Taiwan to make English a second official language by 2019

Lai Ching-te (賴清德, William Lai) spokesperson, elected Taiwanese premier in 2017, confirmed the project to make English a second official language in Taiwan by 2019.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) will present an official report to adopt English as an official language alongside Chinese Mandarin, said Kolas Yotaka (谷 辣 斯 ‧ 尤達卡).

“Next year I will define a political goal to make Taiwan a bilingual country, with English and Chinese as official languages,” Lai said in the interview, which was published on Monday.

At the end of last year, Lai directed the MOE to form a “Committee to promote English as an official language”, which was tasked with studying the issue, conducting public polls and drafting a plan on how to achieve such an objective.

The MOE presented the first committee report to Lai in June and is expected to present its second and final report at the end of August or beginning of September, according to Kolas.

The second report will focus on ways and means of improving English language teaching in schools, for example by establishing schools or bilingual classes and emphasizing English spoken in language courses, he said.

The MOE report will also address legislative issues such as the feasibility of deregulation in relevant areas to help promote a broad bilingual environment, Kolas said.

Premier Lai, who had started a program similar to Tainan when he was mayor of the city, is leading this phase to make English an official language at a national level.

Source: Focus Taiwan via CinaOggi