Final round of Holo Taiwanese characters

Characters

Besides knowing the roman orthography for Holo Taiwanese (explained in this handbook:臺灣閩南語羅馬字拼音方案使用手冊), knowing how to read Taiwanese in characters is key for Taiwanese language study in Taiwan. And at long last, the third batch of standardized Holo Taiwanese characters has been announced by the Ministry of Education's National Languages Committee. You can find it here: 臺灣閩南語推薦用字(第3批)

This document contains the newest 300 characters from the 3rd round of standardization, but also remember the 100 characters adopted May 1, 2008 and 300 characters adopted in May 2007.

臺灣閩南語推薦用字（第1批）採用創用CC授權
臺灣閩南語推薦用字(第2批)採用創用CC授權

Your best bet is to just download one of the cheat sheets provided by the government here.

You can also see a list of some of the suggested revisions and how they would affect Holo Taiwanese songs frequently heard at karaoke:

臺灣閩南語卡拉ok正字字表 (pdf)

For the time being, this is the final batch and these three lists of 700 characters total more or less finish the process of standardizing those previously "hard to pin down" Holo Taiwanese characters. Amendments will be made as required in the future.

I got advance word on August 27 of this impending announcement, mostly due to my relentless stalking of the National Languages Committee (國語會).

Dictionary

In addition, the MOE's Taiwanese Southern Min Dictionary of Frequently Used Phrases (臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典) which fully integrates the now standardized orthography, is online and functional. The print version will be published in October.

There is also a similar dictionary for Hakka (臺灣客家語常用詞辭典), an initial list of standardized characters (臺灣客家語書寫推薦用字 (第1批)) and a standardization of romanization as well (臺灣客家語拼音方案).

The online version allows you to search in characters or romanization, with tone marks/numbers or without tones, using either the official standard Taiwanese Roman Orthography (台語羅馬字，簡稱台羅拼音) or its predecessor and main inspiration, Church Romanization (教會羅馬字，亦稱白話字).

The dictionary also includes notes on literary or colloquial readings and example sentences. One thing to note: one thing missing from the dictionary are some very common nouns and phrases; the scope of this dictionary is not yet that ambitious. You won't find Tâi-uân (台灣), kok-ka (國家), Tiong-kok (中國) or kok-tiong (國中) in this dictionary, though you will find the characters listed separately or in phrases such as Kok-li̍p Tâi-uân Gē-su̍t Kàu-io̍k-kuán (國立台灣藝術教育館).

The standardized romanization system used in that dictionary, Taiwanese Roman Orthography , is outlined in the orthography handbook mentioned above (臺灣閩南語羅馬字拼音方案使用手冊). The handbook should allow any competent Southern Min speaker to master the basics of the romanization and tone system within a couple of hours.

The dictionary draws on and is also complemented by two earlier Southern Min character databases, both of which have been updated to reflect orthography standardization and are available in print for about NT$300.

閩南語字彙(一)修訂版 & 閩南語字彙(二)修訂版


Input method

The MOE also offers a multi-platform input method that gives only romanization output, built on Open Vanilla, downloadable here (these links are to version 1.2, which may be be updated soon to reflect any additions. You can find the download at the dictionary main page, linked to above):

臺羅輸入法下載：Windows、Mac、Linux.

For character output using romanization input, which is what most people will want, there are a number of sources; I recommend FHL Taigi IME (信望愛台語文輸入法).

Remaining problems

Unfortunately, there is little public interest in using the new standardized Holo Taiwanese orthography, either in romanization or character form. So don't expect to see written Holo Taiwanese popping up on your TV subtitles, Karaoke lyrics, cereal box, street signs or story books any time soon.

In fact, I expect the vast majority of Taiwanese people, even those younger ones that are educated with the standardized characters and romanization, to remain unable to effectively read or write their mother tongue. But this is certainly a huge step forward.

HS! Standardizing Hakka characters

The big upcoming news for me is the impending release of the final set of standardized characters for written Holo Taiwanese. But today when checking up, I found some equally exciting news -- the first set of standardized Hakka characters for written Hakka!

「臺灣客家語書寫推薦用字」(第1批)

The 305 characters listed include pronunciations in all major Taiwanese Hakka dialects. If you are interested in the romanization system chosen for Hakka, see this link: 臺灣客家語拼音方案.

One thing I notice right away is that for certain characters (毋, 啉) we see continuity between the choices for Hakka and Holo. I find that encouraging in that there was some systematic thought involved.

P.S. Calling to get some more info, but Hakka group is having their meeting. They'll call me back later. Mainly, I want to ask what percentage of total characters that will be standardized these 305 represent; what the time line is for further standardization; whether it will affect textbooks on a mandatory basis; whether they'll push music companies to publish Karaoke lyrics in the new characters; etc.

