Taiwan Immigrants' Global News Network-An New Immigrant form Vietnam Share her Experience of Witnessing Taiwan Developed into a Nation of "Marriage Immigration"

[Taiwan Immigrants’ Global News Network] In cooperation with the National Education Radio, a series of exciting stories about new immigrants in Taiwan is launched. This episode (認識20年前的不一樣新住民面貌) invites Li (黎秋香), the interpreter of National Immigration Agency to share with audience how new immigrants 20 years ago overcame various difficulties in the Taiwanese society at that time, hosted by Wang (王麗蘭) and Ruan (阮氏梅英).

[Taiwan Immigrants’ Global News Network] presents this episode in 5 languages including Chinese, English, Vietnamese, Thai and Indonesian, enabling more readers to explore immigrants’ life in Taiwan.

Li (黎秋香) married from Vietnam and came to Taiwan for more than 20 years.Photo provided by National Education Radio

What was life like for new immigrants to Taiwanese culture twenty years ago? The two hosts questioned Li (黎秋香), who had been a resident of Taiwan for more than 20 years, at the start of the show.

Li (黎秋香) recalled that when she just married from Vietnam to Taiwan, the Internet was not common and the phone bills were expensive, so she could not keep in touch with her relatives in her hometown. After ten years of marriage, she returned home for the first time. Host Ruan (阮氏梅英) couldn't imagine the inconvenient environment at that time. "In addition to taking care of the family and learning Chinese by themselves, the new immigrants of that generation had limited ways to contact their families. We could only adject by ourselves.”

The time Li (黎秋香) spends with her children is something she feels gratified about when she just married and came to Taiwan.Photo reproduced from Pixabay

Taiwanese society has demonstrated exceptional performance of new immigrants in all aspects of life, from exclusion, understanding, tolerance, and communication, after more than 20 years. Together with comprehensive assistance, government organizations also set up life adjustment counseling programs for new immigrants. Every county and city have a service center operated by National Immigration Agency. There are more Southeast Asian shops and restaurants, and internet advancements have made it easier for new immigrants to connect their family.

According to Li (黎秋香), Taiwan has developed into a nation of "marriage immigration" and the new immigrants are a part of the diversity. Nonetheless, new immigrants who marry and to Taiwan must contend with linguistic and cultural obstacles whether it is twenty years ago or twenty years later. Learning Mandarin has become what new immigrants needs to do. She emphasized the use of language as a means of intercultural communication. She also advised new immigrants to utilize government services. In addition to offering Mandarin classes, many elementary and middle schools now provide courses for new immigrants so that their children may learn about Southeast Asian languages.

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