The Taoyuan City Government introduced the "Reading with You" (桃園外師任意門) course this year to support bilingual education in junior high and elementary schools. Students may read and listen to English anywhere, anytime, thanks to digital media like YouTube and Podcasts. A few days ago, a press conference was organized to reveal the structure and content of the course.
Elementary school foreigner teahcers recorded picture book courses into short videos and uploaded them to YouTube.Photo provided by Department of Education, Taoyuan City Government
The "Reading with You" (桃園外師任意門) course is filmed by foreign teachers for YouTube videos or podcasts, according to the head (劉仲成) of the Department of Education, Taoyuan City Government, so that students may learn whenever and wherever they choose.
Bilingual picture books are utilized in the elementary school portion of the curriculum for instruction. A total of 55 international elementary school instructors recorded 110 videos, each lasting around five minutes. They received more than 50,000 views in just two months after being uploaded to the YouTube channel with Chinese and English subtitles.
Regarding the junior high school component, six foreign teachers chose books with the theme of the 17 SDGs (sustainable development goals) and turned them into Podcasts, each lasting about 10 minutes. They shared their reading experiences and encouraged schools to play the podcasts during morning self-study and lunch breaks.
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The foreign teachers at junior high school recorded the course into a podcast of about ten minutes per episode.Photo provided by Department of Education, Taoyuan City Government
Adolf, a foreign teacher at Yi Xing Bilingual & Innovative School, asserted that parent-child learning time may be improved through "Reading with You" (桃園外師任意門) so that students can enjoy reading at home. Picture books, according to Tyler, a foreign instructor at Taoyuan Junior High School, may help children develop a respect for and comprehension of nature. The tone of voice must fluctuate as the podcast is being recorded so that the English class doesn't seem stiff.
