By Kelli Saunders
Staff Writer
Mira Costa senior Halley Wong said Nǐ hǎo (“hello”) to Taiwan as she made it her home for six weeks over the summer.
Wong went to Taipei, Taiwan, to improve her knowledge of Chinese and immerse herself in the culture. She attended the Overseas Community Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan), which encourages students of Chinese descent to attend by giving out scholarships to students with Chinese roots.
“I wanted to go to Taiwan so that I could learn about my Chinese roots,” Wong said. “I thought it would be a great opportunity to improve my fluency in the language where it is primarily spoken.”
Wong attended a Chinese language class from Monday to Friday for eight hours each day. In class, she practiced reading from a textbook, speaking, listening comprehension and writing sentences.
“My favorite activity in class was practicing my listening comprehension,” Wong said. “In my Chinese class at Costa, we do not work on it as much, and it was very helpful in communicating with people in conversations.”
Wong explored Taiwanese culture by trying new foods and restaurants. Every weekend, she went to night markets and outdoor restaurants with vendors. At these street markets, Wong tasted native dishes, such as beef noodle soup, stinky tofu, boba, and Taiwanese fried chicken.
“My listening abilities improved because I was exposed to everyday conversation,” Wong said.
Every Wednesday, Wong and her group explored the areas of Taiwan, including going to Central Taiwan and further South.
“One of my favorite parts of the trip was going to a Buddhist temple on top of a mountain at Yuchih Township,” Wong said. “The view was amazing, and when we entered the temple, we had the opportunity to watch a drum ceremony.”
Wong aims to become fluent in the language by continuing to take Chinese classes in college. She would accomplish this by majoring in Chinese. She aims to be bilingual by the time she finishes college.
“I was exposed to the everyday way of life in Taiwan,” Wong said. “The most incredible part of the experience, though, was making close connections with different people from all the way on the other side of the country.”
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