Students studying Chinese in Taipei might be interested in the 6th Taipei Chinese Character Festival. There is a “Cultural Bazzar” and an Art Exhibition featuring ten South-east Asian artists.

Cultural Bazaar
The bazaar will feature a fusion of Chinese characters and the cultural creative industries. Activities include calligraphy, paper cutting, lithography, interactive character quizzes, New Year’s couplet demonstrations, hand puppet shows, dancing, street performers, poetry recitals and puppet performances.

Dates: January 9th-10th 10am-5pm

Venue:Taipei Confucius Temple Google map

Art Exhibition
Ten artists from areas in Southeast Asia influenced by the culture of Chinese writing are invited to present artworks based on Asian thinking and Chinese characters.

Dates: January 1st to 11th 2010
Venue: Exhibition Room, CKS Memorial Hall Google map

Note: CKS Memorial Hall is also known as “National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall” (國立臺灣民主紀念館).

The Chinese Character Festival website is in Chinese only:

chinese-character-festival.org.tw

]]> http://mandarinscholarship.com/2010/01/02/chinese-character-festival/feed/ 117 http://mandarinscholarship.com/2009/11/18/free-top-speaking-test/ http://mandarinscholarship.com/2009/11/18/free-top-speaking-test/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:25:06 +0000 Jeffrey Withaya Campbell http://mandarinscholarship.com/?p=299 If you are a Mandarin scholarship student, you may be interested in the free speaking pilot test offered by the Steering Committee for the Test Of Proficiency-Huayu (SC-TOP).

Passing the TOP test is mandatory if you receive a scholarship to study Chinese in Taiwan.

The pilot tests are for two levels, Beginner & Learner:

For the Beginner level, introduced in 2007, there is only one Mock Test booklet (2007) and a list of 800 words for beginners (2008, PDF 280kb).

In Taipei, the Mock Test booklet can be purchased at Lucky Bookstore(師大書苑).

A very good friend of mine, has used the beginners word list to write three short paragraphs similar to TOP for Beginners Reading Comprehension Part 3. If you want the answers leave a comment!

Here is the first one:

1. 今天我去___1___，看見一隻的大象，它的鼻子很___2___，眼睛又大又亮。當我摸著它___3___皮膚時，它安靜地看著我，真是可愛的___4___。

１．(A) 動物園 (B) 海邊 (C) 電影院 (D) 博物館

２．(A) 扁 (B) 圓 (C) 短 (D) 長

３．(A) 白色 (B) 黑色 (C) 灰色 (D) 棕色

４．(A) 植物 (B) 寵物 (C) 動物 (D) 玩具

The one above and two others can be downloaded here: TOP_for_Beginners_Part3 [PDF 107kb)

For more information about TOP: Test Of Proficiency-Huayu registration period starts today

Nciku is basically an online Chinese-English dictionary and is a great tool for Mandarin scholarship students. I had a look at it a while ago and came to the conclusion that it was a social networking dictionary. You can sign up and interact with others in the nciku community, as you look up new vocabulary. It didn’t appeal to me, as I thought the concept was odd and had been happily using mdbg.net.

That said, the Handwrite Characters function, or handwriting recognition tool, is brilliant! Pinyin.info recently highlighted this feature which I have used several times.

If you’ve ever tried to translate a character, you will know that if you don’t know the radical it can take a very long time to work out. This tool makes short work of that problem.

How does it work?

The handwriting recognition tool has been around for many years. My Chinese teacher introduced me to it a few months ago. It was part of his Chinese language Windows OS or MS word suite. Unfortunately, I run an English language version of XP and that tool is not included.

This tool/software can also be put on a PDA. A mobile handwriting recognition tool! Just the thing for long bus journeys.

The registration period for the Test Of Proficiency-Huayu (TOP) closes this Thursday October 9 2008. There is still time to register.

Targeted word lists for each of the four levels are now available.

Test Date：11/1(Sat.)
Test Format：Paper-based
Test Levels：For Beginners, Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced
Test Fee：NT$1000

http://www.sc-top.org.tw/

Voting is underway for the Best Taiwan Blog Awards 2008. The awards are targeted at Taiwan based English language blogs. Currently there are around forty blogs in the running.

There are nine different categories. This blog, MandarinScholarship.com has been entered in Best Taiwan Blog Awards 2008. Voting takes about 2 seconds and does not require registration.

