“Diàn ti Zài Naěr?” It’s Monday afternoon, and Akilah Institute students are learning how to give directions to the nearest elevator in Mandarin Chinese.

Instructor Katie Dale with students

The Chinese language class is a new initiative at Akilah, open to all students but focused on equipping Hospitality Management students with the skills needed to respond to the increasing number of Chinese visitors in East Africa. As they prepare to take on leadership roles in the growing hotel and tourism industry in the region, Akilah’s students are eager to learn useful Mandarin phrases.

“It’s so good,” says Joyeuse Uwase, a Hospitality Management student in her first year at Akilah. “It’s important in our industry to be able to communicate with people from around the world, and I definitely expect this to be very useful in my future jobs. The pronunciation is hard — but it’s fun!”

The six week course is being taught by Katie Dale, a Criminal Justice student from Rutger’s University in New Jersey. After researching the high influx of Chinese businesses and investments in the East African region, the initial idea for an exchange program between Rutgers and Akilah quickly evolved into the development of a Mandarin curriculum.

“I love it, it’s so rewarding to see how much the students are paying attention and how fast they’re learning. The class is not mandatory, so the girls who come here, come because they really want to learn — they’re so motivated. They even asked me to give them more work in between classes — and things to work on after the course ends.”

At the end of class, students are eagerly transferring the day’s slides from Katie’s computer to their Kindles, so they can continue studying from home. Aside from the classroom curriculum, the students will have access to tutorial videos, additional readings and more worksheets to continue their studies after Katie leaves.

Thank you to Katie for expanding our curriculum and bringing new learning opportunities to the Akilah Institute!