I've also alerted Liberty Times and Apple Daily to the news.

Some changes to the mother tongue education program in Taiwan which I imagine will make it even more ineffective than it is now ...

Mainland: we can talk about writing system

The mainland makes a non-committal but favorable response to the now retracted call in Taiwan to come to a writing system consensus on both sides of the strait.

characters

As Culture.tw has pointed out, President Ma Ying-jeou is now championing a compromise to unify the writing systems of Taiwan and China, effectively suggesting people on both sides learn to read traditional though perhaps write in simplified script.

Frankly this idea of teaching both systems is long over due: the saddest thing about the simplification process was that it actually made Chinese more complicated by requiring readers to know two forms of what would otherwise be one character in order to be fully literate.

At the same time, people seem to guess pretty well without formal training on either side of the strait. And this is not the kind of policy that requires reciprocal action to implement either!

This will probably go somewhere eventually -- the Chinese are planning a partial re-traditionalization of their writing system anyway, which could make compromise easier -- but dont' expect this to be a high priority.

Hakka

The MOE continues to work on standardizing Hakka:

《臺灣客家語書寫推薦用字》公聽會即日起開始報名
臺灣客家語拼音方案

Regular correspondence in Holo Taiwanese & Mandarin

As my flurry of posts today indicates, my nearly week-long absence from the blog should not indicate I am fading into irrelevance! But there are a few more Taiwanese-language related links to share with you today.

One issue which should be obvious to most students of Taiwanese and Mandarin is the regular correspondence between those two languages, which can be used to guess the pronunciation of any one of a pair of cognates. But the casual student of this topic will have found it difficult to put his or her finger on some of the finer details of that regular correspondence.

I made a somewhat flawed post in the past on some of the tonal correspondences between the languages, but I have run across some much richer information lately.

First, take a look at the Master's Thesis (PDF) written by Luo Jia-peng (駱嘉鵬), who put considerable time into studying the rhyme tables of the Kuang-yun 《廣韻》, an early rime dictionary from about 1000 A.D. that is highly useful for creating historical reconstructions of pronunciation and studying divergence in modern Sinitic languages.

Phonetic reconstruction of Chinese initials is the main topic of this thesis. Luo, who is really only interested in modern Mandarin and Holo Taiwanese pronunciations and not so much on what the historically correct reconstructions might be, opts to print a table of Huang Jigang's (黃季剛) reconstruction of Kuang-yun initials. But then he gets to the best part, a table which clearly lines up the regular correspondence between Mandarin and Taiwanese with the Kuang-yun rimes (see page 4-5)! There's also a discussion of tones (see pages 6-7)!

And, for the super nerd, you can view this 8 MB excel file where the scholarly Luo has provided a full list of Mandarin and Taiwanese readings for what I thin kis all the characters in the Kuang-yun. Talk about a "wow." Sort that baby by Mandarin or Taiwanese pronounciation and scroll to your heart's content!

Taiwanese characters / orthography

I get regular hits on the blog from people searcing for 300 standardized Taiwanese characters (hanji).

But I should note that there are, as of now, 400 'suggested' standardized characters put out by the ministry of the education. "Suggested" because the Ministry knew it could not and didn't even want to try to enforce their use at Karaoke or restaurants, the only place most people read Taiwanese.

300 characters were adopted in May 2007, and you can view them here:

臺灣閩南語推薦用字（第1批） (pdf)

Another 100 characters were adopted May 1, 2008 (but largely got ignored due to the impending election), and can be found here:

臺灣閩南語推薦用字（第2批） (pdf)

You can also see a list of some of the suggested revisions and how they would affect Taiwanese songs frequently heard at karaoke:

臺灣閩南語卡拉ok正字字表 (pdf)

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This Holo Taiwanese-related piece demonstrating increasingly pathetic behavior by my least favorite female KMT legislator (I have four least favorite legislators) is probably of no interest to most readers, but I find it infuriating that a legislator who knows jack shit about the language has taken itself upon her to "teach" Holo to the non-Holo speaking Premier.

Some comments from the TGB:

國民黨的刪除台語認證專家, 用咱設計"Guan-tau kong Tai-gi"的貼紙作教材, theh khi ka Lau
tiau-hian Tai-gi.....有夠天才.

M tsai-iann kian-siau e tua-bin-sin (moo-sin-a).Gua-bin the i ang.

Âng-á-siù-thiāu ká án-ne kóng, Āu-pái góa beh iōng chôan-lô tō u lí-iû--ah,
Hah, tán chiok-kú--ah.

Some good news for a change

Premier says he disagrees with Hoklo cash cut (Taipei Times)

Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said yesterday that he disagreed with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators’ rejection of the budget request for Hoklo accreditation examinations.

Liu told Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) and Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) during a legislative session that he would do his best to remedy the lack of funding for the examinations this year....
Hung’s move prompted a demonstration outside the Legislative Yuan last Friday.