You can view all the Taiwan blogs here.

You can submit your blog here.

This great initiative is being run by taiwanderful.net.

國立臺灣師範大學 National Taiwan Normal University, Shi-Da, founded the Mandarin Training Center in 1956 for the study of Mandarin Chinese by foreign students.

Blogger BrettEverett has written about his experiences at NTNU’s Mandarin Training Center. It gives a great insight into what Mandarin scholarship students can expect in the way of administration and teaching methodology. It’s very important for Mandarin scholarship students to know what they want before they commit to a university. Once the scholarship is linked to that university you have to wait two semesters before you can change.

I personally equate prestigious universities/programs with inflexibility and encourage scholarship students to really do their research before they commit. I will be posting as many different experiences from different universities as I can find.

Related story:

Studying Mandarin at Shi-Da

Wiki: Map of highland tribes

Reviving Ethnic Diversity:

Preserving Taiwan’s Austronesian[1] Aboriginal Languages

“Language is much more than collections of words with meaning that can be translated – they embody whole perspectives on meaning which are not readily capable of translation, and they are a key resource for understanding culture.”

“Taiwan has been colonized by the Spanish (1626-1642), the Dutch (1624-1662), Ming Dynasty loyalist Koxinga (1662-1683), the Ching Dynasty (1663-1895), the Japanese (1895-1945), and the Republic of China (1945 to the present).”[2] As a result Taiwan’s Austronesian Aboriginal population have suffered injustice, hardship, subjugation, and forced cultural assimilation. Today they represent less than two percent of Taiwan’s 22 million people, a similar proportion to that of Canada (3%) and Australia (1.8%).[3]

The Aboriginal population was divided, by colonisers, for convenience, into two groups the Pingpu (plains) people and Kaoshan (mountain) people.[4] These two groups were further divided into nineteen groups, twelve of which are now officially recognised by the Taiwanese government. The colonial classifications are rejected by some and are just one of many issues contested by the island’s 400,000 Aboriginal people in their fight to reassert their cultural identity.[5]

Today their cultural loss is exacerbated by widespread societal discrimination that assists in maintaining inequities in employment and education. “Household incomes of Taiwanese Aboriginal peoples are less than 40 percent of the national average and Aboriginal unemployment is significantly higher than the national average.”[6]

Due to forced relocations of aboriginal communities and decades of forced cultural assimilation the indigenous cultures and languages of Taiwan are seriously endangered. “A recent survey found only 10 percent of Aboriginal children are fluent in their respective Native languages, a particularly worrying fact given the large number of Aboriginal languages, especially those of the plains groups, that are either extinct or severely endangered.” [7]

Wiki: Rukai Chief

Present day causes for the decline include pressure on children, from parents, to adopt the language of the dominant Han culture, or a foreign language, in order to assist them in adapting to mainstream society. Among Taiwanese aboriginals there is no perceived competitive advantage in indigenous languages; they come a distant fourth after Mandarin, Ho-lo[8] and/or English. This combined with widespread societal discrimination has led younger generations to abandon their native tongues. The languages have also been susceptible to decline because none of Taiwan’s Aboriginals had a written language.[9]

Social change

“The starting point for cultural recovery is clear cultural identity.”[10] Language recovery is an essential part of this process. If Taiwan’s aboriginal population is to become an empowered part of modern day Taiwan they must first revive their language, cultural roots and sense of community.

If cultural identity can be asserted it can be used as the basis for learning about all aspects of cultural heritage such as; environmental knowledge, land management practices, dance, traditional medicines, traditional foods, traditional building practices and traditional art and crafts.

The self confidence gained through the assertion of cultural identity can also be used to gain political access which is “important both because it is the basis of a group’s sense of worth and effectiveness and because it affects its economic prospects”[11]. It also strengthens a group’s ability to defend itself against injustice.

Through language recovery the disadvantaged groups can begin to “shed their inferiority complexes, regain their self-esteem, and inject their respective cultural heritages with a new vitality.”[12] In Taiwan’s case, the newly revived ethnic diversity can help ease ethnic tensions in order to focus on the national goal of self-determination and international recognition.

Who would benefit?

