The Ghana Immigration Service has started giving its personnel lessons in Chinese due to the growing number of Chinese nationals coming into the country.

According to the Service, the number of Chinese nationals has reached significant proportions which have required the immigration officials to rise up to the changing times and be able to communicate with them at least at the airport.

Supt. Ankomah Gyasi who emerged the overall best student told Joy News “Chinese is one of the dominant national we have in our country currently so it is important for us to understand them when they come.”

He added that learning the language will give the officers the opportunity to communicate directly with the Chinese especially on issues concerning on national security.

“We will not call on other people because some of the things we discuss bother on national security, it is prudent for us to be able to decode whatever they tell us,” he said.

On Friday, January 5, some personnel who have completed basic Chinese lessons performed a mini-drama to demonstrate their proficiency in the language.

The tutorial was given by the Confucius Institute at the University of Ghana.

Director Dr. Josephine Dzahene-Quarshie encouraged the immigration officials to use the Chinese language whenever they get the chance so they can improve on their proficiency.

“You have spoken nicely this morning [referring to the drama act] but I can guarantee you if you don’t speak any Chinese in the next two, three or four weeks you will not be able to repeat what you have done,” she stated.

“It is my hope that you will not rest but strive to maintain and build on the level of proficiency you have acquired in the Chinese language through independent study and more importantly by using the language at every given opportunity,” Dr. Dzahene-Quarshie added.

She added, “because the only way to maintain proficiency in a language is to speak it, keep at the language, keep practising you and I can assure you that you will remain with the language and it will keep getting better and better.”