in learning Pu-tonghua or even dialects.

A handful of foreigners are coming to China to study languages spoken by the 55 ethnicities other than the Han.

The Han account for about 90 percent of the population, and their language with its incalculable dialects - particularly Putonghua - are what's thought of as the Chinese language, especially overseas. But the country's ethnic diversity has given root to dozens of other languages with their own dialectal trees.

Some, like Tibetan, are widely spoken in particular regions. Others are spoken by small communities in remote areas.

Julie Lefort, from Mauritius, spent a year between 2009 and 2010 living in southern Gansu province, studying the ethnic Dongxiang language as part of her field research for her PhD on sociolinguistics and contact-language aspects.

"It's a small community for China, but there are 300,000 members," Lefort says.

She says the Dongxiang people speak a Mongolic language but have nothing to do with the Mongolian people. Their ancestors were mainly Turkish, possibly Persian, artisans deported by Genghis Khan's (1162-1227) troops to Gansu during the late 12th century.

Having already studied standard Chinese and Mongolian, Lefort says she did not find the language difficult to pick up. But, culturally speaking, the Muslim community is far removed from Lefort's world.

"They have a very, very restricted knowledge of the world," Lefort says.

She explains that anybody entering the community - Chinese beyond the region or foreign - would be equally alien. She says 70 percent of the women only receive three years of schooling, at which point they end their educations to concentrate on home duties.

"When I came and I was telling them I was doing my PhD, that was like outer space for them," Lefort says.

"They couldn't understand the purpose of my study, why would I study their language, because they are in such poor economic conditions. They are in a very daily survival kind of mode."

Riga Shakya, who is ethnically Tibetan but grew up in the United Kingdom, has returned to his ancestral homeland to study modern Tibetan literature. He first visited Lhasa when he was 10 years old but grew up speaking Tibetan with his family in London.

"I was lucky enough to grow up with my grandfather, who used to be a monk," Shakya says.

"Both my parents speak very fluent English, so at times I would speak to them in English. But my grandfather would always speak to me in Tibetan."

Shakya is currently studying modern Tibetan literature in the Tibet autonomous region's capital Lhasa. He's based out of the University of Toronto. He says there's an average of about 20 foreign students a year in his course, and he's unusual in having family ties to the region.

"This year there are about four or five Americans, three or four Japanese," Shakya says, adding people are drawn to study the language for different reasons.

"(Students have) a general interest in Tibetan culture or perhaps in wider Himalayan culture. Most of the students have been to Tibet before or ... India.

"Another big motivation is Tibetan Buddhism. Last year, there were eight Japanese students, and all of them were interested in Tibetan Buddhism or had already started to look into Buddhism and were learning Tibetan in order to read sutras."

Shakya and Lefort point out the act of studying the language is about more than just communicating with people.

Learning a language also integrates you into a culture.

And studying a tongue not widely spoken exposes one to a world that's sometimes rarely seen by outsiders.

"Even though I went to Dongxiang primarily for my academic work, it was a great human experience that enriched me as a person," Lefort says.

"I met wonderful people with whom I made true friends. And I think that is the real benefit that I got from this experience."

Contact the writer at belletaylor@chinadaily.com.cn.

Julie Lefort (middle), from Mauritius, spent a year living in southern Gansu province, studying the ethnic Dongxiang language as part of her field research. Photos Provided to China Daily

(China Daily 06/08/2014 page3)