Night School Students: Chung Nguyen

Interviewee: Chang Nguyen

Time: 11/11/2011

Venue: Interview Room

Age: 30

Grade One Class A

I have been studying here since last semester and am in grade one now. Chinese pronunciation is comparatively difficult for me. Even in Vietnam, Vietnamese pronounces vary from area to area in north, middle and south and I had difficulty in that. Therefore, before I enrolled in night school here in Taiwan, I always pronounced the notional phonetic alphabetㄈ(f) asㄆ(p). However, after the teachers’ instructions and my continuous practice, I can pronounce more correctly now. I used to be a domestic helper in Taiwan. At that time, I even mistakenly put “Pie” as “Tie” since I had never learned Chinese before.

Life and language are quite different here in Taiwan from they were in Vietnam. Life in Vietnam before had been simple; however, it became inconvenient to me after I moved to Taiwan since I could barely communicate with people and recognize Chinese characters. That was why I decided to study Chinese at night school. I’m pretty satisfied with its curriculum because teachers teach us earnestly. Among all subjects, I like Chinese best. In Taiwan, we need to learn Chinese so we can communicate with others better, and it helps us to adapt ourselves to the life here.

Sometime, some pronunciations are too difficult for me and I just give up. But some classmates who are good at learning also study at somewhere else, such Labor Bureau. Those institutes are too far for me and I have to take care of my children so I can’t take classes there. For instance, there is an institute, which is close to Songshan Raiway Station, offering many courses besides language. However, my schedule just doesn’t allow me.

As literal meaning, courses of night school are offered in the evening, so my family encourages me to enroll. I also encourage my non-Taiwanese friends to study here since we can learn more and to settle in Taiwanese-style life. Since I have married to into a Taiwanese family for quite a time, I already know some Mandarin pop songs, but I’m still shy to sing with the microphone in the music class.

I am a Vietnamese married with a Taiwanese man. Therefore, I think it’s a good idea to have more computer science classes and Taiwanese dialect classes for people like me. However, Chinese classes are still vital because we need to understand the meanings of Chinese characters when operating the computer.

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