江苏留学网

Two workers from the YoyiC plant in Indonesia learn Chinese from teachers at the Jiangsu Food and Pharmaceutical Science College. [Photo/jsenews.com]

Teachers from Jiangsu Food and Pharmaceutical Science College are offering online Chinese courses to workers at the Indonesian plant of YoyiC, a liquid yogurt brand under Chinese diary giant Mengniu, local media reported May 13.

The school-enterprise cooperation agreement was signed in October 2019 as the Jiangsu school agreed to cultivate workers who can meet the enterprise's development needs, from language learning to sharpening professional skills.

Though Chinese language teachers could not make their way to Indonesia as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe, their classes were not suspended as they used the internet to deliver livestreaming classes to local workers.

"It was my first time working as a livestream host," said a teacher surnamed Wang. "I've had many problems while giving a class, but all those did not matter. I just keep learning and improving."

Wang's classes were rich in pictures, videos and audio materials to attract the workers and enhance their understanding of Chinese language and culture. She stayed online after class to answer students' questions, making sure that no one's problem was left unsolved.

"The Chinese language classes were so interesting that I was reluctant to have classes end and my Chinese has been improving," said Aris Kurniawan, an Indonesian worker.

The teacher also used Chinese and Indonesian to encourage students who answered her questions quickly and neatly.

"You read very well, sangat bagus (meaning very good in Indonesian)," Wang said.

Top managers from the company also gave a thumbs-up to the classes for having ignited interest in learning Chinese among workers and helping them make remarkable progress over several classes.

Mengniu started to sell its YoyiC liquid yogurt in Indonesia in 2018. Indonesia is the most populous country in Southeast Asia with more than 200 million people. The company is expected to offer 1,000 jobs to Indonesians in five years.