The premier yesterday rebutted DPP legislator speculation that Hung initiated the motion at the Cabinet’s request.

He said the Cabinet would request a budget to hold the examinations next year.

Chen Hsueh-yu (陳雪玉), executive secretary and a senior inspector at the ministry’s National Languages Committee, said on Friday that the ministry would not be able to hold the exams this year as a result of the budget cuts.

She said the ministry would consider ways of improving the proficiency of Hoklo teachers.

Let's wait and see what actually happens.

Holo Taiwanese proficiency issue

Li Khin-huann (李勤岸) writes on the targeted attacks on mother tongue education in Taiwan, specifically on (unnecessary) efforts to stem the strength of Holo Taiwanese.

The 2001 UNESCO report on mother languages around the world noted that languages in Taiwan, except for Mandarin, are dying. Although these languages, including Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), Hakka and the many indigenous languages, continue to be widely spoken in some cases, they are all in need of preservation efforts...

We all thought that Taiwan had become a democratic state full of cultural diversity and multilingualism. The savage neglect of language and oppression of mother tongues should have passed into history.

Who would have thought that several days before Lunar New Year, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) would propose scrapping the entire budget of NT$40 million (US$1.2 million) allotted to the Ministry of Education’s National Languages Committee for developing a Hoklo language proficiency certification system.

Did the NT$40 million make up a substantial part of the national budget of NT$1.8 trillion or the budget of NT$60 billion allocated to the ministry?

The committee asked the legislature not to cancel its budget or at least not entirely because the proficiency test has been in preparation for a year, and said the government should leave some money for completing the project.

But in the end, the entire budget was cut....

Taiwan has a proficiency certification system for every language, including Mandarin, Hakka and indigenous languages, but not Hoklo. What message does this send? That Taiwan has a barbarous government that is trying to eliminate Hoklo.

Hong Hsiu-chu, who happens to be my least favorite female KMT legislator, and who has in the past made completely ignorant statements regarding both Mandarin and Holo education (especially in regards to the standardization of the Holo spelling system), sent an editorial to the Apple Daily on the 21st to respond to the fury of the Holo language protection advocates. Below is a rushed translation of most of that editorial, titled "Of course I want to save the people money." It is full of factual errors and distortions I will point out when I get the time in a follow up post.

Language is an important tool of transmitting culture, and knowledge of every native language is worth preserving. For many years people have been encouraging people to speak their "mother tongue," to speak "the language their mother spoke," and this is something I encourage and have never opposed. But what language does mother speak? For example right now there are already more than 100 thousand children of mainland Chinese and foreign brides in our middle schools (mainland Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesians are the largest groups). If Taiwan's new immigrants wanted to insist that "the mother language is a human right," than please tell me if the Ministry of Education would be able to implement [necessary protection measures]? The mother tongue is not the same as native tongues, and for this reason I have never opposed promoting our native tongues, if not mother tongues, in our school education system.

In the final analysis, 70% or more of people in Taiwan can use Southern Min [Holo Taiwanese], and Southern Min is a strong language in Taiwanese Society [A-gu: not for long]. Being able to speak and understand Southern Min makes life more convenient in many ways and allows for creation of more social relationships, and learning any language is always a good thing. But we cannot force people to learn native languages, and we certainly cannot increase the burdon on our children, and this is a view I am sure most parents and teachers share with me.

Sadly, since native language education started in on our schools in 2001, it has suffered from a lack of qualified teachers, poor and varied textbooks, and lack of a unified writing and spelling system. This made learning the languages difficult. And when former Education Minister Du decided to unify Southern Min's writing and spelling system, he forced through a mixed character & romanization system. He also wanted first grade to learn the Southern Min spelling system and fifth grade children to use Southern Min in composition. These sorts of policies drove children crazy, and invited a lot of criticism [A-gu: how is it that she finds the idea of writing in a language you've been studying for five years to be preposterous?]. Further, there were too many textbooks, a few newly created "Taiwanese characters," the use of characters and romanization together and other bizarre orthography. Most people not only couldn't understand but couldn't even guess the meaning [of the written Taiwanese], and some students at Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School joked that the writing system "was more difficult than Martian." These policies were long ago labeled by experts to be an unnecessary burden on the students.

Former Minister Du in 2008 started to research holding a Southern Min proficiency test. The budget for that year was NT$8million, and was slated to be NT$50million in 2009 (NT$40 million of which the ministry said it would create the proficiency test for teachers ). After flipping through the Education Ministry's budget, the Department of Elementary Education and Department of Social Education already had a large budget for language related fees (the Department of Elementary Education was slated to have NT$90 million). This seemed suspiciously redundant, and that is why I proposed to cut the Southern Min proficiency budget while at the same time asking the Ministry to please present a more complete, well organized budget. But the more important reason this: holding a Southern Min proficiency test would cost NT$40 million. Doesn't that leave one speechless? And half of that money was going to be spent before anyone had signed up for the test or a test had been held. Why was so much being alloted before there was even a test? Isn't the planning for this test too careless?

