To help new immigrants better acclimate to Taichung, the City Government has published a supplementary language booklet titled “Taichung, My New Home” With foreign spouses new to Taichung in mind, the booklet uses conversations they might encounter in their daily lives which encompass areas of food, shopping, living, transportation, and entertainment, as the framework to help them learn the language. These booklets will be provided to people getting their “primary education for adults” class and foreign spouse language class, so they can more quickly adapt to the new environment. 

Education Bureau pointed out that currently, there are more than 4,200 foreign spouses of Southeast Asian nationals residing in Taichung. The number is growing at a rate of approximately 200 per month. This will very likely impact the education outlook of future generations, thus cultural adjustment and education for new immigrants is one of City’s top priorities.

Taichung City Government commissioned Li-Tou-Dian Community College, working with Jianshing, Chun-an, Shingyi, Chungcheng, and other elementary schools, to publish a language learning supplementary material- “Taichung, My New Home”, that is both practical and fun. The City hopes to raise the learning interests of foreign spouses through the lively and animated content which will allow them to have fun while they learn, and to achieve good learning results.

Education Bureau explained that there are 10 units to “Taichung, My New Home” which are Scenic Spots, Administration Agencies, Food Culture, Shopping, Transportation, Medical Facilities, Education Facilities, Cultural Resources, Leisure Activities, and Religions. With foreign spouses new to Taichung in mind, the booklet uses conversations they might encounter in their daily lives which encompass areas of food, shopping, living, transportation, and entertainment, as the framework to help them learn the language, so they can quickly and easily adapt to local living, enrich their quality of life and create blissful families.

This year, there are a total of 1,000 booklets produced which will be provided to people getting their “primary education for adults” class and foreign spouse language class. Each booklet contains CD ROM, text, pictures and sound clips, which not only a good source of teaching materials for instructors, but also gives the students a chance to practice and learn on their own. Without a doubt, these topics will spark more interesting conversations between instructors and new immigrants.