By Idowu Ola

If any one of the six UN languages can take the world back to the pre-Babel age when everyone spoke one language, I think Chinese has the greatest potential.

Unlike most widely spoken languages, Chinese has no colonial or religious undertones. Although it is native to only one country it is currently spoken by one-fifth of the world population.

The writing system for Chinese is based on a set of written symbols that has been passed down with little change for more than 2,000 years.

Classical Chinese is the source of the languages in present day China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea and some of the Southeast Asian nations.

Chinese are so proud of their culture and language that they enjoy giving foreigners Chinese names.

After about a month's stay in Beijing in 2005 my Chinese colleagues at the Institute of Zoology asked me to choose a Chinese name. I simply asked for the Chinese translation of my name, Ola, which means "Tomorrow". From then on, my Chinese name was "Mingtian".

I was not too surprised later to discover that there is a Chinese expression for every word found in other languages. In my host institute, whenever I requested some unusual chemicals, my colleagues had to check their English-Chinese dictionary to grasp what I needed.

I envied Chinese for having a common language despite their huge population and many ethnic groups. Even in Europe with only about 730 million people there are 23 official languages in the European Union. I wish Nigeria also had a common local language rather than a foreign language forced on the people by the colonial master.

Many Chinese are ashamed of their English and prefer to avoid foreigners who cannot speak Chinese.

While in China I had to lecture those who cared to listen that English is not my mother tongue even though it is the official language of my country. I made them realize that my English is far from perfect and if it were possible I would love to converse in Chinese. As in China many students in Nigeria also perceive English as a tough subject to grasp.

Unlike English, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish and other European languages which were spread across the globe by missionaries, merchandise and colonial powers, Chinese is now spreading worldwide freely studied by non-speakers.

Just as the post-World War II economic and technological gains of the United States led to the increased use of English, most people who now take the Chinese proficiency test or HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi) hope to study in China or do business with China or Chinese.

I'm aware that the number of people taking the test is increasing yearly and a Nigerian even scored the highest grade in the very recent past.

In Nigeria the Nnamdi Azikwe University in Akwa started to offer Chinese in 2006. A number of other universities plan to follow in the not too distant future, including my own Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife.

There is no evidence to suggest that either these universities or the Nigerian government is being persuaded by the Chinese government to spread Chinese to Nigeria.

The French are forever worrying about the overwhelming influence of the English language in today's world, and the High Commission for the French language is constantly working to banish all English words invading their language.

The list includes walkman, jumbo jet, meeting, parking, hamburger. Chinese simply coin their own words with the same meaning so that ordinary people can understand.

Any visitor to China will want to learn the language, not because it is simple or sweet but because of its complexity.

The fact that there is no alphabet and that two or more words when combined can have a meaning that seems completely unrelated to their individual meanings is part of the complexity. I was told that to be able to converse and write Chinese fluently one must memorize at least 10,000 to 50,000 characters.

The current status of China as a peaceful nation with no expansionist, dictatorial or oppressive ambitions or attitudes endears the Chinese language and culture to people the world over.

Dr Ludovic Lazarus Zamenhof hoped to solve global problems and conflicts through a universal language. His creation - Esperanto - never caught on.

But if China's peaceful reputation builds as it continues to consolidate its economic growth, that universal language could well be Chinese.

But this may not happen until the language is made easier and simpler to learn.

The author is a PhD with the Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria.

(China Daily March 30, 2007)