Further, at this time native language education uses four writing systems -- bopomofo, torroba (?), Tongyong Pinyin and Church Romanization [aka Peh-oe-ji]. I asked the ministry which system would be used on the test? The official could not respond. After this I got to thinking, last year the ministry held a practice test for research purposes, which revealed problems. In other words, the whole testing plan is still not mature. If the budget were allowed to pass now, it would be a most wasteful, lazy and irresponsible act.

Slogans

I don't know who will care about this post, but I find the topic interesting ...

Several months ago there was a minor uproar when the Ma administration's Economic Minister stated under legislative questioning that "馬上就好," a double entendre which can be read to mean "Things will be good if Ma gets elected" and "Things will immediately be good."

Green sources immediately slammed this as an "admission" that Ma was lying about his governing skillz throughout the campaign (which in fact he was, though the Minister's statement does not mean to indicate that); the Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Yin Chi-ming (尹啟銘) quickly reminded people that slogan is a neutral noun, and does not have either positive or negative connotations.

The English slogan comes from the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm, 'battle cry.' The Chinese 口號 (kouhao) is, in fact, fairly defined as neutral. And English political slogans rarely have anything to do with a plan of governing.

But an interesting facet to this is that kouhao's use in political reporting is virtually always negative, because it is directly contrasted with action or fulfillment of promises.

For example, view reports from just the last month; I don't think a single political article uses kouhao in a neutral way, though non-political articles do (see below).

Conclusion? It's no surprise people took the Minister's statement to be an admission of guilt, given the political context of the comment, but the minister almost certainly didn't mean it in the way it was interpreted. Let's call it a very poor choice of wording.

看問題／請民進黨當個負責的在野黨，好嗎？！NOWnews - 10小時前
只是，時間一天一天過去，民進黨團遍地開花開了兩次，不但黨籍立委湊不齊，連抗議口號都喊的「零零落落」...

黨政同床異夢團結成口號？ 自由時報 - 2008年11月22日

地方政府喊出18萬億投資口號遠超地方財力極限 新浪北美 - 2008年11月26日

"國民黨終於重返執政，儘管「完全執政、完全負責」的口號，在執政之初，喊得震天價響，但執政半年下來，府院黨的黨政運作，以及行政與立法兩院的互動，卻處處顯得扞格..."

馬總統高喊2.5產業！法人：方向正確，但執行力是重點 中網理財- 2008年11月26日
也有業者指出：「不知是口號還是會落實。 」

女隊世錦賽口號向男隊學習能否進奧運明年九月揭曉 臺灣新浪網 - 2008年11月22日

上海發佈世博旅遊口號和標識 鉅亨網 - 2008年11月19日

China Times carries a kernel of truth

Today China Times has a very truthful headline: when Pinyin meets politics, a consensus is difficult to achieve. But they close the piece with sheer nonsense.

In reality, [Tongyong Pinyin and Hanyu Pinyin] both have their strengths. For example, when Tongyong was being developed, a main difference was to not use "x" and "q" as Hanyu Pinyin did because the pronunciation did not correspond with English reading habits and was not convenient for foreigners to read. On the other hand, Tongyong spells the pronunciation of 「ㄓ」as "jh," but English doesn't have this cluster and the choice made it difficult for foreigners to pronounce, unlike the Hanyu Pinyin "zh." Which spelling system is best? It will be difficult to come to consensus in the short term.

事實上，兩種拼音方式各有優劣， 例如當初設計通用拼音，主要是去除漢語拼音中，不符合英文讀寫習慣的「x」和「q」的發音，便於外籍人士閱讀。但相對，漢語拼音中「ㄓ」的發言拼寫為 「jh」，在英文中沒有這種拼法，也導致外籍人士發音困難，不像漢語拼音將「ㄓ」拼寫為韋氏音標已有的「zh」。兩種拼音方式孰優孰劣？短期內恐怕難有共 識。

Fact: neither "zh" nor "jh" consonant clusters exist in English. Neither does the basic sound [ʈʂ], a retroflexive affricate, occur in English. The closest we get are the post-aveolar affricates [tʃ] and [dʒ], generally represented with either "ch" or "j".

Now it may make sense to create your own new consonant cluster to represent a unique sound (from and English speaker's perspective), but let us not pretend that somehow "Zh" is easier to read than "Jh" for the uninitiated.

