To promote English as Tainan’s second official language, the city government is transforming its Huayuan Night Market (花園夜市) into an English-speaking environment by teaching vendors the language with English audio programs.
The city’s Second Official Language Office said that it has recorded monthly episodes of common market parlance in English and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) to be played in the market since April.
Each episode includes eight sentences and 18 words in English, such as: “Take a look,” “Pardon me” and “Spicy or not?” — phrases that some vendors said were a bit challenging to master.
Each phrase or sentence is spoken in Hoklo, then repeated three times in English, the office said.
Replayed once every hour, the audio program creates a natural learning environment by immersing vendors in the sound of the English language, the office said.
Vendors can download the audio files using messaging app Line, which allows them to replay the lessons they miss when conducting business, the office said.
The office said it would adjust the learning materials according to vendors’ and visitors’ needs, while planning to make desk pads printed with useful market phrases in both Chinese and English to facilitate communication between vendors and foreign tourists.
The night market’s management committee said that vendors and committee members are willing to learn English, and that the audio programs provide a great alternative to English lessons, which they have no time to take because of their working hours.
The level of English varies with each vendor, as younger learners can pick up the lessons with ease, although some cannot read the 26 letters of the English alphabet, the committee said.
Saying that she would be glad to see the government’s initiative succeed, English-language tour guide Lu Fang-hui (盧芳惠) added that the office could take a down-to-earth approach to English learning by using examples from daily life and foreign visitors’ needs.
For example, the office could produce English menus that describe local delicacies in simple words without “smacking of Chinglish,” she said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as