Pēteris Pildegovičs: It Is My Destiny to Create Chinese-Latvian Dictionaries

Confucius Institute at the University of Latvia is a success story

This year the UL Confucius Institute celebrates its fifth anniversary. How did it start? All activities began in May 2011. At the time I taught Chinese at the University of Latvia and corresponded with colleagues from South China University of Pedagogy in Guangzhou. We worked with enthusiasm for six months, and as a result, on 12 November 2011 the UL Confucius Institute was opened in the presence of the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Latvia. Initially I was solely responsible for the work of the new institution. Later a secretary joined and in the spring of 2012 the director of Chinese side arrived. Confucius Institutes, more than 400 in the world, are traditionally governed by two directors, each representing a local side or the Chinese side respectively. I am the director of the Latvian side and we work together with Professor Shang Quanyu, director of the Chinese side. What was the impulse of creating such an institute in Latvia? At the time it was the first decade of Confucius Institutes in the world. Their creation began in 2004. The practice of other countries was attractive due to the fact that China sends their own teachers. We have to pay to the Latvian-side director and the secretary, whereas China provides payments for the Chinese-side director and teachers. Those are very good rules. We understood that Latvia will benefit from such an institute in teaching Chinese and gaining understanding of Chinese culture. The project turned out to be successful. What has been done during these five years? When the professor from China arrived, we laid the foundation of the UL Confucius Institute. We set up and furnished four study rooms in Rūpniecības street where all our classes take place. In the library of the Faculty of Theology we have a whole wall of bookshelves with books on China. In the first year we had just one teacher – a volunteer. In China volunteers are either graduates or undergraduates. Teaching at the Institute for them is a kind of teaching practicum. By that time the Chinese language was taught at the UL Confucius Institute, at the UL Department of Asian Studies, at Riga Culture Secondary School and at Riga Secondary School No 68. Already in the first school year of 2012/2013 we discussed the possibility of teaching Chinese also at Rezekne Higher Education Institution and Daugavpils University. In Latvia the Chinese language has been taught successfully already for four years, and this year we have as many as eight volunteer teachers. In Riga, Chinese is taught also at the Transport and Telecommunication Institute, Riga Secondary School No 34, whereas in Jelgava at the Latvia University of Agriculture and at Jelgava Spidola Gymnasium. Daugavpils University and Rezekne Higher Education Institution have opened Confucius classrooms, which in fact marks a new stage. They may invite highly qualified teachers, as well as volunteers. Both higher education institutions in Latgale have three to four groups studying Chinese. This means for us a good progress. Do you have any data how many Latvians during these years have mastered Chinese? The Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Latvia has mentioned that approximately 500 people in Latvia know Chinese. I agree that there are hundreds of such people. I started teaching Chinese at the UL in 1986, and Mr. Edgars Katajs had already been teaching Japanese. In 1993 we established the Department of Asian Studies where I was the only Chinese teacher. Since 1994 our students have gone for traineeships to China every year. At the beginning, some tens of students chose their traineeship in China, but now – hundreds of them do. What are other bonuses offered by the Confucius Institute? The school year is divided into two semesters at the Confucius Institute. At the end of each semester there is a Chinese proficiency exam; the test works are then electronically sent to Peking. We receive exam results from them. With the permission of Confucius Institute Headquarters the successful students can go to study in China for a month, a semester of even for a whole year. With the help of the Confucius Institute dozens of students have been to traineeships there and have considerably improved their Chinese language proficiency. In September you celebrated the first significant anniversary – 5 years. On the 23rd of September we had three celebrations: 5 year anniversary of the UL Confucius Institute, International Confucius Institute Day and at the same time we celebrated 25^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Latvia and China. I have worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 10 years, and since 1991 I have contacts with the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Riga. My task at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was to create the Asian Department and to open the Embassy of Latvia in China in 1998.