MOE stresses the classics

This news almost entirely escaped the attention or interest of the English media:

The Ministry of Education (MOE) announced yesterday plans to increase the number of Chinese literature classes and the percentage of classical Chinese literary works in the nation’s high school curriculum. Vice Education Minister Wu Tsai-shun (吳財順) told reporters in the ministry that the number of Chinese literature classes offered in high school had been reduced to four sessions per week in the curriculum guidelines published in 2006 year. The amount of classical Chinese literature in high school Chinese literature textbooks has dropped to 45 percent, Wu said. “What we are certain now is that classical Chinese literary works will account for more than 45 percent of the content of high school Chinese literature textbooks,” Wu said. Wu said the ministry would also make Analects of Confucius (論語) and the Works of Mencius (孟子), both of which were optional under previous regulations, required reading for high school students.

The lack of interest does not extend to the Chinese language media, even in China. And some still find the increase in classical content to be inadequate.

I am generally supportive of efforts to keep the younger generation literate in Classical Chinese, but don't like the way this new policy.

Let us be clear exactly what the new policy means: the increase in Classical Literature --

(1) directly equates into less time for modern prose and poetry and local authors;

(2) cements a Confucian-oriented education system by requiring the Analects and Mencius with no attention being paid to Zhuangzi, Hanfeizi, Laozi and other classical philosophers (as that first Liberty Times article points out, it's almost like the KMT wants to relive the Han dynasty); and

(3) is likely almost 100% ideologically driven, by those conservative elements who wish to revive the 'old days' of China-oriented thinking. They are more interested in forcing kids to read several-thousand-year-old texts than they are in improving the education system in some substantial way. The system has plenty of real problems no matter who you ask. Classical Chinese has to be the least of them.

It's about time!

Taiwan's ministry of education finally announced the publication of the second round of Holo Taiwanese characters that may form the basis of a standard Holo orthography (I say 'may' because I'm not sure how the new government will treat this effort).

The first round of characters, released last year, totaled 300 characters.

The second round of characters, originally slated to be be 1,200 characters long. It can be viewed here (pdf).

Despite the list totally only 400 characters now, instead of the originally intended 1,500, most of the most contentious issues have been resolved. Perhaps 1,100 more was deemed unnecessary. A third list of at least another 300 characters is planned for release by year's end, at which point a dictionary will be compiled.

Another document (pdf) shows the difference in karaoke lyrics using the new standard versus the song's original subtitles. This is probably a great way to introduce the new characters to people who might otherwise be turned off to learning about Taiwanese orthography (widely considered useless).

Update: A number of articles in the local press about the character choices. The commentary is largely negative, even hostile, thoughtless and full of outright errors. No surprise there. Here we go:

統一教材家長批大人都看不懂 (蘋果日報)
愈改愈亂教部公布台語字 (蘋果日報)
鄉土語言教材也要統一用字 (中國時報)
教部閩南語正字鎖定KTV歌詞 (中國時報)
乎乾啦→予焦啦唱卡拉OK會卡到 (聯合報)
台語推薦用字有看沒有懂 (華視新聞)
閩南語這樣說：無較縒你會念嗎？ (聯合報)
愛情限時批請你跟我這樣唱 (聯合報)
教育部公布台語卡拉OK推薦用字 (中廣新聞網)
海浪↓海湧教部推薦100個閩南語用字 (軍事新聞網)
教部閩南語推薦用字推出五十首歌曲歌詞 (Sina)
閩南語推荐用字增至400個 (國語日報)
尪婿變翁婿？台語文學者這樣用 (聯合報)

Language law (again)

I just got done talking to an aid in the office of KMT Legislator Chiang Yi-hsiung (江義雄). He is one of the heads of the Education and Culture Committee which is currently looking at the National Languages Development Draft Law (國家語言發展草案).

Let's just say Chiang's staff was refreshingly honest. When I asked about Chiang's opinion for the law, the staff took my number and said she would call me back a few minutes later.

And her answer was clear: Chiang believes this is a low priority law, not nearly as important as those dealing with people's livelihoods, so it won't be dealt with for a while.

When I asked for how long "a while" is, I was told it will probably never get out of committee. Chiang's staff directly stated another problem was that the DPP led Executive Yuan brought this bill up, so after 5-20 "the Minister of Education will probably have a different viewpoint."

I'm going to launch a drive to save this law. I'll try to get attention through a few major portals (like Taigu-bang and Social Force) who might care about this law.

But since it needs blue support, I also need to woo blue people into applying pressure. Anyone know of Blue-friendly Chinese-language sites I can use to increase support?

Note: text of bill again.

Language laws

As we all recall (OK, maybe only me), this bill, which aimed to give official protection to all Taiwanese languages, has been stalled for years now. I translated an early draft sometime in 2003, I think.

Well, the latest incarnation appeared in February of this year, when the Executive Yuan started what will likely be one last try to pass the law.

It's currently passed the first reading and is languishing in the Education and Culture Committee.

