Multicultural Talks --- Spanish in the Global Context

March 27, 2012

With ever increasing globalization connecting people from afar like never before,

students need to keep their focus on the future to be successful and competitive in

years to come. In order to help students in this pursuit, the Office of International

Affairs organized a “Spanish in the Global Context” workshop. Mario Santander, a

graduate student in translation at NTNU, came to Lin Kou campus to talk about the

prospects of the Spanish language in the global economy. He also taught a few basic

Spanish phrases and what to look out for if you’re planning on taking up Spanish.

While explaining the importance of Spanish, Mario highlighted two important points

for Taiwanese students to keep in mind, namely that almost all of South America and

Central America use Spanish as their main language and, secondly, that the majority

of countries that share close diplomatic ties with Taiwan are Spanish-speaking. With

this in mind, Mario explained that it’s simple; anyone who can speak Spanish,

Chinese, and English, is almost guaranteed a job.

Multicultural Talks ---Studying Japanese is Fun

April 10, 2012

From Lamian, Takoyaki, Wagashi, etc., Japanese culture is all around us.

Fortunately, Jin-tian Qinzi, from the department of Taiwanese, came to Lin Kou

campus to explain a little bit about Japanese culture and teach everyone a few

Japanese phrases. As many of the audience have already had a significant amount of

contact with Japanese, Qinzi also asked occasional questions while doing her

presentation. One of the main topics Qinzi touched upon was how the Japanese

language has been shaped by other languages throughout the ages. For instance,

during the Chinese Tang dynasty the Japanese were undergoing some major changes;

the Taika reform describes a period in which many Japanese scholars and monks were

sent to China to study all of the ways of the then modern Chinese state, from

Buddhism to Mandarin. Many effects of the reform can still be felt to this day; for

instance, the iconic Japanese kimono is in fact a style of dress from the Tang dynasty.

As Taiwan was once a Japanese colony for about fifty years, Taiwanese culture has

also been greatly influenced by Japanese culture. For instance, the words for many

day-to-day things in Taiwanese are in fact hand-me-downs from Japanese. At the end

of the presentation, everyone agreed that they learned a great deal.

Multicultural Talks ---Beautiful Arts --- Belize (Drums of My Father)

May 15, 2012

This month’s multicultural lecture invited Ulyses Augustine, a student from the

department of Human Resources, to introduce his native country Belize. Belize is a

country which was once an English colony. As such, its official language is English,

though the population is highly multicultural. The main cultural influence is without a

doubt derived from the Garifuna people, descendants of the Arawak aboriginals and

African population. The most common languages include Spanish, French, and

Arawak. The main cuisine and music is distinctly African.