Staff reporter, with staff writer
A five-year-old Bunun boy on Monday became the youngest child in 10 years to be certified as proficient in an Aboriginal language.
Camake, who lives in Kaohsiung’s Namasiya District (那瑪夏), learned the Bunun language because he is surrounded by native speakers, said his mother, Ibu, adding that she was elated to see him pass the proficiency test.
Ibu said her work, which involves promoting the use of Aboriginal languages, often takes her to junior-high schools and kindergartens.
Her son is surrounded by Bunun speakers at home and at his kindergarten, she said.
Last year, when Ibu went to register for the master-level proficiency test, she registered her son in the beginner-level test “just for fun,” she said.
However, at the time Camake was still unable to use a computer, so he could not take the test, she said.
This year, after registering Camake for the test again, she taught him how to use the computer and helped him prepare, she said.
“He can use common Bunun words and expressions, and can tell stories using pictures. Once he learns to read and write, he will be at an intermediate level,” she said.
The certificate might come in handy when Camake looks for a job in the future, but more important is that he speaks more in the language and uses it in his everyday life, she said.
She also often encourages other parents in the Aboriginal community to speak their ancestral languages with their children at home, she said.
Speaking at Monday’s certification ceremony, Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod said that 5,405 people passed the certification test this year, with 2,245 of those in the beginner category.
The intermediate category had 3,160 successful test-takers, the youngest being seven years old, he said.
The council began promoting Aboriginal-language immersion at the kindergarten level in 2014, with the aim of “seizing the golden age for language learning,” he said.
Immersion kindergartens hold classes in Aboriginal languages for four hours per day, he said.
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