Tainan City set up senior citizens learning centers in every district to encourage senior citizens to keep on learning, and now English courses are also available at the learning centers. The new language course welcomes all senior citizens and is one of the actions to realize the Executive Yuan’s Bilingual Nation 2030 policy.
Mayor Huang Wei-che pointed out that Tainan is dedicated to promoting international education and encourages residents of all ages to learn more about different languages and cultures. In 2021, the Tainan City Senior Citizens Learning Demo Center and senior citizens learning centers in Gueiren, Sinshih, and Jiali Districts rolled out English courses that provide more language-learning resources and opportunities to local senior residents. For example, the learning centers organized events for singing, conversations, and theater performances in English, as well as reading clubs where senior participants would read English stories and discuss them with their peers.
The material used at the Senior Citizens Learning Demo Center’s English course is an adapted version of the English picture book Little Red Riding Hood. The students experience a very different way of learning as they gradually pick up English vocabulary and dialogue commonly used in everyday life. Director Zhong Xiu-qin of the Senior Citizens Demo Learning Center mentioned that they have a 90-year-old student who was very shy and afraid to speak in class. However, his classmates were extremely supportive, and eventually, the student mustered up the courage to read the vocabulary out loud. The class gave him a round of applause which greatly boosted his confidence. He began to repeat longer sentences with a smile on his face, realizing that he could also do it. And this transformation greatly encouraged the entire class.
The Bureau of Education expressed that they will continue to roll out English courses at the Senior Citizens Demo Learning Center and senior citizens learning centers in Sinshih, Jiali, and Shanhua Districts in 2022. Senior citizens are welcome to sign up for classes and experience a brand new way of learning.
For more information, please visit the Ministry of Education senior learning website: https://moe.senioredu.moe.gov.tw/HomeSon/Tainan/TainanIndex