As a world-leading institution with a strong focus on Asia, ANU has long valued Taiwan Studies, and the Taiwanese language course is an integrally critical part of this program. The Taiwanese Southern Min (Minnanyu) intensive course covers basic pronunciation, grammar, and the use of this language in daily practice in Taiwan.
Program
The course introduces students to current Taiwanese, also known as Holo, which is part of the Hokkien or Southern Min (Minnanyu) language group. It places specific emphasis on the use of this language in daily practices in Taiwan, although the language is also used in the southern part of Fujian Province, People's Republic of China, and in many diasporic communities in South-east Asia.
The course covers basic pronunciation and grammar. Students learn to conduct everyday conversations and to use common content and function words in conversation and writing. It also develops a knowledge of the cultures and traditions that have shaped features of the language. In addition, an understanding of the language, one of oldest surviving Sinitic dialects, will enhance an appreciation of traditional Chinese poetry. Through poetry and idioms, the course also offers insights into the cultures and traditions that have shaped features of the language.
Students will be able to conduct everyday conversation in Taiwanese by the end of the course.
The course provides a solid an understanding of the language, one of oldest surviving Sinitic dialects, and therefore really enhanced my appreciation of traditional Chinese poetry. — Former student of ANU’s intensive Taiwanese course