Taipei, Dec. 13 (CNA) Local government agencies have been working hard in the past five years to create an English-friendly environment, though it still needs many adjustments, agency staff members said Thursday on the sideline of the 2007 English Carnival.
The hard work has paid off, however, judging from the latest results of the overall living environment approval rate of 61.5 percent among foreigners, which was the highest in five years. The survey was conducted by the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (RDEC).
The basic requirement was render every operational item and bulletin bilingual so foreigners could have easy access to information on where they wanted to go, said Meng Yun-tsung, Manager of Hsinchu Post Office. The office also had English courses for its staff to improve their English conversation.
Results of the same survey showed that only a third of foreigners were satisfied with the police service environment. But that was not the case in Nantou County Police Bureau, which started to work on providing a bilingual environment in 2004, said a policeman surnamed Wu.
"I don't know what it's like in metropolitan areas like Taipei City, where there have been more criminal cases. Most of the foreigners in Nantou are tourists rather than businessmen, which was why most of our interaction involves answering questions, giving directions... and let them use our bathrooms," a policeman surnamed Fan said.
Not every policeman was able to speak fluent English, but foreigners could always call Foreign Affairs Sections of every police station for help, Wu said.
In Kaohsiung City, where the 2009 World Games will be held, a bilingual environment is even more important. The city's transportation and tourism bureaus worked with taxi drivers, who are expected to host many foreign visitors during the games.
More than 400 drivers of the Sin Sing Siang Taxi Radio Station started taking free English lessons offered by the bureaus this year to improve their conversation.
"It's impossible to make all of the drivers speak English well in a short period of time, but at least we're supposed to know which hotels, agencies and locations the passengers want to go to, and be able to chat a little bit with them, " said Wu Yi-fong, an executive of the taxi station.
The initiative and effort should be appreciated, said Douglas Habecker, Editor-in-Chief of Compass, which publishes free bilingual magazines in Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
"The [English] environment has improved a lot during the last five years. It's easy for people to criticize but Taiwan has made huge steps. The biggest change has to do with the positive attitude of the central and local governments, and the people, towards internationalization, " said Habecker, 40, who were born in the eastern city of Hualien and lives in Taichung.
The basic idea was not make everyone a good English speaker and to make everything bilingual, because that's impossible, Habecker said, adding that the more important thing is to provide user-friendly, high-quality and constantly updated information through guides, maps and Web sites.
"Try to find a solution and ways to make it easier [for foreigners] in important spots such as airports, hotels and transportation hubs, " he said.