In September 2016, Pedro Sacadura Nuno delivers a speech as a freshman representative at the opening ceremony for new graduate students at Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU).

I'm Pedro Sacadura Nuno from Portugal. Until I turned 20, I lived in Portugal, but I've always had a deep passion for foreign languages. Speaking a language that others couldn't understand felt almost magical to me. I was captivated by different letters, characters, and even unique writings created in films and novels. In addition to studying French, Latin, and German in school, I taught myself Arabic, Spanish, Esperanto, and the Elvish language created by British writer J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973) in his novel Lord of the Rings. At the age of 16, I picked up an elementary Chinese textbook at a book fair. That was my first exposure to Chinese, and it marked the beginning of my encounter with China, a country both ancient and beautiful.

After graduation from high school, I faced a brief period of uncertainty. I knew I wanted to study languages but wasn't sure which one to focus on. At that time, my father came across an article in the newspaper about the recruitment of the Portuguese-Chinese translation and interpretation major at the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (renamed Polytechnic University of Leiria later) in a city about 150 km from Lisbon, capital of Portugal. This major was different from other majors in that students would spend their second and third years studying in Macao, China. The news, like a beacon of light, dispelled the confusion in my heart. Without hesitation, I chose this major and even began teaching myself Chinese during the summer vacation before classes started.