Once I started learning languages seriously, I never stopped, and I won't stop. My adrenaline when speaking the language with someone for the first time excites me the most. Seeing surprising facial gestures from people rewards me the most. I find it funny when people don't expect me to speak their languages. When that happens, I already know what comes next. They usually ask me many questions about the reasons for learning their languages.
I have been living in Taiwan since 2008. Taiwan resembles America in the immigration aspects where more and more immigrants gradually move here. Most of these immigrants initially come to Taiwan as students or contract workers. Those who stay after the end of their initial purpose mostly become long-time residents, permanent residents, or even Taiwanese citizens.
Taiwanese manufacturing and eldercare industries have a significant number of foreign workers from Southeast Asia, mainly Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. Many of the female workers eventually found love in Taiwan. Thus, the existence of foreign mothers in Taiwan doesn't surprise anyone. The government even introduced the term "新二代 (new second generation)" to the children of mixed marriages between Taiwanese and foreigners, mostly from Southeast Asia. In addition to that, the school curriculum also includes Southeast Asian languages to bridge the gap between these countries. It also allows the children of mixed marriages with Southeast Asians to learn one of their parents' languages.
The government even made learning resources to teach 7 main languages to the new residents of Taiwan. These 7 languages are Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, Burmese, Cambodian, Malay, and Filipino languages. The website shown below offers interactive programs and downloadable ebooks. Now everyone can learn Southeast Asian languages! As a language enthusiast, I feel grateful to find out about this website. It doesn't take much to do to be a polyglot in Taiwan. You can just learn all these 7 languages and you can use them in Taiwan in your daily life. Please share your experience with us if you are learning Southeast Asian languages.
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