广播听力:Students at Beijing's Cervantes Institute Learn a Bit of Espanol

As Beijing becomes more international and China expands its market reach around the world, a growing number of Chinese are learning languages other than English to improve their career prospects and broaden their understanding of foreign cultures. Some are focusing on learning Spanish at the Cervantes Institute language school downtown.

Andrea Hunt has more.

Students attend Spanish-language classes at the Cervantes Institute two, three or even five days a week, conjugating irregular Spanish verbs, rolling their's in a way completely unnatural in their mother tongue, and discussing the wonders of Spanish cinema on weekends.

Manuel Fernández-Conde, Director of Studies, says although the Cervantes Institute in Beijing is the only one of its kind in all of China, studying Spanish has recently become more popular among residents in the capital.

A student from Liaoning province in northeast China, who prefers to be called by her adopted Spanish name, Sofia, attends classes here five days a week in hopes that her foreign language skills will eventually land her a well-paid job.

"The language is very important in my country. If I can speak Spanish well, then I can get a better job."

Paco Lopez from Granada, Spain, has been teaching at the Cervantes Institute for a year. He agrees that Spanish will help the Chinese students to get better jobs in the long run.

"There are a lot of companies in the Spanish market. This will give them the possibility to develop their careers in this direction. They will have an opportunity to get a job."

Beijing resident Zhuang Hui studies here four hours a day, five days a week, but for another reason.

"In fact, for me, it has nothing to do with my career. The truth is that my field is actually in information engineering which is something completely different. For me, it's more about learning the language out of enthusiasm and above all, it's about getting to know the culture."

Li Lei, a native of Fujing in northeast China and a recent law school graduate, is known by his adopted Spanish name Roman. He says his interest in learning Spanish at the Cervantes Institute was also not work-related.

"For starters, I am a big football fan, especially of Spanish football. So at first, I started studying Spanish more as a hobby. But then little by little, I realized that Spanish was a very important language in the world, and for us, it's a crucial tool in the 21st century."