Indonesian immigrant spent 17 years getting her English teaching job in Taiwan’s elementary school

In cooperation with IC Voice FM97.5 【New Students Report For Sharing -We are in Taiwan】, a series of exciting stories about new immigrants in Taiwan is launched. This episode invites an immigrant from Indonesia – Guo Yi Shan (郭翊姍). As an English teacher in Hsinchu City Guanpu Elementary School now, she came to Taiwan when she was 11 years old with her parents and even received a County Mayor’s Award while studying in junior high school. At the same time, Guo’s children were also invited to share their experiences of visiting relatives in Indonesia. 

【Taiwan Immigrants' Global News Network】presents this episode in 5 languages including Chinese, English, Vietnamese, Thai and Indonesian, enabling more readers and listeners to explore Guo’s wonderful journey residing in Taiwan. 

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Guo applied situational learning in teaching. (Photo / Provided by Guo Yi Shan) 

Taiwan has become a second home to Guo Yi Shan since she was 11 years old. Guo mentioned that she spent 17 years getting her teaching job in elementary school, and she was helped by a lot of people on the journey to becoming a teacher.  

Besides, she even served as a teacher in the “Compulsory Education Advisory Group of Hsinchu” and applied situational learning in teaching. It is hoped that students would start practicing English more in daily life and learn a new language happily. 

Read more: The first immigrant legislator in Taiwan, Lin Li Chan, shares her journey of advocating for immigrant rights

Guo and her children joined a singing program. (Photo / Provided by Guo Yi Shan) 

Guo shared with readers that her children and herself participated in a singing program held by Hsinchu City New Immigrants Family Service Center last December. The event was led by a Hakka singer-songwriter Huang Zi Xuan. 11 mixed-race and Hakka-Fujian youths, as well as their parents were invited to recompose the song “Hometown is nowhere else” in their native languages. 

Guo and her children sang the song in Indonesian, showing the beauty of her hometown language. In addition, her young children were able to have a deeper understanding of Indonesian cultures by participating in numerous activities.