If you want to help, contact those members on the committee and encourage them to pass this bill. Fax or phone calls are probably most effective. You'll see the committee is absolutely dominated by blues, so we need strong blue support on this. Focus especially on the chairs (in red) and the most loud and influential legislators on the list (Diana Lee and Hong Hsiao-chu).

教育及文化委員會
林正二	江義雄
江玲君	李慶安	林淑芬	洪秀柱	郭素春
陳亭妃	黃志雄	楊瓊瓔	管碧玲	趙麗雲
鄭金玲

In addition, the list of 1,500 proposed standardized characters for Taiwanese (a short list since most words have obvious Mandarin cognates) should be released by the end of this month, according to my last correspondence with the MOE.

UDN opens up front in anti-Holo propaganda war

Update: Tailingua has a great critique of an English language editorial on this subject in the China Post.

UDN went all out today:

閩南語新課綱》楊青矗：台羅拼音不如ㄅㄆㄇ
閩南語新課綱》用ㄅㄆㄇ拼　別為難孩子（民意論壇）
閩南語新課綱》字音難統一 也沒有師資（民意論壇）
閩南語新課綱》民主社會 應讓拼音並存（民意論壇）
閩南語新課綱》新課綱研修 激辯沒結論
閩南語新課綱》孩子怨：沒人問我們想學什麼
閩南語新課綱》拜託！「難道台語也要補」
閩南語新課綱》「用閩南語MSN」 教部草案腰斬
閩南語新課綱》國中生要會用閩南語寫部落格
閩南語新課綱》不妥！「會干擾語言學習」

China Times:
小一拼音學台語教師：羅馬拼音沒打下基礎
閩南語正名「台灣」 課綱審委無共識

From the Guoyu Ribao:
小一學臺羅拼音教長：不宜
小一學臺羅拼音？ 爭議大未過關
缺師資　勉強上路反效果
學三種拼音　學童說會混淆

Obviously Liberty Times was more forgiving:
拼音學台語專家不同調
閩南語正名、小一學拼音未定案

The arguments against? Romanization sucks; you can't read it anyway (never mind you've never tried); neither can the teachers; nobody asks the students what they want to learn; teaching Holo will hurt other language education, including Hakka and Aboriginal languages; the academics working on the program can't agree on anything; the whole effort's a waste of time and resources.

As usual, I'm depressed at the enthusiasm UDN has for attacking Holo language education. Not to mention the load of distorted or false information in the articles.

There is one bit of truth in the articles that helps explain why this situation is so difficult: unqualified teachers. As the education system early on favored mainlanders and those fluent in Mandarin, and disparaged other languages, a great number of teachers speak very poor Holo Taiwanese or don't speak at all. Even those that can speak well have no clue how to read or write it on the whole. It's very difficult to use these teachers to give your kids real working fluency. I think you just have to bring in and train more teachers.

And as I was saying to my wife the other day, people are allowing Holo Taiwanese to die. It would take most native speakers less than an hour to learn some form of romanization or phonetic system for Holo Taiwanese; some systems, like the modified bopomo, I think you could teach in 20 minutes. But few ever make the effort to learn one, and most figure it's totally unnecessary. They have no idea there's Taiwanese literature and poetry. They wouldn't spend 10 minutes trying to struggle through a Taiwanese article or short story because it would take some effort.

With cultural attitudes like this, a top down plan is almost the only real option if we want to save these endangered languages. And since nearly everyone's starting from scratch anyway, I see no need to bicker over which writing system is used. Just pick one and move on to the next step.

Holo education plans

TVBS, which hates the idea of anyone being lierate in Holo Taiwanese, is upset with an effort by the MOE to encourage those kids studying Holo to use it in practical, fun ways! That plan included:

• 3rd graders write e-mail in romanized Holo Taiwanese.
• 5th graders use Holo Taiwanese to chat on MSN.
• Middle schoolers use Holo Taiwanese to write a blog.

Obviously, this would be a big step toward widespread Holo Taiwanese literacy. The TVBS report further posits that bopomo ㄅㄆㄇ, aka Zhuyin fuhao (注音符號), English and romanizations for Holo, Hakka and aboriginal languages would make children "very confused" with all these crazy writing systems!

[The article fails to mention that children only have to, and indeed can probably only, pick a single native language (Holo, Hakka or one of the aboriginal tongues) to study at school, and that being able to write a language is sort of an obvious part of nearly all language training.]

The report starts and finishes by noting this plan is currently under review after previously having a green light (though no source is really cited for this assertion), and also speculates without evidence that Ma's election is the cause for the plan's delay/cancellation.

That makes no sense to me. I'd try to hurry it up if I were them, not slow things down!

Update: According to the Taigu-bang, this among other topics is simply under review and discussion at this point. There was a conference yesterday on these topics, which is apparently how TVBS came up with its report information (notice the blatant lie that the plan was somehow canceled due to Ma's election).

