The Education Division of TECO-NY co-sponsors “Why Learn Chinese?” Seminar at Scranton University
The Education Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York (TECO-NY), joined the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Scranton University, and the Asian Studies Center at the university to present an online seminar “Why learn Chinese?” on January 28, 2021. The seminar promoted the university’s Chinese language programs, and opportunities that the students have to further their studies in Taiwan.
In the first part of the seminar, Wang Hsiang-Ling, a visiting lecturer of Chinese from Taiwan, gave a detailed outline of the Chinese language courses offered by the university at elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels.
So why learn Chinese? Learning Chinese is far more than a way to open doors to economic opportunities and a wider range of career choices. As learners discover, Chinese-language proficiency gives them far more direct access to many aspects of one of the world’s oldest and richest cultures. Many tremendously enjoy learning to write the character script.
Dr. Min-Ling Yang, the Director of the Education Division at TECO-NY, then talked about the possibilities that studying abroad in Taiwan offers. As well as having a rich heritage of Chinese culture, Taiwan has modern facilities. It offers both excellent Chinese language programs at Chinese language centers associated with universities, and an enormous range of degree programs, some taught partly or fully in English.
Dr. Yang also gave details of the Ministry of Education scholarships available: Taiwan Scholarships, to undertake a degree, and Huayu Enrichment Scholarships, to do a summer Chinese language program or a longer program of up to a year.
A previous Huayu Enrichment Scholarship recipient, Grant Hutton, then talked enthusiastically about his positive experiences as a Chinese language student in Taiwan. Grant finished a two-month summer program in 2019. “Ah! I miss the food, the traditional characters, the culture, and the people” he said. And indeed, he then made another trip to Taiwan with an American friend less than three months later.