Taiwan Immigrants' Global News Network-2nd Generation New Immigrant produced audio book introducing cultural differences between Taiwan and Vietnam

Cheng Hua-yun (鄭華云), a new second-generation student at Yishou University (義守大學), deeply loves both Taiwan and Vietnam. She produced an audio e-book "Easy to Learn Vietnamese" (簡單學越文) to introduce the cultural differences and lifestyles of the two countries, hoping to let Taiwanese people understand Vietnam better and allow Vietnamese migrant workers get to know Taiwan better.

As a student of the Department of Digital Multimedia Design (數位多媒體設計學系), Cheng recently created "Easy to Learn Vietnamese" through her graduation thesis, combining her photography interests and her second- generation new immigrant status. She said: "Because my mother is Vietnamese, I want to promote my hometown to the Taiwanese. In recent years, with the Taiwan government’s New Southbound Policy (新南向政策), I think there are many people who would be interested, so I thought of doing this.”

Yishou University student Cheng Hua-yun produced an audio e-book "Easy to Learn Vietnamese". Photo/Provided by Yishou University

Cheng mentioned that before the Covid-19 pandemic, she would go to Vietnam every one or two years to stay with her grandmother for more than a month. Because of her interest in photography, she took a lot of pictures of Vietnamese sceneries and delicacies and included these pictures in her e-book. This way, she can introduce the cultural differences between Taiwan and Vietnam using weekly, daily, traffic and weather articles.

"We carry lanterns during the Lantern Festival. They play with lanterns during the Mid-Autumn Festival. I also compared the food of Taiwan and Vietnam. Many Taiwan foods are marinated in soy sauce or made with Chinese herbal medicine. While most Vietnamese food use fish sauce, fresh vegetables, and spices to make something like curry and other dishes.”

Yishou University student Cheng Hua-yun produced an audio e-book "Easy to Learn Vietnamese". Photo/Provided by Yishou University

Cheng Hua-yun said that she is happy to complete this e-book because Taiwan and Vietnam are both her hometowns. She usually speaks with her mother in Vietnamese. In the future, when the global Covid-19 pandemic slows down, she hopes to stay longer in Vietnam and gain a deeper understanding of the local people.