This year, the first "National Language Development Conference" jointly organized by the Ministry of Education, Hakka Affairs Council and Council of Indigenous Peoples held a series of eight forums from July to August to collect feedback on the revival of the national language of which the last session themed around “national language learning ability” was concluded on August 15.
Up to a hundred scholars, experts, members of the public, ministers, county and city representatives who are concerned about national language issues participated in each forum. Participants actively expressed their opinions in their native language, listened to and respected each other, and explored the problems faced by each country's languages in addition to working together to come up with promotional strategies.
MOC stated that since the first session of the "2021 National Language Development Conference" in July 31, a total of eight sessions were held to discuss the four topics of "national language pride," "national language in daily life," "national language learning ability," and "applicability of national language," all of which aroused heated discussions among netizens on its YouTube live channel.
Participants included youth representatives, mother-tongue advocacy groups, various language groups, the hard-of-hearing community, and people who care about the national language who actively put forward suggestions on the transmission and revitalization of the national language.
Additionally, attendees also looked forward to the government's proposal to promote the immersion of various national languages in schools, create incentive measures for teaching different subjects in various languages, encourage non-governmental organizations to increase learning materials for daily life in various languages, and develop online courses.
Participants of the eight forums mostly spoke in their mother tongues. In order to allow participants of different language backgrounds to understand other languages, the National Taiwan Normal University’s team, with the assistance of various circles and related ministries, provided Taiwanese sign language, translation, and typing services.