Bilingual 2030 After Ribbon Cutting: Taiwan’s English Ambition 

and why do you think foreigners is the way to learn english ? Foreigner in Taiwan also come to learn chinese, what about that ?

@@maxou8074 The easier and more attractive Taiwan will be to foreigners, the less there will be the need to truly integrate and learn the local language cause speaking English will turn out to be more convenient and a daily thing for people in the big cities at least

I think you are missing my point here. Many foreigner come also to Asia in general or more specifically Taiwan to get out of their comfort zone, get to know a new culture, a new language. If a foreigner is looking for convenience he can stay home as well. I don’t think Taiwan should count in foreigners to improve their English which is not fair and don’t help integration at all.

@@maxou8074 I'm not saying foreigners should come to Taiwan to improve their English at all. I'm saying that there should be many more reasons to come besides learning the local language or culture.

what other reason ?@@dutchuniverse

it still is necessary to memorize the vocabulary and grammar, the key point is to speak and write in English as always as possible.

Singapore is not losing native language. 父母認為英語比較重要不說華語才是問題。在家要說華語。母語母語記得是母語。記得新加坡不是華人國家。

Who give you the idea that Singaporean lose our native language? We did not lose our mother tongue language. Ethnic Chinese Singaporean got to learn Mandarin as a mother tongue or 2nd language. Ethnic Malay Singaporean have to learn Malay as a 2nd language and similarly Ethnic Indian Singaporean got to learn Tamil as a 2nd language. Each race’s native language is very much alive to this day!

台灣的Native language 非常多，平埔族語就有10種以上，大部分被河洛語淘汰了，高山族語也有10多種，台灣官方語言有，清朝大陸語➡️🇯🇵日語➡️🇹🇼國語（類似普通話）。 只有非常弱勢的語言才會被淘汰，中文會很弱嗎❓️

@@davislin7603既使是非常弱勢的母語，也是屬於某個族群的mother tongue. 相對於中文， 中文也成了強勢語言 （中文不見得是他們的mother tongue 喔） 家長衡量經濟價值下， 可能就學習英語為主。 我覺得國家對於這樣的弱勢母語， 也是需要提出一些措施的。

It is possible to have multiple languages in a single small country. Switzerland has 4 official languages, and it is smaller than Taiwan. The Taiwanese just have to get past this irrational, backward idea that a multilingual society is impossible.

Thank you for your support.

I'd like you to consider this....the main reason why English is spoken in so many parts of the world is because it was the language of oppressive regimes right like the British Empire? Out history and culture is what it is. Getting rid of a language simply because it's the of the oppressors or colonizers isn't necessarily a good thing. You'd have to explain why getting rid of mandarin benefits Taiwan.As for international support.... Taiwan didn't just withdraw from the UN or WHO. That was decided by the international community

​@@jalconque The point about Mandarin being just a language of colonial oppressors instead of being a native mother tongue is that there is no need to be sentimental about its loss from Taiwan if that's the price the Taiwanese might have to pay to acquire English. You are right that in many places, English is also the result of oppression and colonialism, but not in Taiwan. It was not the British or the Americans that committed genocide against the Taiwanese in the 228 Massacre and the subsequent White Terror. Emotionally, English is just a tool for internationalization to the Taiwanese, while Mandarin is the language of the colonial murderers and oppressors of tens of thousands of our families. I personally would not want to see Mandarin competency completely disappear from Taiwan because first, I think a language is guiltless of the crimes of its historical speakers and second, I strongly believe that every language gained helps to broaden one's mind and increase flexibility of thinking and international competitiveness. There might be an enormous advantage for Taiwan, however, if Taiwan were to lose Mandarin competency among the general population: it would greatly reduce the effectiveness of communist Chinese propaganda in Taiwan and lessen the danger of developing internal threats to national security. Even in that scenario, a pool of Mandarin-speaking talent should still be maintained in Taiwan if for no other reason than to know and understand one's enemy. On the last point of support from international community: in Realpolitik, alliances change as geopolitical considerations change, often outside of the control of any one country, but it does not mean a country should do nothing to improve its chances of survival. The U.N. pretty much just follows the lead of the strongest members. Just as the U.S. dropped Taiwan to recognize China with the intention of using China against the Soviet Union during the Cold War, the U.S. has now been increasingly warming up to Taiwan with the increasing tensions and competition with both Russia and China: American weapons sales, military advisors, joint naval exercise with 29 countries ostensibly to deter China, etc. Taiwan has also become indispensable to the West with its microchip industry. That is an example of doing what you can to change the international situation. Language competency is a key component of remaining relevant internationally so that the doors remain open for anyone who wants to be Taiwan's friend. We can't compel international support, but we can make it more likely for it to happen by developing international relationships in trade, technology, etc. Language competency can only help.

since when you assume that foreigners will connect with them in english and not mandarin ?

