Why I decided to learn Zhuyin (Bopomofo)

Taking classes at National Chengchi University helped me to improve my Chinese pronunciation by far. Interestingly enough, I attribute most of my improvement to language exchanges that I did with local friends, especially with one who took up the task of teaching me Zhuyin. Zhuyin is the phonetic system that is used in Taiwan. Most Taiwanese people do not use pinyin as they are taught Zhuyin starting from preschool. Despite this, in order to match what the rest of the world teaches, Chinese language schools in Taiwan, such as the Chinese Language Center in NCCU, use pinyin. I was only able to learn Zhuyin through language exchanges with locals. There are several reasons that I dedicated dozens of hours to memorizing a new phonetic system.

Pronunciation

Zhuyin helps fine tune pronunciation. Many Chinese learners make pronunciation mistakes with pinyin as they associate the sounds that they see with the English alphabet. Learning Zhuyin forces you to learn an entirely new symbol to which you can associate the right sound. Learning this system was also a great review of all the sounds that exist in Mandarin. Going over a new phonetic system allowed me to rehearse my Chinese phonics and more closely focus on hearing the difference between similar sounds. Many users of pinyin also never properly learn how to use pinyin. The use of the Latin alphabet often gives them too much confidence or the false idea that they know how to make the sounds in pinyin’s initials and finals.

Reading and Writing

The nature of the characters in Zhuyin reflects the philosophy of Chinese characters as they have specific stroke orders and a look that resembles Chinese characters. The format in which they are used also helps learners focus on learning characters. Zhuyin is often printed in between characters, smaller and to the right of them. This forces readers to look at the characters. Many Mandarin learners know all too well that it is very easy to skim over Chinese characters when using pinyin.

Local Adaptation

As someone who values learning outside of the classroom, I often practice Mandarin with locals. One problem that I quickly ran into with many Taiwanese was that they did not know how to use pinyin. When I asked them how to say something or to explain a new character, they would write in Zhuyin! Learning Zhuyin has also given me access to many more learning materials. I can now go to any children’s bookstore in Taiwan and practice short stories designed for Taiwanese children who are still learning their characters.

Looking at all of the benefits that could be attained, I genuinely feel that for new beginners, Zhuyin is a superior phonetic system to use to learn Mandarin. Schools in the United States should try using this system, and see if there are improvements in the pronunciations and reading levels of their beginner students.

Josh Pope, B.A. International Affairs 2021
Sigur Center 2019 Asian Language Fellow
National Chengchi University, Taiwan

Taiwan and the Circular Economy (台灣與循環經濟)

A Brief Mandarin Language Introduction to the Circular Economy in Taiwan

by the American Institute in Taiwan Circular Economy Consultant Grayson Shor

Download my PowerPoint presentation: Taiwan and the Circular Economy, by Grayson Shor: 台灣與循環經濟.

Mandarin Text: 台灣與循環經濟

each paragraph corresponds to a slide in my PPT

1. 1. 第1頁
      1. 大家好！我的名字是邵世涵。我今天的演講主題是：台灣與循環經濟
      2. 你們知道「循環經濟」是什麼？你們知道台灣是亞洲循環經濟發展得最好的國家嗎？如果你不知道的話，放心吧。因為我現在立刻就要告訴你。
   2. 第2頁：
      1. 這位先生曾經說過：
         1. 1. 「這個宇宙是有限的，它的資源有限。
               如果生命沒有受到控制，
               生命將不繼續存在。
               今天的生活習慣需要修正」
   3. 第3頁：
      1. 他的意思是：隨著世界上的人口越來越多，大家使用的資源也越來越多。要是資源再不控制大家就不能生存了。
   4. 第4頁：
      1. 不過，這有什麼壞處？現在出生的人，當他們邁入青壯年時，就要面對稀有金屬匱乏的問題；到中年時更將面臨能源匱乏的問題。
   5. 第5頁：
      1. 再加上，隨著中產階級消費者越來越多，垃圾和污染也越來越嚴重。
   6. 第6頁：
      1. 為什麼情況變成了這樣？一般來說，大部分的產品的一生是：
         1. 首先：從環境裡開採資源
         2. 然後：用這些資源生產出產品
         3. 最後：當一個人用過了這些產品，想買新款的產品時，他們就會把用過的產品丟到垃圾桶。
         4. 這個做法對環境不好不說，消費者對資源的使用也缺乏效能。

