BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE
ON August 6th, students of SINU’s Mandarin class not only learned more about Taiwanese culture but also how to prepare a popular Taiwan snack known as “Cong You Bing”, in other words, scallion pancake.
According to Taiwanese class teacher, Ms Kuei Mi Li, this was possible by Mr Shao-Chuan Yu, Mr Chia-Han Hou and Mr Chien-Jang Huang, Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM) specialists who were invited to spend the day with her students.
She explained that day’s activity began with Mr Chien-Jang Huang introducing baseball to the students, a popular ball game in Taiwan.
Huang showed the students how to hit a ball with a bat and catch the ball with a glove before having them join him which Ms Li expressed as a first time experience, students found it funny but more exciting.
She said they later went into a singing session led by music loving Chia-Han Hou who told the students about Taiwan songs sung in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka and aboriginal languages before singing a popular Taiwan song and a love song he composed by himself.
The students later joined him and Ms Li mentioned that it was impressive.
A step by step process of preparing a popular Taiwanese snack called “Cong You Bing” or scallion pancake then took place by Shao-Chuan Yu.
Ms Li expressed that students watched with interest and after sampling the snack, were all eager to prepare it themselves at home.
A quiz session with prizes from Taiwan farm was also part of the activity and favoured by the students.
As their sessions concluded, she said her students showed their gratitude by performing a Mandarin song for their guests.
One of the students, Mr Adrian Maneniaru referred to the activity as “very nice” and “educational”.
“I found it really refreshing to have this kind of activity as it really broadens our minds to new things,” he said.
Shao-Chuan Yu who specialises in nutrition stressed that although beginners, the students were active in learning Mandarin.
He said that every time they tried their best to pronounce the words in Mandarin he could see that they desperately wanted to grasp the language.
“My favourite moment is when Chia-Han tried to make students sing the last lines from the song he demonstrated which impressed me so much. It gave me a chance to witness that singing is the best way to learn a language and with Solomon Islanders’ beautiful voice, I really enjoyed the moment we had at that time,” he said.
Chia-Han Hou’s work at the TTM farm is to manage the farm and deliver fruits and vegetables to nearby schools.
Chien-Jang Huang on the other hand, helps provide qualified piglets and pig farm managing skills to local farmers to help improve the piggery industry in Solomon Islands.
Ms Li voiced that her students were very happy to have learned new things like Taiwan’s love for baseball, Taiwanese music and learning how to prepare “Cong You Bing” (scallion pancake).
“They a found the day’s activity not only exciting but informative and educational, helping them discover more aspects about Taiwan,” she said.
