Promoting Mandarin-on-the-Go in Taiwan at Canberra’s 2018 National Multicultural Festival

Canberra’s annual National Multicultural Festival is a vibrant three-day event designed to unite the community by sharing the rich diversity of cultural traditions, food, dance, and creativity.

This year’s Festival was held from February 16 to 18, and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia (TECO) participated by setting up a Taiwan information stall, decorated with Taiwanese Hakka floral patterned fabrics and posters depicting Taiwan scenery, and offering the latest pamphlets about studying, traveling, and working holidays in Taiwan.

The stall featured Mandarin-on-the-go in Taiwan, an exciting new program launched last year. This is an initiative of the Ministry of Education in conjunction with the Ministry of Transportation and Communication’s Tourism Bureau. It offers foreigners opportunities to learn about Taiwan’s culture through a combination of language and travel packages.

Participants can engage more with Taiwan’s local culture in different parts of Taiwan, as well as maximize their Mandarin language learning. Detailed information about the program can be found at https://www.mgt.org.tw/en/.

The Taiwan stall attracted many visitors during the day. Highlights included: (1) Suliljaw Lusausatj, a member of Taiwan’s indigenous Paiwan people and a Ministry of Education funded PhD student at Australian National University, who introduced Paiwan song and dance; and (2) Julie Tsai, a language teacher at TACA Mandarin Language School – a community school newly established by the Taiwanese Association of Canberra, Australia – who conducted a ‘blow painting’ activity to engage visitors.

Photo： Taiwan's Ministry of Eucation funded PhD student, Suliljaw Lusausatj, talking about Taiwan with an Australian visitor to the National Multicultural Festival at the stall organised by the Education Division at TECO in Australia.