1. 7. 第7頁：
      1. 這樣一來，我們應該做什麼改變？
      2. 我們應該改一改「垃圾」的定義 。再不改變我們的想法，我們的資源就要用完了。
   8. 第8頁：
      7. 循環經濟是一個讓資源可恢復且可再生的經濟和產業系統。簡單來說,循環經濟努力地讓垃圾可以再利用。
      8. 
   9.  第9頁：
      1. 在台灣循環經濟發展得很快。
      2. 我要很快地介紹一些台灣循環經濟的個案研究
   10. 第10頁：
       1. 你知道台灣一天消費的咖啡豆高達30噸嗎？可是，咖啡豆的原料僅有2%成為咖啡。
       2. 台灣有世界上第一家用咖啡渣做衣服的公司，讓咖啡渣可以循環使用。
   11. 第11頁：
       1. 全台灣每年製造出15億個一次性飲料杯
       2. 這個公司租賃杯子，讓大家可以循環使用。
   12. 第12頁：
       1. 這家農場使用動物糞便生產沼氣
       2. 他們不但只用自己發的電，還減少了他們的溫室氣體排放量
   13. 第13頁：
       1. 在台北這座大樓，叫「EcoArk」是100%利用寶特瓶做的。
   14. 第14頁：
       1. 謝謝大家！希望你們能在我的演講中聽到一些對你有用的概念。

—

Grayson Shor

M.A. International Affairs, Specialized in Asia’s Emerging Circular Economy Ecosystem and Plastic Marine Debris

Sigur Center 2019 Asian Language Fellow

National Taiwan University, Taiwan

I have been very lucky to have been able to travel to two other cities in Taiwan during my time here so far, spending a weekend each in Taichung and Tainan. These travel experiences were a great supplement to my Chinese language learning in the classroom in Taipei. In both of these cities the dominant languages are Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese Hokkien, and English speakers are much less common than in Taipei, which has a large expat community. On both of these trips I was joined by fellow Sigur Grant recipient Josh Pope.

My experience in Taichung was quite interesting, as my local friend who was showing me around the city had to take care of his 8 year old cousin that day, so we brought her with us. Below are a few pictures of the places we went in Taichung:

On this day in Taichung, we went to the Botanical Gardens, The National Art Museum, Taichung Park, and walked around the downtown area.

In Tainan, we visited some of the oldest temples in Taiwan, went to one of the  largest night-markets, and saw the ruins of a 17th century Dutch fort.

Tainan is also known within Taiwan for having excellent food:

As the supposed birthplace of Taiwanese Oyster Omelettes and Beef Noodles, the food did not disappoint. Tainan cuisine tends to be very sweet, and this is reflected in their preferred version of soy sauce- more of a soy syrup. Additionally Tainan’s tropical climate has the perfect weather to eat shaved ice desserts, like the mango one to the right.

You may have noticed that the 3 cities, Taipei, Taichung, and Tainan, all share the name Tai- with the island of Taiwan. This is because they are located in the north, middle, and south of the island respectively, and the second half of each name denotes the location. My Taiwanese friend Vince joked about the lack of creativity in city-naming here, but I find the naming convention amusing and hope to visit the other two Tai- cities (Taitung, and Taixi, which is actually a small fishing village according to my friends here who were very confused when I brought it up).

Overall, this experience in Taiwan has greatly improved both my Chinese language abilities and my understanding of Taiwanese culture.

Field Tales: Designing, Outreach and Reflections

When I learnt that I have been granted the Sigur grant, I was both excited and nervous. Excited because I could now finally undertake fieldwork that I had been planning for, for almost a year! Nervous because I now had to transition from the comforts of secondary research desk-work to diving into primary data collection on the field.

Often, it takes a village to accomplish goals, cross milestones and finally reach our destination. Acknowledging the benefits of collaborative work, I set out on the path of reaching out to local partners and NGOs that had established relations with communities. In the process, I met many interesting people, who had similar research interests, alongside immense hands-on experience. Specifically, I got on board 2 young researchers who had received formal training in qualitative research and had previously conducted fieldwork across multiple regions in India. Together, the three of us set out on the path of implementing the envisioned qualitative survey.

The survey has 3 components and this blog focuses on the second component (SC2 hereafter). Under SC2, we seek to collect information on behavior and attitudes towards reporting of Violence Against Women (VAW) – an issue that is subject to considerable stigma, shame – and is consequently under-reported. We planned to interview men and women in the age-group 18-30 years old from districts [1] across Delhi. Given that responses on VAW could suffer from social-desirability bias, we utilized indirect methods of questioning, such as vignettes that could induce truthful revelation of opinions on VAW. In other words, the questionnaire depicted hypothetical situations on cases of VAW and sought the respondent’s opinion on what should be done next.  Below is an excerpt from our questionnaire, for clearer illustration,:

Now we will present to you description of some hypothetical situations on crimes against women. Each description is followed by four options. Please choose one option, which you think is the best choice. There is no right or wrong answer to these questions – please be honest. If you wish, you can provide brief comments to explain your choice in the space provided.

