《TAIPEI TIMES》 Foreigners tout Hoklo test

Indian graduate student Anlin Shaju holds produce at a farm in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Education via CNA

‘MEANINGFUL LIFE’: An Indian student said the exam would help her better understand Taiwanese culture, while her husband hoped it would help if he finds work

/ Staff writer, with CNA Twenty-three foreign nationals took the Hoklo （commonly known as Taiwanese）-language proficiency test yesterday, a five-year high, including an Indian couple hoping to deepen their understanding of Taiwan and improve their career prospects.

Ministry of Education data showed that 11,911 people sat this year’s second Hoklo proficiency test at 18 sites across the nation.

Students accounted for the largest group of applicants, with 7,149 registrants, the data showed.

Those aged 13 to 15 made up the largest age group, followed by children aged seven to 12, the data showed.

One of the foreign applicants, Anlin Shaju, an Indian graduate student at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, said she took the exam because learning the language would help her better understand Taiwanese culture.

She first became interested in Hoklo after frequently hearing it spoken in markets and restaurants, Shaju said, adding that learning the language had made her life in Taiwan more meaningful.

Her husband, Vineeth Jacob, who also studies at the university, said he learned Taiwanese through courses and hopes it would help him build better relationships with colleagues if he finds work here.

Jacob said he was impressed by the language’s expressive and concise nature, adding that a 17-page English report he translated into Taiwanese required only 10 pages to convey the same content.

The ministry said that the exam results would be available online from Oct. 12, with certificates for the exam-takers who passed issued from Nov. 2.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES