Sandeep Biswas.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Some typical pronunciations in Chinese like z, c, yu etc are simply nightmares for many students. After spending years, because of their heavy mother tongue influence, they still find it difficult to produce the exact pronunciation resembling Chinese. The even more difficult part is the script. Chinese characters (pictograms) are very difficult to memorize. For these difficulties many students fail to grasp the language as per the requirement. The language is so difficult for the Indian students that though many institutes are looking forward to open Chinese language courses, but due to lack of good teachers they are unable to do it.

Besides this, most difficult part is the inappropriate cultural understanding of China. Because of some prejudices towards its culture, people sometimes fail to understand the Chinese culture. Cultural misunderstanding sometimes effect bilateral foreign diplomacy. This observation compelled me to study cross-cultural communication and understanding between the two Asian giants.

Sandeep Biswas is the Assistant Professor of Chinese language at Central University of Jharkhand in India. He is currently visiting Beijing to participate in the third Visiting Program for Young Sinologists till July 24. He writes this article exclusively for chinadaily.com.cn.