An institute here has started a 10-week Chinese-speaking course for foreign diplomats, a media report said Sunday.

Fifty-six diplomats from 26 countries will attend the course every weekend, China Daily reported.

The programme was launched Saturday by the Confucius Institute. Diplomats and their spouses will spend two-and-a-half hours every weekend learning how to speak Chinese.

Apart from the language, cultural topics such as Chinese opera, calligraphy and Chinese drawing are included in the course.

"Our male diplomats' wives would be more than happy if their husbands learned not only Chinese but how to cook a Chinese meal," said vice minister of education Hao Ping at the launch.

To better tailor the course to the demands of these special students, the institute divided them into four classes with a maximum of 15 students, and at two levels -- beginner and intermediate.

The beginners will learn to ask time and date, and to greet in Chinese. Those at the intermediate level will focus on describing things, expressing feelings and more complicated sentences.

In addition, each diplomat is assigned a volunteer from the Beijing Foreign Studies University who is majoring in the language the diplomat speaks. They will practice speaking with the diplomats.

"I have been in Beijing for almost four years, but never really got a chance to study Chinese. It is a good opportunity to learn the language and culture," said Juan Enrique Moya Suarez of the embassy of Chile.

Lucy Sunkuli, wife of the ambassador of Kenya, said she hopes to go shopping and ordering food in Chinese after the programme.

This is the second Chinese programme for foreign diplomats. The first one was attended by 31 diplomats from 16 embassies in July.