The romanization issue is also under review -- it appears the unified standard will be dropped to allow teachers to use whichever system they believe best. That, I think, will be a big mistake, though if a unified character system for all words is insisted upon, the disaster could be mitigated to some degree.

NYT piece on TI

Update: Michael Turton does a better job on this one.

Taiwan’s Independence Movement Likely to Wane, runs the headline of Edward Wong's article. Let's get into it.

No matter who wins Taiwan’s fiercely contested presidential election on March 22, the fervent independence movement that has so agitated relations with mainland China in recent years seems destined to suffer a significant setback.

Agitating China probably has little to do with Taiwanese voters' decisions. Also, why is the Independence Movement described as fervent? If you ask me, it's been pretty complacent for at least the last four years, and really more like a decade or more.

Both candidates, Ma Ying-jeou and Frank Hsieh, want closer ties with Beijing, differing only in how quickly and to what degree they would strengthen relations. By calling for closer economic cooperation with China and rejecting any notions of separatism, they are repudiating the tough nationalist policies of the departing president, Chen Shui-bian, whose confrontational stance has angered officials in Beijing and Washington and has stirred anxiety among many Taiwanese.

I think the main difference is really about the preconditions for those closer economic ties, with Hsieh insisting on equal footing (no preconditions)for negotiations while Ma believes accepting "One China" provides equal footing. No question Chen Shui-bian is no longer the man of the hour; everyone wants some distance.

“Both sides will try to seek common ground and seek engagement across the straits,” said Philip Yang, a political scientist at National Taiwan University who has advised the Ma campaign. “If Ma is elected, the pace will be faster, and with bigger expectations.”

The pace will be faster because Beijing and the KMT likely already have some tactic agreements, but this is a pretty fair evaluation.

Mr. Ma, a Harvard-educated lawyer, is favored in polls and by political commentators to beat Mr. Hsieh, who is from the Democratic Progressive Party, or D.P.P., of Mr. Chen and is campaigning in his shadow.

Ma is not a lawyer. He is favored in polls. Hsieh is a human rights lawyer. Why leave that out? And why leave out what Ma actually did with his career?

Mr. Ma’s party, the Kuomintang, governed Taiwan for 51 years, often with an iron grip, before Mr. Chen was elected in 2000. The Kuomintang’s revival this year is
rooted in widespread disenchantment with Mr. Chen, whose party took power on a wave of optimism.

Fair. But shouldn't "sometimes ruled Taiwan with an iron fist" be "ruled Taiwan with an iron fist using the world's longest period of martial law?"

Mr. Chen initially tapped a vein of support among many Taiwanese for steps to promote Taiwan’s separate identity. Those feelings ran especially deep among
people whose families had lived in Taiwan for generations and did not have close
political ties to mainland China. Many Taiwanese also hoped that Mr. Chen would
end the corruption and authoritarianism associated with the Kuomintang.

I would have reversed the order. Chen's calls for reform got him elected in 2000 more than identity issues.

Instead, Mr. Chen has been mired in corruption scandals involving close relatives. Also, his tireless efforts to promote independence created constant tension with the mainland and led to disagreements with the United States, which has helped guarantee Taiwan’s security but has discouraged unilateral steps by either side to change the island’s political status.

What are those "tireless efforts to promote independence?" Insisting that Taiwan does not belong to the PRC? By that measure, all candidates have said something to the effect, although the KMT position is so wrapped up in contradictions its hard even for them to make heads or tails of it. Also, practically speaking, there is little or nothing Taiwan can do to unilaterally change the status quo except as defined by Beijing, which is defining it based on fiction as opposed to some reality.

In the end, Mr. Chen alienated people in the broad center of the electorate who say they support the status quo and who depend on strengthening economic ties across the Taiwan Strait. As he finishes his second term, his popularity ratings are in the 20s.

This confuses the issue: what is the status quo? Lack of war? De facto independence? One China? According to the most recent opinion polls, people would say de facto independence, which sort of changes the spin on this, doesn't it? I mean, really this is the crux of the issue. If you suggest the independence movement is on the wane, you're right that the idea that Taiwan must make an active declaration of independence from the PRC and throw off the ROC government and constitution is basically dead. That hardly means people have stopped believing in de facto independence or that they no longer hope to enjoy de jure independence.

And Chen's low popularity has everything to do with the scandals and stagnant wages.

Despite his troubles, he has prepared a parting shot: a nonbinding referendum on March 22 that asks Taiwanese whether they want to apply for the United Nations under the name Taiwan rather than the island’s formal name, the Republic of China. Taiwan left the United Nations in 1971 when the General Assembly recognized the Communists as China’s legitimate government.

