The Chinese people have never been afraid of foreign languages. With several major and a score of minor dialects of their own, they long have been accustomed to learning a strange tongue. Of course, they have the advantage of a single written language, but experience with different pronunciations has enabled them to approach the study of English or French or German without fear and with confidence that a good accent can be mastered by anyone.
On Taiwan, the universality of a Chinese language has been achieved with the use of the Mandarin (or Peiping) dialect in the schools and for all official purposes. Taiwanese is spoken in the homes of the island-born, but everyone knows some Mandarin, and school-age children speak it fluently. The older generation also knows Japanese from the colonial period that lasted from 1895 to 1945.
Even so, such foreign language and dialect familiarity does not fully explain the determination to learn English—French, German, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, and other languages—that obsesses a large segment of the island's nearly 12 million people. No matter where the foreign tourist may wander, there is always a middle school student or a housewife who will smilingly bid him "hello" and tryout some English conversation, however haltingly.
The foreign language boom is explicable in terms of China's traditional respect for learning of every sort, of the job opportunities that exist for those with command of Western tongues (Taiwan will have more than 100,000 tourists this year), the hope of studying or traveling abroad, and the desire to read materials that are not readily available in Chinese or that do not translate well.
English is in the ascendancy, as everywhere else in the world, because of the Republic of China's long and close association with the United States, and also because most of the foreigners in Taiwan speak English, even when it is a second language. Throughout the world, the lingua franca is most often English, and in Taiwan it is a required subject in middle schools and colleges.
Evening students of language not only are quick and eager students but enjoy themselves. (File photo)
However, the growth of foreign language study is not merely a result of academic requirement. Classes flourish at adult education schools that operate by night as well as day. Especially in the beginning classes, enrollment is almost always at capacity. Counting everyone, it is estimated that about 550,000 persons are engaged in some kind of formal language study on Taiwan. That is five per cent of the population.
Six Years of English
English study begins in the seventh grade, or first year of lower middle school, and is compulsory for six years. At present, there are about 400,000 middle school students attending English classes taught by more than 2,600 teachers.
Beginners study English three hours a week. In the, third and last year of lower middle school, a fourth hour is added. Upper middle schools (10th through 12th grades) require five hours a week for three years. Some schools have increased the number of class hours in hope of better results. However, the maximum is six.
Reading and writing are emphasized in lower middle schools.. The conversational method is not much used, partly because of the inadequate preparation of teachers, who can rely on textbooks for phonetic notation, spelling, and grammar.
Chinese students find grammar the most difficult part of learning English. Chinese also has a complicated grammar, but it is quite different from that of English and children learn it naturally-perhaps with less trouble than English-speaking youngsters learn their own grammar.
In recent years, some schools have realized that after six years of study, their students still cannot speak English. They have begun an "oral plus written work" campaign. Two hours of English conversation are offered to upper middle school students. The class is not compulsory but few fail to take part. In Taipei, more than 50 American women have volunteered to teach conversation without pay.
Language Labs
Texts are available for reading, grammar, and conversation. Quizzes are given nearly every week" and examinations four times a semester. Examinations include comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, and dictation.
After six years, most students are able to read and write. But as indicated before, speaking is another matter.
English classes at colleges and universities stress conversation and creative writing. Some schools have language labs equipped with tape recorders. Of nearly 50,000 college students, about 80 per cent are engaged in language study.
English is compulsory for all freshmen, who receive four credits for each of two semesters. After that, English becomes an elective. Many students take another three years, and English majors are common.
For most students, two years of a second language is required, beginning in the sophomore year. Languages available include French, Spanish, German, Russian, Arabic, and Japanese. After their seven years of English, students tend to pick up the second language quickly. They usually have a fair command of reading and writing after two years, although they may be faulty in conversation.
The Taiwan Provincial Normal University, which trains the largest number of middle school teachers, established an English Language Training Center in 1955 with the cooperation of the Asia Foundation, which has provided facilities and some of the instructors. The purpose is to supply middle schools with competent English teachers.
Teacher Training
The Center offers a four-year course that stresses conversational fluency. About 30 are graduated annually and become middle school English teachers.
Since the summer of 1962, the Taiwan Provincial Normal University has cooperated with the University of Texas in an in-service retraining program for teachers. The Educational Department of the Taiwan Provincial Government helps choose the trainees. About 200 are enrolled during vacation time and 500 more in classes conducted during the regular school year. Training lasts eight weeks, with six to seven hours of classes daily. Tuition is free and trainees receive their regular pay plus board, room, and allowances.
