In order to broaden students’ international fields of view and enhance their job competitiveness, the NPUST Language Center is helping students acquire second or third foreign language capabilities in Southeast Asian languages such as Thai, Vietnamese, and Malay. The language skills will be a great help to students who plan to participate in internships, attend degree programs, or do business with Taiwan’s southern neighbors in the future. In order to encourage more students to enroll in the language courses and obtain relevant certification, on August 25th, Director Herlin Chien of the NPUST Language Center visited the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages to establish an agreement of cooperation.
Director Chien expressed that “NPUST has many sister-schools in Southeast Asian countries. In the past three years, NPUST students have been studying Southeast Asian languages, especially Vietnamese and Thai. More than 2,000 seats have been filled over that time—showing a definite level of interest amongst students. Now, we have signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at Wenzao Ursuline University, and we hope that in the future, more students at NPUST will be encouraged to study Southeast Asian languages and take the proficiency examinations. These things will be great additions to their resumes, helping them with their future job competitiveness and increasing their professional opportunities.”
The Director of the Wenzao Department of Southeast Asian Studies said, “of the three languages, the pass rate for the Thai examination is the lowest. Vietnamese and Indonesian are relatively higher, however, there is still lots of room or further promotion. After the signing of this agreement with NPUST, students who want to attend language proficiency examinations will be given a 20% discount preferential rate.”
It is hoped that the cooperative agreement will establish a window for bilateral exchange and that through reciprocity and the sharing of teaching resources, language and cultural courses will be enriched and students and teachers at NPUST will become more and more familiar with the cultures, societies and economies of Southeast Asia.
