Megan Jefferies came to Taiwan to teach English about two years ago. Instead of staying in the big cities, however, she went all the way to Kinmen County and did voluntary teaching at Chong-cheng Elementary School. The amazing interactions with children and friendly people, she said, have made it very hard for her to leave the school.
Enjoying the teaching experience in Taiwan very much, Jefferies, as well as 11 other English teachers from the US and Canada, decided to stay for another year to voluntarily help children in rural areas learn English.
Wearing cheongsams and traditional mandarin jackets, a total of 25 foreign English teachers came together yesterday to share their experience and bid farewell to their colleagues who are leaving for home.
Organized by the King Car Foundation, the Schweitzer English Teaching Program, which was initiated three years ago, brought people from the US and Canada to Hualien, Nantou and Kinmen County, where they volunteered as English teachers in elementary schools.
According to Morgan Sun (
Yesterday, at the end of the semester, the teachers called the experience of teaching English in rural public schools an amazing privilege.
"It's been a wonderful year for all of us not only to teach English in public schools, but also to have the chance to experience a whole different culture," said Benjamin Jacob, a 23-year-old Virginian and the leader of this year's volunteer team.
As one of six teachers in Hualien County, Jacob had through the years travelled to Taiwan four times to teach English. He said that developing a love for this country and the enthusiasm to teach are important for anyone who wants to become a successful English teacher in Taiwan.
Dedicated to continuing her teaching in Kinmen, Jefferies said that her biggest satisfaction is to see the progress students have been making every day.
"When I first went to Kinmen, kids were shy when they saw us foreigners at school. A year later, they would say hello to me, and I am happy to see how kids are becoming more confident in speaking English," she told the Taipei Times.
Sun said that thanks to these voluntary teachers, who not only teach English in the classroom but also spend time with students and community members after their classes, children in the rural communities are able to learn English in a more vivid and natural way.
Encouraged by the program's success, the foundation is planning to bring more foreigners into the program to benefit more children in rural areas. In addition, the foundation also plans to call on young people in Taiwan to join in the efforts of foreign teachers and teach in rural communities, according to Sun.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS