 Welcome to a very special interview to launch Fund Mandarin. Fund Mandarin is a Mandarin learning program, a collaboration between the Taiwan Embassy, Taiwan Technical Mission and the GIS. Today, we're coming to you from the Taiwan Embassy where we get an opportunity to speak with His Excellency Peter Chen as well as Mandarin tutor Ting Ting. So first we speak to His Excellency Peter Chen. Good morning. Thank you for having me. Good morning. Thanks for hosting us today. Thank you. Okay, so we said we have this program, Fund Mandarin, which is a Mandarin learning program. So it gives Saint Louisians an opportunity to learn Mandarin from the comfort of their home. But could you tell us what is it possible also to learn Mandarin in Taiwan and what would be the benefit of that? Yes, I say Taiwan promotes Mandarin teaching for a long time, so not only for the local people and also for foreign friends. And also Taiwan is the best friend of Saint Lucia, so why not choose Taiwan? So through all these years' development, there are about 60 government-approved Mandarin teaching institutes and provide all kinds of programs. So all the people can find whatever program that is suitable for them. And Taiwan also preserves the best traditional Mandarin characters and also the best philosophy and culture of the Mandarin-speaking world. So I think Taiwan is the perfect place to learn Mandarin. Okay, nice. So if someone chooses to go to Taiwan to learn Mandarin, the course could be prohibitive. Are there scholarships available? Yeah, we provide some scholarships, like Taiwan scholarship that we provide to senior students every year. And also some of the Mandarin teaching institutes also provide some scholarships. And the living cost is considerably low compared to other countries. So I think that's a really good environment for learning language and also enjoy the culture. Okay, so tell me, is it safe and secure to go to Taiwan? Taiwan, we have a free and democratic society just like people enjoy in Sanusha. And Taiwan is the number one safe place selected by S. Patriot in the world. So it will be quite safe in Taiwan. Okay, so how easy is it to travel to Taiwan? Like if I'm coming from Sanusha, how easy is it to get across to Taiwan? There's all kinds of airlines that connect Sanusha to different places in other countries and then to Taiwan. So it's very easy. And also the transportation in Taiwan is very convenient. We have metro in the city, we have high speed rail, connect North and South and all the public bus and all kinds of transportation. So it's easy to access everywhere. Okay, so coming back to Mandarin and Mandarin teaching in Sanusha, we know that we have Ting Ting. Will it be a regular thing to have teachers sent to St. Lucia, Mandarin teachers, sent to St. Lucia? We are really great that we have Ting Ting come into Sanusha to promote Mandarin course. And now we are working with the Ministry of Education to try to figure out a Mandarin curriculum for school. And I really admire the leadership and vision of Prime Minister Fiji JPA and Education Minister Sean Edwards to enhance or promote Mandarin or foreign language in education. And so that's why I think very soon we will send a new Mandarin teacher coming over to try to promote or enhance Mandarin education. So you're saying like in secondary schools we could have Mandarin? Yes. Okay. So hopefully in the near future we will start teaching Mandarin in secondary school. Okay. So well thank you Ambassador. Is there anything else you want to tell us about like the future plans? Because promoting Mandarin or promoting cultural exchange is also one of the goals of my embassy. And this year we are glad that we implement the first ever test of Chinese as foreign language in Caribbean region. And hopefully in the future we will have more that kind of test and encourage more people to try to learn Mandarin or to emerge in different culture. Okay, great. Thank you so much Ambassador. So now we're going to take a look at the first episode of Fund Mandarin. And then when we get back we'll have a chapter of Ting Ting. Thank you. Thank you so much Ambassador. And later on you're going to be presenting to the Ministry of Education the program. So guys just stay tuned. A lot more to come up. Welcome to Found Mandarin. Hua Yu Hao Hao Wan. I'm Ting Ting from Taiwan Technical Mission. What do you know about Mandarin? Well first one, I would like to talk about characters. It seems complicated. Actually it is. Characters are very different from the alphabet system. For beginners, we use pinging to assist. Pinging is a tool to help with pronunciation, listening and speaking. To be honest, there is no pinging in real life. So it's better if learners can recognize and remember characters. It takes time to learn characters. So we