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Cabinet proposes NT$30 billion spending on local languages
The Cabinet has approved a proposal to allocate NT$30 billion over the coming five years for the development of Taiwan's national languages.
The proposal has been formulated by the Ministry of Culture, the Council of Indigenous Peoples, the Hakka Affairs Council, and the Ministry of Education.
Under the plan, some NT$3.4 billion will be allocated this year for the development of national languages, and an annual budget of NT$7 billion will be earmarked for the next four years.
The cabinet says the goal is to promote the "inheritance, revitalization and development of national languages," which are defined under the National Languages Development Act as spoken or sign languages used by ethnic groups here in Taiwan.
The proposal lays out strategies for the building of a database, standardising a writing system, expanding teaching resources, implementing language certification, are creating a friendly environment for learning.
According to the Ministry of Culture, national sign languages, as well as Taiwanese Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien, and the indigenous, Hakka and Matsu languages, are at risk of disappearing.
