Languages bind China, Russia closer

In April, Chinese and Russian youngsters along with their teachers pose for a photo during a camp in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, which was organized by the Association of Sino-Russian Middle Schools and focused on education, technology and sports. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Yi, er, san, si, wu, liu, qi, Wo de li wu zai zhe li.

A jumble of strange sounds foreign to millions of Anastasia Prytkova's Russian compatriots slip off her tongue as effortlessly as if she had been uttering them since she was a baby. Throw in a delightful melody, and suddenly the Chinese language does not seem as intimidating and as difficult as it is usually cracked up to be.

What she speaks means "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, my gift is here."

And what a gift this is, one that has put ninth-grader Anastasia from Novosibirsk, Russia, on a path that is likely to shape her life.

For the past three years she has been studying Mandarin online with a Russian teacher, cultivating her fascination with a country she has so far had no physical contact with.

"My favorite food is kung pao chicken," she said in Chinese. The dish is a favorite in Sichuan province, the home of spicy food, and is a place she dreams of visiting. Seeing the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors is also on her wish list, but for now, there is still plenty of Chinese learning to do.

Anastasia is aware of the challenge ahead, even as she senses the rich rewards that await her. Her aim is to become a transportation engineer and to pursue a master's degree at a Chinese university.

Her mother, Oksana Prytkova, views China as the ideal training ground for the skills Anastasia wants to master. Pointing to her daughter's passion for robotics and programming, she said: "In these disciplines it makes sense to study Chinese, because there is a lot worth learning in China."