Words such as "devil" (guizi) and "base camp" (genjudi) are to be removed from the list of words that foreign students of Chinese are recommended to learn.

In a new set of guidelines published last week by Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU), a number of words that were considered outdated were deleted from vocabulary lists to be distributed nationally to teachers of Chinese as a second language.

The deleted words include words that were considered to be obsolete political terminology, such as commune (gongshe), and potentially offensive words like "devil," a common wartime anti-Japanese slur.

According to Professor Liu Yinglin of BLCU, an academic involved in the formulation of the new list, the guidelines had undergone lots of change since the previous guidelines issued in 1992.

However, some teachers of Chinese believe that these words are an important part of understanding China, and should remain in textbooks. "The words are very important in terms of China's culture and history, and students should still be learning them," said Li Heming, founder of the Beijing Chinese Teachers Club.

"Some university students actually find these words interesting and useful in their study of China," he added.

Additionally, a selection of modern words, such as "mobile phone" (shouji), Internet (wangluo) and "to go online" (shang wang) had been added to the list.

Despite the updated vocabulary, slang words popular on the Internet, such as "gei li" (awesome) were not included in the latest guidelines. "These words are also worthy of being taught. Teachers can't give students a brief description of what they mean, and many students like to learn them," said Li.

The guidelines will be in full effect from next February.

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