New requirements of the labor market, business environment and education require changes in the education system, the need to come up with new approaches and offers. One of the key tasks of education is to prepare graduates and participating professional public, or other candidates, for new conditions and practice requirements. The shift in education is also reflected in the language competencies that are now becoming dominant. The Language Center of the Faculty of Arts at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra (UKF) has responded quickly to today's demands. In addition to traditionally offered foreign languages, such as English, German, Russian, Italian, and Arabic, the Chinese language courses have been introduced in response to increasing demand of the current situation in university education. 

The Chinese language is undoubtedly the language of the economic and industrial future, not only in the European but also in the worldwide context. The Language Center of the Faculty of Arts at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra (UKF), in cooperation with Confucius Institute in Bratislava in the summer semester 2016/2017 expanded its offer by adding the Chinese language and offered a Chinese language course for beginners. The opportunity to complete the course was used by students as well as teachers. Within the pilot semester, led by a qualified Chinese lecturer Mr. Zhang, participants learned how to distinguish basic Chinese tones, up to 150 commonly used characters, and hold a simple conversation on basic social topics. The response exceeded all expectations. The courses met with great interest and the participants expressed their will to continue in the upcoming period. Therefore, the Language Center has decided to include the subject course – Chinese language – in the study program as an optional subject. We believe that this attractive offer will be interesting to other prospective clients from the academic community of UKF.