Taipei, Aug. 28 (CNA) Foreign students from more than nine countries praised the Ministry of Education's (MOE's) Mandarin learning program and shared what they have learned in Taiwan -- in Mandarin -- in a ceremony Tuesday before returning home.
"These have been the most special years of my life, " said Sascha Heusermann, a German who spoke on behalf of the foreign students in a ceremony marking the conclusion of the summer program. Heusermann spoke in fluent Mandarin after spending two years in Taiwan.
To promote Taiwan's Mandarin education expertise, the MOE started offering scholarships to interested foreign students in 2005. According to MOE statistics, 423 university students from 10 countries arrived in Taiwan this year to participate in the program at various local universities.
Among these, 299 students from nine countries were in Taiwan for the summer programs ranging from 21 to 55 days. The students came from countries such as the U.S., U.K., Germany, Canada, Japan, Slovenia, Russia, Poland, Costa Rica, Austria and Kiribati -- Taiwan's diplomatic ally in the Pacific.
Without the scholarships, it would be impossible for them to come to Taiwan and join the program, and the learning environment in Taiwan has been more than they had hoped for, a number of students said during the ceremony.
"Promoting Mandarin learning is a MOE policy, and to that end, there are 48 Taiwanese Mandarin teachers in Thailand, " said Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng.
Tu said he was aware that China has been the most common destination for foreigners wanted to learn Chinese, but "from what I heard from foreign friends, Taiwan is one of the best, if not the best, destinations as it offers professional teachers and teaching programs and an environment friendly to foreigners."
Heusermann, 22, learned more than Mandarin in Taiwan. He also observed why most Taiwanese have difficulties learning a foreign language.
"I think most Taiwanese are afraid of making mistakes. In fact, that was the last thing you have to worry about when learning a new language, " said Heusermann, who planned to stay in Taiwan and major in Business Management in National Taipei University of Technology.
"As happy as I am seeing the progress our foreign friends had during the short period of time, I think it's also time for us to take a look at the efficiency of Taiwan's foreign language education," Tu said.