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.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
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