Chió-chú-hoà
Literally: Few-child-ization
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Siū chió-chú-hoà ê chhiong-kek, Tāi-pak-chhī kok-sió sin-seng ji̍p-ha̍k jîn-kháu múi chi̍t nî hā-kàng.
Hit by the declining birthrate, the total number of new students entering elementary school is falling every year.
Jîn-châi goā-liû
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Tâi-oân ê ū châi-lêng ê siàu-liân-lâng bô ài toà Tâi-oân, lóng khì Tāi-lio̍k á Bí-kok chia̍h thâu-lō͘, jîn-châi goā-liû chin lī-hāi.
Talented young Taiwanese don’t want to live in Taiwan, and all go to the Mainland or the United States to work; the brain drain is really serious.
Pháiⁿ ji̍p-o̍h
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Bí-kok Kun-sū Ha̍k-īⁿ sī Bí-kok siōng pháiⁿ ji̍p-o̍h ê tāi-ha̍k.
The United States Military Academy is the hardest college to get into in the U.S.
A-niau a-káu
Hiān-chú-sî a-niau a-káu lóng khó ē tio̍h tāi-ha̍k.
These days, anybody can get into college.
Posted in Education, Figures of speech, Insults
Jîn-châi gōa-liû
On Friday, the Ministry of Education released its third and final “official” list of recommended Hanzi for writing 700 common Taiwanese words. I could quibble with some of them, but they’re mostly good, common-sense choices.
The second tranche is here, and the first here. You can even print out a one-sided or two-sided handout.
Posted in Education, Linguistics, Not strictly vocabulary
Tōa káu peh chhiûⁿ, sè káu khòaⁿ iūⁿ.
(“The big dog climbs the wall, the small dog does the same.”)
Also: Khòaⁿ iūⁿ o̍h8 iūⁿ.
Posted in Education, Religion and Morality, Vices
[Note: for some reason, I can't get the eighth-tone markers to show up, so I've added the numbers.]
A: Lâng kóng iù-jî kàu-io̍k8 chin iàu-kín. Gí-giân thàn-chá, khah ū hāu-kó.
A: Só·-í goán sun tha̍k siang-gí iù-tī-hn̂g.
B: Chán oh, thàn chá o̍h8 Eng-gí.
A: M̄-sī Eng-gí…
…sī Hôa-gí kap kheh-gí.
B: Koh khah chán!
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A: “People say that childhood education is very important. If you study a language while young, it’s more effective.”
A: “Therefore, our grandson studies at a bilingual preschool.”
B: “That’s great, studying English while still so young.”
A: “It’s not English…
…it’s Mandarin and Hakka.”
B: “Even better!”
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(C) 2007 Tân Gī-jîn, and used with his permission.
Posted in Cartoon, Education, Linguistics