Who would benefit from preserving Taiwan’s Austronesian Aboriginal languages is a fascinating question in terms of Taiwan’s fight for self determination and international recognition. It is clear that the indigenous populations would benefit from a cultural resurgence after centuries of oppression. In addition to this the nation also benefits from a more inclusive national identity and because it is Austronesian heritage that now serves the “Taiwanese as a cultural and racial emblem of self-identity to distinguish them from the Chinese mainland.”[13]

Institutional and other arrangements to facilitate social change

1. Teaching of the vernacular languages should be started in kindergarten. The concept should be the same as the successful Kohango Reo (language nests) set up to save Maori language in New Zealand, in 1982.[14] Supporters of initiatives such as these argue that “vernacular languages should be used in the teaching of the national language… and other subjects until students’ command of Mandarin is good enough to use it as a medium of instruction.”[15] Studies by UNESCO have found that “the mother tongue was the best language for literacy”[16] and recommended “that the use of mother tongue in education be extended to as late a stage as possible.”[17] It was also proven “that the teaching of a mother tongue in the way proposed will not slow down students’ acquisition of a national language.”[18]

2. Adapt the current education system, at all levels, to become more multicultural. This would begin changing the ingrained views about minorities in Taiwan and foster a more inclusive society.

3. Require that all national level exams, i.e. civil service exams, have an optional local/indigenous language component. This would provide a competitive advantage for indigenous languages. It would also require the Examination Yuan to hire/come in contact with aboriginal people. (The Examination Yuan is considered by many to be a very conservative bureaucracy run by ‘Mandarin monoglots’ from the previous regime.)

4. Pass the Linguistic Equality Law. The bill is designed to give all native languages equal legal status with Mandarin Chinese.[19]

Update September 2008: The Linguistic Equality Law has yet to be passed. It was drafted in 2004.

5. Preserve indigenous languages by promoting written versions of them employing some form of phonetic script.[20]

6. Promote autonomous development of aboriginal languages. Include incentives for aboriginal parents to teach the language at home. Provide resources relating to native culture, language and history.

7. Cultural exchanges between ethnic groups should be encouraged at all levels. Ethnic and linguistic diversity should be promoted as a national asset.

8. All forms of media should be used to raise the profile of indigenous languages. To enable indigenous people to reassert their cultural identity, on their on terms, they should be encouraged to produce their own programs. Music production should also be encouraged.

9. Widen political access for indigenous people. Raise awareness among indigenous people about the need to be politically active in order to protect their culture and language, and improve educational and economic prospects.

Related stories: Taiwan’s first Aboriginal ambassador

Found a link at David on Formosa to Documenting and Revitalizing Austronesian Languages: free online book

Traditional Tao (Yami) boat

]]> http://mandarinscholarship.com/2008/09/28/preserving-taiwan%e2%80%99s-austronesian-aboriginal-languages/feed/ 12 http://mandarinscholarship.com/2008/09/15/test-of-proficiency-huayu-registration-period-starts-today/ http://mandarinscholarship.com/2008/09/15/test-of-proficiency-huayu-registration-period-starts-today/#comments Mon, 15 Sep 2008 06:01:29 +0000 kang-wei http://mandarinscholarship.wordpress.com/?p=151 Test Of Proficiency-Huayu (TOP) will be held on Nov. 1st 2008. The registration period starts today Sep. 15th to Oct. 9th. The registration fee is NT$1000.

I have posted previously about my experiences with the TOP test:

TOP for Beginners May 3 2008

Test of Proficiency-Huayu: Testees left in the dark

Results in! Test of Proficiency Huayu (Mandarin) May 2008

The good news for testees is that finally, after five years, the Steering Committee for the Test Of Proficiency-Huayu (SC-TOP) has released targeted word lists for each of the four levels. I emailed SC-TOP many times complaining about the lack of resources and the Taipei Times published my letter about the issue.

I have one complaint about the word lists, there’s no Bopomofo. It seems to me to be an odd omission as almost every Mandarin student in Taiwan is required to learn it. I don’t think SC-TOP want to hear any more complaints/suggestions from me. Perhaps you could contact them and mention it!

Hopefully, with the new resources more test takers will pass the tests. Good luck!

TOP word lists

800 Chinese Words for Beginners (PDF 280kb)

Basic (PDF 280kb)

Intermediate (PDF 480kb)

Advanced (PDF 480kb)

2008 TOP schedule

Test Time

Testing Site