The in-service program was set up for two years and will expire this summer. Currently, 120 teachers are being trained in the ninth class. An extension of the training has been proposed. Some teachers have been selected for further study at the University of Texas. Last year four were sent.
The Ministry of Education established a European Language Training Center in August of last year. Applicants must be college students or those who have passed the higher qualification examination of the civil service. Admission is by examination. Tuition is only US$7.50 for six months.
Two Instructors
Four classes—beginning and advanced in French and the same in German-have enrollment of 238: French 125 students, 96 men and 29 women, and German 113, 94 men and 19 women. Age of students ranges from 19 to 52.
Three-hour lessons are given three times a week. The almost 250 hours of instruction are devoted to reading, writing, grammar, and conversation. Each class has a Chinese teacher and a Frenchman or German. Usually the Chinese instructor teaches reading and grammar, the foreign lecturer conversation and writing.
After six months, lower-class students who pass the final examination are promoted to the upper class, and upper-class students are granted certificates of proficiency. Those who complete the training are qualified to go to Europe for further study.
The Ministry of Education considers the classes experimental. If they are successful, the project will be expanded. The Ministry has in mind the training of staff for organizations that need foreign language personnel, a lower-level Spanish class, an advanced practical English class, and more advanced classes in French and German.
Evening foreign language schools are mushrooming. The number is about 500, the teaching staff around 2,000. Most of the students are those who need language in their occupations or who hope to go abroad.
Languages are taught on both Taipei's TV stations. (File photo)
Some of the evening schools are large. The Languages Study Society of the Youth Service Station, a branch of the China Youth Corps, has an enrollment of almost 1,000. English classes enroll about 600 students, with the rest divided among Portuguese, 140; French and German; 60 each; Spanish, 45; and Italian, 20. Fifteen-masses are at primary, four at intermediate, and five at advanced level.
Low Tuition
Most of the Languages Study Society students are from colleges or middle schools, attending to further their language learning. Others, especially in the Portuguese classes, are preparing to go abroad.
The Languages Study Society was set up in 1957 and is a non-profit organization. Student pay only US$2.50 for three months of 1½ -hour classes three times a week.
The Aurora Foreign Languages Institute is sponsored by the Catholic Church. From its initial 1956 enrollment of 60, it has grown to 600, and 20,000 students have passed through its portals in the last eight years. Students pay from US$3.50 to US$25 for four months of French, English, German or Spanish study. Most classes are from 7:30 to 9 at night, but there is an English conversation class from 9:30 to 11 in the morning.
Radio and TV
The Milton Institute has an enrollment of around 1,600, although it teaches English exclusively. It was established 14 years ago with enrollment of between 20 and 30. Milton offers four quarters a year for four years. Every phase of English is included. After the four years and a final examination, a student receives a certificate of proficiency. However, most students attend more briefly to brush up language knowledge or to get a start. Fees are US$8.75 for three months. Classes are held from 9 a.m. to noon and 7 to 10 p.m.
Foreign languages are also intensively taught on radio and TV. Most of the island's 62 radio stations offer English lessons. The two TV stations, one commercial and one educational, have language programs. The commercial station has a taped "Let's Learn English" program. The educational station offers an hour of English and 40 minutes of French, German, and Spanish weekly.
Some students prefer private tutoring. They offer good pay—at least by Taiwan comparison—for a teacher who is well versed in a foreign language. Other students seek exchange lessons with foreigners. Some attest that where both do not know the other's language, this provides the fastest and most effective results.
Language study is not entirely in the direction of East to West, by any means. Scores of Americans and Europeans come to Taiwan annually to perfect study of Chinese that they began in their own countries. They, too, have a number of specialized schools, and some are enrolled in Chinese institutions of higher learning.
Chinese-language study in the United States is receiving immense stimulus from a new program of instruction at some 70 high schools from New York to California. At the end of World War II, only a very few colleges and universities offered Chinese language. Now most of those giving Asian studies courses do so.
Social psychologists attest that mere ability to speak another's language does not necessarily engender understanding and friendship. However, there isn't any better way to begin. From the language exchange of East and West, students are discovering that there is no really inscrutable Oriental and that Westerners are really not barbarians. At the least, language study is reducing extremes of chauvinism and opening eyes to the fact that "other ways" are different but not necessarily wrong or inferior.
Internationalists who think peace can be brought to the world only when everybody has a "second language" should be pleased with the language study achievements of the Republic of China. As for the study of Chinese, it is still true that twice as many people in the world speak it as English or any other language. No matter how many Chinese acquire a second language, Chinese itself will still remain one of the world's primary tongues and will have an increasing interest to Westerners and other Asians.