just put it behind right now. Let's talk about tones. Mandarin is also a tonal language like many ancient languages. Different tones means different things. Even the word is composed by the same initial and final. For example, yi, yi, yi. There are different things. Let's try it together. YI is a high flat tone. Try to keep saying words in this tone. Sounds like a robot, right? And YI is rising tone. It's rising, so you need to be pronounced from low to high. YI, yi. It's a low tone. The original tone is like a check. The high, low and high. YI, yi. However, we only pronounce the first part. Short, low one. YI, yi. And last, yi is a falling tone. It's a bit difficult. You need to think you are excited. Imagine that you are watching a soccer game and the game hits up. The player is going to shoot. What will you say? Like go, go. Yeah, so pronounce yi like that. YI. Okay, so more practice. Let's see the other group. MA, MA, high flat. MA, and MA, rising. MA, and short, low one. MA, MA, and falling. MA, MA. Okay, after tones, let's talk about personal pronouns. MI, it means you. MI, and WO, WO, means I, WO, and TA, means he. Can you distinguish the tones of the personal pronouns? MI, WO, TA. Let's learn how to say hello in Mandarin. Mí hǎo. One more time. Mí hǎo means good or nice. Mí hǎo means you good. And actually the meaning is hello. Mí hǎo. All right, let's learn a word. Shì is a falling tone. Shì is verb to be. In Mandarin, there is no tense, no verbal conjugation. So we say shì, mǐ shì, you are. Wǒ shì, I am. Tā shì, he is. Shì. So we can use the word and put the name after. Wǒ shì, tíng tíng. I am tíng tíng. Wǒ shì, tíng tíng, like that. Except name, we can also put nationalities. So let's learn some countries. Sen lù xià, shèng lù xiì yà. Shèng lù xiì yà. So if you want to say, I am Sen lù xià. Wǒ shì, shèng lù xiì yà. Rén. We put rén means human or people in the end. Shèng lù xiì yà rén. Sen lù xià, people from Sen lù xià. Okay, again. Wǒ shì, shèng lù xiì yà rén. So let's learn how to make questions. We just need to put ma in the end of sentence. It will become a question. So are you a solution? Nǐ shì, shèng lù xiì yà rén ma. One more time. Nǐ shì, shèng lù xiì yà rén ma. Put ma in the end. So what's your answer? Wǒ shì, shèng lù xiì yà rén. I am a solution, right? Wǒ shì, shèng lù xiì yà rén. And let's learn the other question particle called nǐ. It's like to ask bonds questions. Nǐ nǐ means end you. How about you? Or what about you? Nǐ nǐ. So the sentence. Wǒ shì, shèng lù xiì yà rén ma. Nǐ nǐ. But actually I'm a solution. I'm Taiwanese. So I would say wǒ shì, tǎi wán rén ma. Nǐ nǐ. Wǒ shì, tǎi wán rén ma. So after we have learned the personal pronouns, nǐ nǐ means end you. And how about nǐ? How to say nǐ? Tǎ nǐ. Tǎ nǐ. And the sentence. Wǒ shì, tǎi wán rén ma. Tǎ nǐ. Nǐ. Tǎ yě shì, tǎi wán rén ma. Nǐ means also or to or either. Tǎ yě shì, tǎi wán rén ma. Let's practice the tones. The high flat tone. Ma. Ma. Ma. Ma. High flat. Ma. Ma. Okay, good. And the rising one. Ma. Ma. Ma. From low to high. Ma. Yes, perfect. And the short low one. Ma. Ma. Ma. Ma. Yeah, one more time. Ma. Yes, ma. Ma. Ma. Yes, good. And the following one. Ma. Ma. Mm-hmm. Try one more time. Ma. Ma. Mm-hmm. I think you are excited. Ma. Ma. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay. Let's try the other group. Our first one. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. High and flat. Nǐ. Okay. And the rising one. Nǐ. No. Good try. Okay, let's try again. So you do it. It's nǐ. Nǐ. Mm-hmm. Nǐ. Nǐ. Okay. Nǐ. Yes, it's rising. So it's rising. Nǐ. Mm-hmm. Nǐ. Nǐ. Yes, good. And the short low one. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. Mm-hmm. Nǐ. Well, uh, Nǐ. Mm-hmm. And the falling one. Nǐ. FALLING. Excited. Nǐ. Yes. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. Hello, I'm Ting Ting. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. Nǐ. No problem. I'm also a Taiwanese. Wǎ yù. Wǎ yù. Hǎo hǎo wán! I hope you have fun learning Mandarin with me today. Wǎ shì Ting Ting. See you next time. Welcome back everyone. That was the very first episode of Fun Mandarin. And right now I am here with the stocks of our teacher Ting Ting so Ting Ting. So Ting Ting. What was that like, fun Mandarin? So there are eight episodes of this show and the content is all about the common life topics such as personal information, greeting, family, ask for a prize, and ordering a restaurant. It's basically the conversations that happen in our daily life every day. We want to bring the most practical conversations to our audience. Very nice. So how did you feel when you were told you would be the host of Fundmandering? Oh wow. Honestly, I didn't think I can do that. When I heard that the first word came out was impossible because I mean I have no experience