If I’m the foreigner, I’ll think twice whether to come to Taiwan to work, a very Chinese country with majority not able to speak the international business language, unless I really really love Chinese culture, Chinese language and Chinese people. Else most of the time will be chicken and duck talking and so frustrating to talk to Taiwanese. Very likely I’ll end up learning Chinese language faster than Taiwanese learn English from me

I stayed in Taipei to learn Chinese for a few month but it was the most awkward and unpleasant experience I had so far from a language learning perspective. Taiwanese people only wanted to practice their English and I hated their attitude towards foreigners speaking all the time English to foreigners without assuming that maybe we speak Chinese too. In my country we always talk first in the local language to foreigners. I even think it’s a form of racism.

I wish people would stop spreading this narrative that immersion = learning. The vast majority of foreigners in Taiwan couldn't speak Mandarin to save their life despite living here toe several years. A language doesn't just diffuse into your brain. You have to pay attention and actively use it. That is how learning works, not just for language but for any academic area. As regards learning a language from such distinctly differnt linguistic families, it's even more difficult to learn by simple immersion. The foundational structures are just too different to learn effectively by casual contact. What people fail to understand is that immersion works best when you have constant contact and that will not be the case because most Taiwanese will not just befriend foreigners and spend hours chatting with them. People have lives to lead. Finally, whatever happened to choice? You can't just flood a nation with foreigners just becsuse a government wants an entire population to learn the language. It's better to have a targeted strategy where those individuals or industries that NEED to learn the language have avenues to do so. Empower the citizens first before you bring in these kinds of disruptions that can be detrimental to national identity and culture

好想 不是 好像

Then go back to England, diversity and inclusion are stronger there. Especially with strong African and middle East immigrants

I don't think STEM should be fully in English, I think that the focus should be on play and comprehensible Input then summarising in spoken English, amd giving presentations in spoken English. Comprehensible Input is the reason English should not be the primary language of instruction but could be a supplementary language of instruction. If you get them to watch TV for 20 minutes a day and then lengthen it, with Chinese subtitles, they will start to pick it up.

Yes, the policy needs to be changed to "Multilingual & International 2030" with emphasis on the revival and development of all native mother tongues in addition to economically important languages like English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, etc.

English and other economically important languages are necessary for Taiwan's long-term national survival and don't have to come at the price of losing native languages. Children at a young age have unlimited abilities to absorb languages naturally. It's perfectly possible to grow up speaking 3 or 4 languages equally well. Many countries in Europe are like that. Taiwan's educational system just ignores that scientifically proven fact and ruins it by throwing tests at the kids to make them hate learning English. What's needed is a total reform of the educational system to emphasize language learning from birth to early school years and delay emphasis on other subjects until later. We also need libraries with interesting books for the children in English. They would learn better on their own without even teachers if they had such resources (and time to read for pleasure to their hearts' content). I know I did. After the age of 17 or so, a child's natural ability to learn languages almost disappears. We are wasting time right now in the schools making them use rote memorization to pass exams with short-term memory knowledge that disappears after the exam. That's why Taiwanese students can't speak a word of intelligible English after 20 or 30 years of school. But they get 100% on written exams. Totally useless.

You can solve your own issues by returning to your beloved England. It's a diversive, inclusive, and multiethnic paradise. Don't bother with Taiwan, Taiwanese are very conservative about cultural preservation. England is soo much better especially with immigrants from Africa and Middle East Fencing with Sharp kitchenwares, Stone baseballs, Splashing Lemon Soda Pops, and IED fireworks in public gathering

The educational system needs an overhaul. Language education needs to be prioritized in the early years over other subjects. The primary teaching method needs to switch from testing to pleasure reading. Oral proficiency requirements need to be incorporated into the grade and school advancement and selection system. A lot of stupid concepts need to go, like a child can be given only 6 vocabulary words a week. People can easily learn 30 times that if you just allow them to read the stories they love.