wfn.org | TCN: Pastor writes series on Taiwanese adages to promote local languages

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>Taiwan Church News

>2977 Edition

>March 16~22, 2009

Pastor writes series on Taiwanese proverbs to promote local languages

>Reported by Chen Yi-shuan

>Written by Lydia Ma

Chen Chu-Hsien, a Taiwanese Christian pastor residing in Germany, spent  12 years writing a series on Taiwanese proverbs. The series consist of  twelve books that include 7,659 popular Taiwanese sayings. Chen recently  returned to Taiwan in time for the publication of the last book in the  series. The sayings in these books cover various topics, including  philosophy, family life, marriage, social norms, health, weather, etc.

Chen graduated from Tainan Theological College and Seminary and has  served at several churches in Southern Taiwan. His love and expertise in  Taiwanese sayings began during childhood as he was raised in a home and  a church that spoke Taiwanese. His love and understanding of Taiwanese  deepened when he went to seminary and was exposed to Taiwanese folk  culture. He remembers avidly writing down Taiwanese phrases and  collecting wise sayings whenever he heard something interesting.

Chen lamented that there are increasingly more Taiwanese youths nowadays  that cannot speak Taiwanese and felt that the government’s lack of  emphasis on mother tongues was an important factor causing this trend.  He pointed out that Taiwanese sayings contain many wise sayings  collected over a long period of time by people as they went through life  and their precious advice could help people overcome present  difficulties and see life in a new light. “The most exquisite part  of a language is the proverbial sayings,” said Chen.

“Destroying a mother tongue is an infringement on human  rights!” exclaimed Chen, referring to the recent decision by the  Taiwanese national legislature to cut all funding reserved for Taiwanese  certification. He pointed out that supporting diverse local languages  should be the government’s responsibility, which doesn’t  necessarily conflict with promoting an official language. “A mother  tongue represents family lineage, culture, and tradition. It should be  treated as a treasured inheritance instead of being destroyed!”  said Chen.

Chen pointed out that most people in Germany speak several languages and  it is considered normal for people there to speak German, French,  English, and another local language. Furthermore, one aspect of human  rights includes allowing all languages to flourish freely in a country  and encouraging citizens to learn and use local and foreign languages.

“Many parents in Taiwan today want their kids to learn English and  fear that their children will lose out if their English skills lag  behind their classmates. Is it really that bad for kids to know and  speak Taiwanese?” wondered Chen.

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