What about the KMT's referendum? Every one's doing exactly as the CCP and KMT do, ignoring the KMT initiative and focusing only on the DPP's as "provocative." The CCP surely considers the KMT measure provocative too, but doesn't wish to say so since the KMT is doing the job for them by not pushing their own referendum. And characterizing a vote as a "parting shot?"

Mr. Ma, in trying to establish himself as a centrist voice, has criticized the referendum and other government policies aimed at stoking nationalist sentiments. “The D.P.P.’s drive toward de jure independence led only to Taiwan’s internal decay and international isolation,” Mr. Ma, 57, said at a recent news conference. “It is therefore high time for both Taiwan and the mainland to revert to what I call the three noes: no talks on reunification during my term of office, no pursuit of de jure independence and no use of force by either side.”

Again, this only makes him a centrist if you pretend there is no KMT referendum and ignore that the vast majority of Taiwanese want to be in the UN.

Many of the policies proposed by Mr. Ma and Mr. Hsieh, 61, are similar, though Mr. Ma appears more willing to engage directly with Beijing. Mr. Ma has said he will increase the number of charter flights across the straits and explore opening up commercial flights, all to spur the economy, which voters see as a major issue. He has also said he supports increasing tourism in Taiwan from the mainland and lifting many government limits on cross-straits investment.

As we all know, the economic policies are fairly similar, with Ma backtracking on several promises and trying to insist at this point he would really limit a lot of free trade issues, effectively making his position closer to Hsieh's.

Mr. Ma said he would ensure that the defense budget was equal to at least 3 percent of Taiwan’s gross domestic product. The military needs “to be strong enough to deter an initial attack from the mainland,” he said.

No comments on how they've actually handled the arms budget or how this statement flies in the face of years of their policy.

Since campaigning began in earnest, Mr. Ma has been dogged by issues of character, with Mr. Hsieh relentlessly questioning him on having received United States permanent residency. Critics of Mr. Hsieh, also a lawyer, say raising the character issue is a sign of his desperation, as his party tries to battle back from a painful defeat in legislative elections in January. The vote, in which the Kuomintang won almost three-quarters of 113 parliamentary seats, was generally seen as a referendum on Mr. Chen’s leadership.

I'd say that's a pretty fair paragraph.

“We’re operating against the tide,” said Hsiao Bi-khim, a former legislator and a spokeswoman for Mr. Hsieh, who has declined to meet with foreign journalists. “Our defeat in the parliamentary elections on the one hand has brought our party spirits to a low point, but has also brought on a sense of urgency.”

That's some honesty from Bi-khim. You go, girl! It's interesting that Hsieh is shunning foreign journalists at this point. Maybe you have to blame the DPP for the lack of a green perspective in international media, then.

To distance himself from Mr. Chen, Mr. Hsieh has called for maintaining the status quo, rather than pushing for independence, and has proposed allowing direct Chinese investment in Taiwan and lifting limits on Taiwanese investment in China. He has also said little about the United Nations referendum, although many party members continue to say it is important.
“We see China as a giant with its hands around our neck, trying to suffocate us, trying to shut off our space on the international stage,” he said. The referendum, she added, “is an expression of the desire of the Taiwanese people for its space, to be part of the international community, to join international organizations. It’s not about declaring independence. It’s not about changing the legal status of Taiwan.”

It's hard to tell if this quote is from Bi-khim or Frankie. But in any case, I tend to agree.

Nevertheless, American officials continue to warn Taiwan not to provoke China.
In Beijing on Feb. 26, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, “this referendum is not going to help anyone, and, in fact, it shouldn’t be held.”

Shelley Rigger, a professor of political science at Davidson College in North Carolina, who wrote a book about the D.P.P., said that because of Mr. Chen’s policies, “U.S.-Taiwan relations are about as bad as they’ve ever been.”

Well, sorry Condie, but too late! And how can a vote that can't change the reality at the UN really be considered provocative? Also, Rigger seems to be basically correct on the point about US-Taiwan relations.

“The U.S. is very eager for the new administration to take office because there’s considerable concern in Washington that Chen Shui-bian could still destabilize matters even before inauguration,” she added. In Mr. Chen’s tenure the government carried out domestic policies centered on Taiwanese nationalism, such as promoting a Taiwanese dialect.

He certainly will have some card up his sleeve should Ma win. But tying the promotion of Holo Taiwanese (and labeling it a dialect) to nationalism is a gross oversimplification taken out of context. The DPP has also promoted Hakka, Aboriginal language education and standardization and has worked to put Filipino, Thai and Vietnamese language soap operas on public TV to recognize the demographic influx of speakers of those languages. And this claim ignores the fact that these languages were all actively repressed for 50 years, to such a degree that Holo Taiwanese, Hakka and all Aboriginal tongues are endangered. Mandarin is still also the only language government documents are published in.

The DPP language policy is simply not related to nationalism, even if nationalists link language to their cause.