"16+1" Summit and Sinologists' Symposium

As regards China, this year is special for Latvia – on 4-5 November Riga hosts ambitious "16+1" meeting with participants from Central and Eastern European countries and China. And we are to have a large symposium of sinologists as well! This"16+1" format aims at further promotion of the New Silk Road project. The prime ministers of 16 countries (the Baltic States, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia) will gather in Riga to discuss the economic cooperation. Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang will arrive as well. This event is organized by the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economics and other ministries. On November 5, the meeting of sinologists from 16 countries will take place in parallel with the "16+1" summit. It is expected that the sinologists from 16 countries will exchange views on their achievements in Chinese Studies and in teaching Chinese. For example, Poland has centuries old sinology traditions, while Bulgarians started teaching Chinese in 1953. Also Czechs have an old school of sinology at the Charles University in Prague. We will know much more about the development of sinology in the region and the world after this symposium. Several representatives of Confucius Institute Headquarters in China will arrive to Latvia to attend the symposium. There are more than 400 Confucius Institutes in the world. In December, China will host the annual Global Meeting of Confucius Institutes. Last year it attracted as many as 2,300 people. It was great. Travel and accommodation expenses of all the participants were covered by the Headquarters. I think that there is no other organisation in the world that promotes its country in such a way. What are the expectations for Latvia from the ambitious "16+1" summit? One of the issues discussed already for a long time is the railway transit from China to Latvia through Kazakhstan and Russia. The test cargo train is on its way from Peking to Latvia and it is supposed to arrive during the summit when the prime ministers of "16+1" are here. Latvian Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis has said wisely that it is good that the first train is going to arrive soon, but it would be even better if the second and the third one arrived after it as well. The second issue discussed for years is direct flights. The agenda of the meeting in Riga will also include the question of establishing air service between China and Latvia, however, the task is difficult because first it is necessary to have a sufficient number of passengers.

Latvian-Chinese and Chinese-Latvian dictionary is to be presented soon.

Tell us more about your new dictionary that will first see the light of day on the 5th of November at the Latvian National Library so"16+1" participants will be able to see the ‘opening ceremony’. The book is my personal work. It should be noted that the Big Chinese-Latvian Dictionary was published in 2010. In January 2011 I started working on the Latvian-Chinese and Chinese-Latvian dictionary, and it will be presented in Riga during the summit. It is a coincidence to some extent. I completed the manuscript in April. During summer I had very hard working hours. There were six dictionary revision and editing stages. The requirements of publishing houses are very strict – each hieroglyph is checked. There were periods during the summer when I had no weekends. Our cooperative work with the publisher in China was completed in September. What else is characteristic of this new dictionary? This is the first Latvian dictionary of the kind. People would call such dictionaries “Oxford dictionary”. In Chinese the title of the dictionary is short and elegant, whereas in Latvian it would be "Latvian-Chinese and Chinese-Latvian Dictionary of Selective Lexis". Such title would sound heavy, thus, it is made laconic: Latvian-Chinese and Chinese-Latvian Dictionary. The lexis included in the dictionary is adequate for the time we live in. I started learning Chinese before the Cultural Revolution. Today the vocabulary of that time does not exist in China at all. I mentioned this to illustrate a commonly known phenomenon – the constant change of languages. Creation of dictionaries can be considered my destiny. Being the first teacher of Chinese in Latvia, I understood that we lacked the necessary "tools" which were desperately needed. In turn, the process of creating dictionary is to some extent as a life in "a monk’s cell". It is the only way to succeed. It is interesting that I was the first to take this road, but the road is endless. How large is the dictionary? Latvian-Chinese dictionary consists of 8,400 words and 13,200 phrases. Whereas Chinese-Latvian dictionary consists of 4,500 single hieroglyphs and 15,500 phrases. A single hieroglyph can be one word or a syllable in a multi-syllable word. The dictionary requires a lot of hard work. It takes years of intensive work. If I hadn’t worked on this project regularly I would still be in the process. So, you are a zealot, right? Yes, to a great extent. When will the dictionary be presented to the Latvian public? At the end of November or in December.

Latvia is a Leader in Sinology аmong the Baltic States

Thanks to you and the Confucius Institute in Riga the University of Latvia can obviously be proud of good results in teaching the Chinese language and studying Chinese culture heritage. The fact that the Chinese language is taught at so many educational establishments and cities in such a small country as Latvia demonstrates that we are keeping up with the rest of the world. The Asian Department of the UL Faculty of Humanities continues teaching Chinese. So, the Confucius Institute is not the only opportunity. We do not compete because professional knowledge is provided by the UL Asian Department. Whereas the Confucius Institute helps to acquire the basics of Chinese in five levels. After the exam of the Chinese language proficiency successful students can get the opportunity to master their knowledge in China. When I participated in the meeting of European Confucius Institutes in Vienna, I saw that thanks to Confucius Institute there are people in all European countries who can speak beautiful Chinese.