Education Department of New Taipei City Government selected and sent 30 high students to study in the US and Canada for three weeks in October of 2019. There were also 6 achievement sharing sessions held since December last year, and the last session that was held a few days ago at the Zhonghe Senior High School invited those exchange students to share their experiences of participating in extracurricular activities and societies, the homestay hosts, and what they had learned from other cultures.
Lai Juanjuan, a student of Taipei County San-Chong High School, is an American Indian and had got the chance as an exchange student to experience the cultures of America and India. She also participated in an Indian party and dressed in traditional Indian costumes and tasted traditional Indian food. Liu Zichen, another exchange student, states that in Canada, students and teachers interact a lot in class. If students encounter difficulties, they would directly ask their teachers who were always willing to discuss with students. The exchange program provided an opportunity for her to improve her English speaking and listening and chat with local students, and introducing own culture with each other is the most precious in the entire journey.
Lin Yirou, a student of the San Min High School, students can choose their courses since they are in middle schools, and every day has the same schedule ( 6 courses in middle schools per day, and 7 courses in high schools per day). In contrast, students in Taiwan are less likely to raise their hands to ask questions in class, rarely question what teachers are teaching, and cannot choose the courses they like.
Lin Yanen, a student of Hsin Tien High School, states what she had learned from the exchange program are not only for language but more importantly, the culture shock brought from different cultures and living habits.
Director of Education Department of New Taipei City Government, Zhang Mingwen, states that New Taipei City Government has been promoting international education and sent 256 students to the US and Canada since the 102 Academic Year. Also, a total of 168 American and Canadian high school students have been admitted to study in Taiwan. This year, 73 students will be selected to study abroad, including several programs, such as international study tours, exchange learning, and the Ang Young Program (昂揚計畫) to encourage high schools students to study abroad without suspending their schooling.
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新北高中職學生到美加跨國文化學習，回臺與大家分享文化交流的心得。（照片來源：新北市教育局）)