and I have no idea how to do and what to do. I'm very grateful to the professional team. They have given me a lot of useful advice. Then we did it. Nice. So the show is called Fundmandering. I mean, what is Fundmandering? Because to me, it's supposed to be very difficult. So why is it called Fundmandering? Yeah, someone says Mandarin is one of the most difficult languages in the world for learners. Have you ever heard that? I've heard that. Yeah, but in my point of view, Mandarin is not as difficult as people think. I would say it's different, not difficult. Okay. Yeah, because I think each language has its own uniqueness. So be positive. No need to be afraid. Learning can be fun and just believe we can do that. So what are the benefits of learning a new language like Mandarin? Oh, the benefits of learning a new language are too many to mention. I have personally learned many languages, although I don't use most of them very well. I think it's important to be curious about new things. They will make people more positive and optimistic. And without a doubt, learning a language will help people in a future career because you will be more aware of the world and more accepting of new things. That's what I think. Right. So people say it's not easy to learn Mandarin. Do you think that's true? Well, as I said, its language is unique. Learning any new language can be challenging. I don't think Mandarin is any different. Of course, for countries that use a Roman alphabet, learning Mandarin can be more challenging. But for some Asian countries, Mandarin is easier than English. For me personally, English is not easy to learn either. Yes, I've heard that. Yeah. I spend a lot of time learning English at school. So I think it's because of region, not so much about the language itself. Right. So what do you think? Do you think there are similarities between Mandarin and English? Are there any similarities in the language? Yes. We use the same sentence structure like subject verb object. But I don't want to mention too much about linguistics. Okay. So what has your teaching experience been like in Saint Lucia? Because you reminded me to hear what has that experience been like? Saint Lucia is a beautiful island and the people here are friendly and welcoming. I met a lot of nice people here. And I think it will be an unforgettable memory in my life to be here. Okay. So what are your students like, the students that you've had in Saint Lucia? Most of the students I have met are bright and enjoy learning. And they are quick learners. I think it's because most of the students have experience in learning other languages. So they can get language features more quickly. And I have experience of teaching in other countries. And I find that Saint Lucia students are more energetic and motivated than in other countries. Oh, nice. Okay, Ting Ting, thank you so much. Thank you. And we're going to keep watching all episodes of Mandarin, the eight episodes. So right now, we have a handover from Ambassador Chen to Dr. Pauline Antoine Prosper, the parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Education. Today, I'm really honored and a pleasure to hand over the USB of found Mandarin material. And this material is a hard work and masterpiece of our Mandarin teacher, Ting Ting. And also Mr. Damila Lee and all the staffs from NTN. And I really glad that we have strong support from Ministry of Education. And today we are honored to have honorable parliamentary secretary Pauline Antoine Prosper with us today. And I'm going to hand over this USB to her. And hopefully this material will benefit all the people that are eager to learn new language, to learn new culture and to expand their horizon and especially for all the students in the secondary school. It is a great honor to attend this handing over ceremony of the fund Mandarin program on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training. I am very pleased with this new initiative that will benefit the children of St. Lucia. We are no longer confined to our corner of the world, but we are part of a global village and therefore acquiring a new language will be an asset to every citizen. Learning Mandarin provides opportunities to communicate with countless people and connect on a deeper level across the world, whether interacting virtually during travels or studying. I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation for the strong leadership of his Excellency Ambassador Chen and for the continued support he has provided. I am confident that the citizenry schools and students will embrace this opportunity and it will be a great success. Once again, on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Minister Edward, I wish to once again thank the Embassy of Taiwan for this great initiative. Thank you very much.