Courses on native languages of Taiwan run by the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales’ Taiwan Studies Program in collaboration with multiple Taiwanese higher education institutions have attracted hundreds of sign-ups from Europe.
Program director and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) lecturer Liu Chan-yueh (劉展岳) said the courses would be taught via an online learning platform commencing next month.
The platform not only enables foreigners from across the globe to learn about Taiwan, but would also train Taiwanese language teachers to help foreigners learn Taiwan’s native languages as second foreign language, he said.
Photo: Taipei Times
A total of 28 courses would be available, including five on Hoklo, two on Taiwanese Hakka, eight on Taiwanese indigenous languages and 13 on Taiwanese Mandarin, Liu said.
Hoklo courses received the most sign-ups with 223 students, while Taiwanese indigenous language courses were selected by 120 students, he said.
Most students are from European nations, including France, the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Latvia and Portugal, totaling 465 people, Liu said.
Most students expect to learn more about Taiwan through learning its various languages, while many overseas Taiwanese are seeking to deepen their ties with Taiwan through language learning, he said.
Taiwan’s diversity of languages and cultures is its edge and should be leveraged to connect the international community with contemporary Taiwan, he added.
Taiwan’s experience and fruitful outcomes in reviving its languages can also be shared with the world, Liu said, adding the mindset of “who would be interested?” should be changed when it comes to learning Taiwan’s languages.
The real question is how to provide space and motivate foreign people to learn the languages of Taiwan, he said, urging the government to bolster the external development of various languages by planning schemes and funding.
Partnering institutions include National Taiwan Normal University, National Kaohsiung Normal University, National Pingtung University, National Chengchi University, National Central University, National Taichung University of Education, National Cheng Kung University, and the Indigenous Languages Research and Development Foundation.
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a political foundation based on the “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today said during her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Both sides of the Strait should plan and build institutionalized and sustainable mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation based on that foundation to make peaceful development across the Strait irreversible, she said. Peace is a shared moral value across the Strait, and both sides should move beyond political confrontation to seek institutionalized solutions to prevent war, she said. Mutually beneficial cross-strait relations are what the
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
RSS