One reason that European culture is so vibrant is that many local languages are well preserved and continue to thrive. Some small European countries actually have more official languages than the larger ones.
Switzerland, for example, has four, despite a population that is one-third the size of Taiwan’s. The land is divided into German, French, Italian and Romansh zones, in which the central government respects all languages equally without discrimination.
If one writes to the central government in one of these languages, a reply would come in the same language. However, in-person services are delivered within a region’s dominant language.Belgium has almost the same land mass as Taiwan, yet its population is only half the size. Surrounded by the Netherlands, France and Germany, it has adopted several official languages. In Brussels, its capital, French and Dutch are the official languages.
To promote globalization in Taiwan, the government has established new policies looking to make English the second official language after Mandarin. This is quite absurd considering that Taiwan has never been colonized by any English-speaking nations, especially as learning native languages in Taiwan such as Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) or Hakka actually benefits people more.
These languages have more tones than Mandarin, and this builds a solid foundation for Taiwanese to learn and speak foreign languages upon mastery. Without these native languages and mother tongues, not only does one lose an edge in language learning, one also loses something more essential — a sense of belonging.
With the prospect of information warfare at our doorstep, if every time the government broadcasts its messages with Hoklo, Hakka and indigenous languages alongside Mandarin, it would reduce the amount of fake news in our community.
Why is it that we put English over our own mother tongues when globalization is just at our fingertips?
According to the Ukrainian census, Russian is the native language for 29.6 percent of its population, and more than that can speak a decent level of Russian.
Despite this, amid the war, more Ukrainian families are actively rejecting the use of Russian. To them, the language is no longer just a means of communication, it has meaning beyond that — speaking Russian is regarded as akin to treason.
The sense of being Ukrainian is deeply rooted in its language. Ukrainians are tired of the hegemony among them that is constantly trying to convince them that they have a common heritage, dating back from the same empire, and that their land should be reclaimed.
To me and to my fellow Taiwanese, this sounds familiar. If Taiwan gives up its native languages, it is no different from kneeling in front of our enemies before a fight.
Ukraine does not possess nuclear weapons to defeat the Russians, but they have the strongest weapon that a hegemony cannot take away — their sense of being Ukrainian and their language to distinguish them from their enemy.
Now is the time for Taiwanese to face the warfare that has already begun secretly, the enemies hidden in disguise that cannot be touched have already penetrated our nation.
We should begin to preserve our mother tongues today, so that we can defend our beautiful nation.
Liou Uie-liang is a medical worker based in Germany.
