Another modest proposal
Taiwan has long obsessed over English education. Children start studying the language early in elementary school. Kids go to cram schools their entire academic lives. For any self-respecting parent, sending your offspring to a bilingual kindergarten is a virtual requirement. Native speakers are brought in to supplement Taiwanese teachers’ instruction at public schools.
But for all the time, effort and money put into this project, little progress has been made. Taiwanese still feel they lag far behind regional rivals in English ability.
Yet this island is overlooking a successful and effective method of raising the quality of English education: implementing the same steps that were taken to teach Mandarin in the years after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) arrived.
All school instruction should be conducted in English only, which would also require replacing all the curriculum material and most instructors. The amount of local language television programming should be strictly limited to a few hours a day, and the remainder of programs should be subtitled and dubbed in English. Children should be fined or spanked for speaking non-English languages in school. Spy rings of children will help teachers enforce the English-only code. Non-English books, including Chinese-English dictionaries, should be banned.
Further, the government should nurture an environment where English is viewed as prestigious and other languages are demeaned as low-class and shameful or even un-patriotic. All government business and documents will be in English. While we’re at it, Big-5 encoding must be banned and Chinese language Web sites will have to be blocked.
Within 10 years of implementing this program, Taiwan will speak better English than Hong Kong, Singapore and all her other regional rivals. Foreign companies would have no problem setting up shop in our newly native English-speaking environment. And people can still speak local languages like Mandarin at home, so there’s no danger that mother tongues would be wiped out.
This is, after all, the tried and true method of language instruction. Why delay implementation any longer?
Jason Cox
Kaohsiung
Ma’s bold first steps
Much has been written about the KMT administration’s first month in office. A small fraction of that reportage has focused on the achievements of Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government, but it has been drowned out by issues that are either nearly beyond the control of the executive (global economic health for example) or have occurred outside of government influence (the recent clash over the Diaoyutais).
Regarding the former, Ma has allowed fuel prices to rise in anticipation of further increases later. Though it was a tough decision to make, he is planning for a soft landing and should be lauded for his focus on the long term welfare of Taiwan’s population. On the latter issue, his refusal to engage directly and intervene when less capable party stalwarts in the legislature threw up their arms and shouted slogans demonstrates the good judgment of a governor and the maturity of a regional leader.
Whether this incident damages ties with Japan remains to be seen, but with the current cordial and communicative relations with China, many may be asking whether a new alignment in Asia will mean security derived from countries other than Japan and the US.
Facing increases in international oil prices, Ma is sensible in wishing to open up direct links with China as soon as possible. Ma has been bold, and may trip, but he has started out determined and clear-headed about the mistakes of the past and challenges of the future.
Though some may look for bad news out of partisan spite, there can be little denying that a big change has happened and one that prioritizes substantive pragmatism over hollow nationalism. It is hoped that both sides of the strait can now reconcile their differences, avoid confrontational issues and unify all Chinese peoples in a common endeavor for a secure future.
Milton Liao
Chicago
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