Interview time: December 21, 2008 (Sunday) 14:00~
Interview location: Ms. Yu-yun Cheng’s home .

In 2001, Ms. Yu-yun Cheng obtained her “Certification of Indigenous Language” issued by the Council of Indigenous Peoples and started her work in relation to indigenous people. Ms. Cheng said that in the past, children can only speak Mandarin and cannot speak any other language. That’s why their mother tongue tends to disappear. Ms. Cheng passed the test, but because Roman spelling is used while she knew nothing about it, she went to Taitung to seek help from Principal Yu-mei Cheng and Teacher Hao-hsiang Cheng to tape-record Roman spelling for her. She worked on the spelling and listened to the tape every day, and eventually she got it.

After she knew how to do Roman spelling, Ms. Cheng went to teach in Hsinchuang Si Hsian Elementary School, Lujhou Ren Ai Elementary School, Shijr Bai Yun Elementary School, Banchiao Da Guan Elementary School, and Shulin San Duo Elementary School. Ms. Cheng taught the “Nanwang language system” of Puyuma people. Not too many students learn this system, so she often taught one-by-one or one-by-three. The textbook provided by the Commission is not quite suitable to children’s level, so Mr. Cheng was somewhat frustrated. Then she had to make own teaching materials. She used Roman spelling to teach little by little starting from pronunciation. When she taught Roman spelling, some grade four students who were learning English at the time tended to pick up the Roman spelling more easily. So some students progressed fast. Those who progressed slowly felt it difficult to memorize the Roman spelling, but she said they all had pretty good language talent and before long they could read the textbook by themselves. She felt very accomplished.

Nowadays many Han people get married with indigenous people and Han parents usually cannot speak tribal language. So even though children learn how to speak the language, parents don’t. Therefore, since 2002 Ms. Cheng initiated “Indigenous Language Parents-Children Learning Camp” during summer and winter vacation so that parents can learn the language with their children. In this way parents slowly make some progress and can appreciate the wisdom of their ancestors. Ms. Cheng said that in addition to learning culture during language learning, people can also acquire more knowledge through all kinds of activities such as “Harvest Festival.”

Ms. Cheng also mentioned that learning indigenous language was also helpful for advanced study. Students who pass language test are entitled to a 35% markup of their grade in the examination. Students who are willing to apply this method to their advanced study are more than those who don’t.
People often think that the living environment for indigenous people is not good, but Ms. Cheng said the current situation for students had been changed. She often told those parents that they might give up anything except education. The current education level for children is 30 years behind that of Han people. Only by double effort can tribal language be expanded. In the beginning, the language is not liked by Han spouses, but now it is gradually affirmed.
During her promotion of the language, Ms. Cheng needed to apply funds from township office and the county government, and the county government will handle the matter based on their policy. 　

Interview time: December 28, 2008 (Sunday)
Interview location: Ms. Yu-yun Cheng’s home

Ms. Cheng usually applied word cards, photo cards and textbook reading to teach students. If two students were learning at the same time, she would ask them to practice conversation with each other. She was ever invited to edit indigenous language’s teaching materials, but she had to quit this task due to heath problem. When teaching, she found that constant practice and Roman spelling practice plus reading some extracurricular materials was very effective in helping students’ learning. In addition to teaching those materials used in the classroom, sometimes she also helped students who want to attend the “Indigenous Language Assessment for Advanced Study” to enhance their language skill. The government wishes to help indigenous people to pursue advanced study, so as long as students pass the test, a 35% markup is added to the grade of the examination. A failed test is also entitled to a 25% markup. If students succeed in the examination to enroll in a public high school, family burden will be alleviated. Sometimes she would help train students who attend an indigenous language competition.

Therefore whenever any students would participate in speaking competition, they come to her home to receive enhanced training from her. There’s a case that a student studying in the Taipei First Girls’ High School came to Ms. Cheng through her mother’s introduction and Ms. Cheng spent a few nights training her to be more fluent with the language. Ms. Cheng said that the current language materials edited by the government do not contain better contents and are not suitable for children living in the cities. She hoped that the government would edit a set of more applicable materials and learn from Amis and Atayal tribes to edit dictionaries and more graphic books. She would also like to host more traditional culture experience camps for indigenous people. More activities arranged for the whole family to come and learn together, the “family immersion”, allow students to be more interested in learning the language.

Time: 2009.01.01 (Thursday) 12:30~
Location: Tzu Chi Hospital

Ms. Cheng was hospitalized on December 29 due to illness. We visited her on January 1 and we talked about the promotion of indigenous language during our chat. She said that after she passed the oral test of Teacher Qualification Assessment, she was very nervous because she couldn’t do the Roman spelling at that time. She recalled that she flew to Taitung to look for Ms. Yu-mei Cheng without telling her family. Ms. Yu-mei Cheng was serving as a judge at that time, so she taught Ms. Cheng during her recess. Something was unclear so she came to her brother Mr. Hao-hsiung Cheng for help. Ms. Cheng tape-recorded the teaching as she learned along the way. After three hours, she took a flight back to Taipei. Afterwards, she listened to the tape recording and practiced again and again before she really got the spelling. She said that her thought of “definitely being able to get it as long as I am determined” pushed her to succeed. She found later that the Roman spelling taught in the church is slightly different from what she had learned. When she was teaching, Ms. Cheng often raised this example to encourage her students or learners that learning is all about perseverance and no easy giving up.