Aditi is the eldest daughter of a lower middle class family. Her father has recently retired as a clerk from a government job, her mother is a homemaker and she has two brothers who are studying. Aditi is a nurse and the only earning member of the family. One day, one of the doctors at the hospital sexually harassed her. Aditi is very disturbed and feels like quitting her job. But given the circumstances, she is in a dilemma. What do you think Aditi should do?

1. Confront the perpetrator(s)
2. Seek help at the location of the incident
3. Call a friend/family member
4. Report to police 

Please provide brief comments to explain your answer.

The first and perhaps the most challenging aspect of executing SC2 was recruitment of subjects. A part of the challenge came from the fact that VAW is a very sensitive topic and people are not particularly comfortable talking about it. Given that, we were focusing on a younger demographic, we decided on contacting coaching centers where young professionals come to take classes on aptitude exams, such as GRE and GMAT. However, most coaching centers turned down our offer to collaborate, primarily because these centers are driven by profit motivations and were unable to realize the benefits of collaborating on social and behavioral research, devoid of any financial transactions. After 2-3 weeks of reaching out to almost all coaching centers in Delhi, we realized that we would not be able to get sufficient number of centers on-board and that we needed to re-strategize.

Feeling quite dejected, we started thinking of alternative outreach strategies and there came the Eureka moment! During one of our team meetings, I came up with idea of contacting vocational centers run by the Government of India. These centers, referred to as National Skill Development Centers (NSDC), provide training to young men and women on a range of skills, including data-entry, office documents, electronics technician, beauty and wellness, etc., free of cost. These centers were seemingly more aligned with social objectives; they aimed at providing vocational training to people who have completed education and are looking at enhancing their employability but are unable to afford niche training provided by private centers. After contacting coordinators of NSDC centers, we received a much more welcoming response. This was quite a boost to our newly-found outreach strategy – a much-needed lift after the fall-out with the coaching centers.

The second step was to conduct a pilot to adequately test the survey instruments. This step was particularly exciting! We had been working on developing the instruments for several weeks and finally, it was now the time to test them in a real-world setting. What soon unfolded was a serendipitous moment. Much to our surprise, the first training coordinator we contacted (in a small village called Devli in South Delhi) was extremely supportive of our research endeavors and invited us for a meeting the next day. My team and I prepared for the meeting and were hoping for the best outcome, i.e. fix a date to schedule a formal roll-out. But as luck would have it, when we went in for the meeting, we were asked to roll-out the survey that day itself! It was truly good fortune that we got the opportunity to conduct a pilot on 80 respondents (almost 15% of the target sample size), however, on very short-notice. Nevertheless, excited to seize this opportunity, my team and I immediately started preparing. We translated the questionnaires from English to Hindi, which was the primary language for most respondents, and rushed to make copies of the translated questionnaires.[2] What followed suit was a smooth pilot rolled out to 80 young men and women from varied socioeconomic backgrounds. Although we were initially not prepared to pilot on the same day, our teamwork made it possible.

Research is a fairly iterative process. The pilot gave us several useful insights on improving the design and execution of the survey. Over the next month, we rolled out the survey in 16 centers, across all districts in Delhi, grossing a total sample size of 636, against our target of 550 (i.e. 50 each from the 11 districts).

Each roll-out was unique in its own way and we learnt something new each time. Several respondents told us that they enjoyed being a part of the research study because it was on a socially-relevant and relatable topic. One of the respondents from Vasant Kunj (Southwest Delhi) district mentioned that she liked responding to the survey as she felt that the ‘situations’ described as vignettes were very ‘real.’ Another respondent from Badarpur (Southeast Delhi) said that the comments section of the questionnaire gave her an outlet to express her latent emotions and feelings on the issue.

But there were also few people who weren’t satisfied with the research objectives and were dismissive of our endeavor. During our roll-out in Madhipur village (West Delhi), one of the respondents was irritated that we had chosen such a ‘silly’ topic to study. He said that there were more ‘important’ things to study than VAW. He also urged us to look into the effects of tobacco (‘gutkha’) as it was causing a lot of harm to the youth. Such comments were also important and rather telling of how the severity of VAW as an issue may not have resonated much with some people. This in itself is an important takeaway and reiterates the need for greater sensitization among youth on VAW.

While, the data analysis is underway, our initial reflections from the survey as well as the overwhelming support received from training coordinators and respondents reaffirms our belief in the underlying motivations of this research. With this in mind, we continue to strive towards conducting socially-relevant research that can create meaningful impact.

[1] Administrative unit, similar to US counties

[2] Big thank you to Google translate for this.

Abhilasha Sahay, PhD Economics 2020

Sigur Center 2019 Field Research, India