French University teaches Minnan language

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on March 20, 2006. It reports that after 9 universities in Japan and the United States have started to offer for-credit Minnan language classes, the Universite Lyon 3 in France has now established Minnan dialect classes in its Chinese department. It is the first European university to offer courses of this kind.

Gregory Lee, chairman of the Department of Chinese at Universite Lyon 3, believes that students in the Chinese department should not only understand China, but also get to know Taiwan. And "knowing Taiwan means to study Minnan". Because Taiwanese films often feature actors who speaking in Minnan, learning the dialect will also help students understand more about Taiwanese cinema.

The Universite Lyon 3 established a graduate program on Taiwan in 2005. Now, it is offering undergraduate courses in Minnan. First-year students will take classes such as "Topics in Taiwanese Film", while second-year students will study "Taiwanese History". These classes are providing a bridge for young people in France to learn about Taiwan.

Currently, most foreign instruction in Minnan uses Church Romanization. This system is able to represent the special characteristics of Minnan language, such as fine distinctions in the voiced consonant series. Since the Universite Lyon 3 has just begun to offer Minnan classes, its teaching methods and materials are still under construction.

Guy Lavorel, president of the Universite Lyon 3, and Gregory Lee, chair of the university's Chinese department, recently arrived at Taiwan to visit various universities and check out their Taiwan studies programs. They will also donate to the National Library some copies of studies on Taiwan that were written by students at the Universite Lyon 3.

In Taiwan, it was not until six years ago that the Chenli University set up the first formal Minan language course at the university level. Since then, more than 20 such programs have been established in Taiwan.

The University of Hawaii's East Asian Studies Institute set up Minnan courses in 1990. Meanwhile, Japanese institutions such as the Keio University and the University of Tsukuba are offering Minnan classes for credit. In the United States, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley and the University of Pennsylvania are offering Minnan language courses.