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Download When Liu Jianrong was transferred to the Romanian specialty program at Beijing Foreign Studies University in 2009 after failing to win a place in the French degree course, she was upset. Two years later, after working hard at the lesser-known European language and making a trip to Romania as an exchange student, she has changed her mind. "I feel lucky in the end to have studied Romanian, because if I hadn't majored in Romanian I wouldn't have had the chance to visit this interesting Eastern Europe country," Liu said. Liu, who hails from Qingdao, Shandong province, is among 11 students who enrolled in BFSU's undergraduate Romanian program in 2009. With government funding, all her classmates have visited Romania as part of the one-year overseas program at the University of Bucharest, practicing language skills while experiencing the unique local culture. "It's kind of an advantage of our specialty, because almost everyone can take part in this trip, while others majoring in more popular languages like French have to compete fiercely to qualify for rare trips to Europe," said the 23-year-old. BFSU teaches dozens of Central and Eastern European languages, and Romanian has developed into an attractive and mature discipline at the university, aided by a practical curriculum and rich teaching materials. "The specialty was built upon the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Romania," said Zhao Gang, dean of the school of European languages at BFSU. "Though it's still a minor subject, the development of proficient Romanian speakers is crucial for maintaining bilateral ties." | 
