Students sometimes swap swords for language lessons

It's not all just kicking and punching for the African students at the Shaolin Temple.

At 2 pm, after several hours of kung fu training, the group is summoned to the temple's main hall with a simply shout of jihe (assemble). They then walk five minutes to a classroom and sit down ready for a mental workout.

Zhang Lifei, a Chinese-language teacher, is there waiting for them.

"Learning Mandarin is a good way to help the students understand Chinese culture. They acquire language skills and culture at the same time," Zhang says.

The 20 students are divided into four groups, and Zhang asks each to introduce themselves to the class in Chinese.

"This is my classmate. We are very happy to come to the Shaolin Temple to learn Kung fu," Li Sheung Ying Kiat How, a university student from Mauritius, says after standing up.

The 20-year-old, whose grandmother is from China, began learning Mandarin when he was 14. "I'm not good at Chinese, but I can say some words, and I will try," he adds.

As the African students mainly speak French, Ngalle Emmanuel, 29, a native of Comoros who has lived at the temple for four years, helps to translate for Zhang.

"I learned Chinese at the Shaolin Temple. The more you communicate with the masters, the better you will be," says "Emma", as he is known around the temple, in fluent Mandarin.

Sefoudine Soilihi, who is also from Comoros, says the language was entirely new to him when he arrived at the start of the training program in July. Now, he says, it is amazing to be able to talk with Chinese people.

"I can't speak it very well, but I'd like to," says the 24-year-old. "In addition to learning Mandarin, we also study Chinese medicine and calligraphy, which gives us a new perspective to understand Chinese people and culture."

When asked whether he likes calligraphy, he adds: "Using a brush is different from using a pen or pencil. It's hard to remember the characters, much harder than speaking the language, but it's interesting."