And today we're going to focus on Unit 5.

今天我們要看第五課。

As Taiwan's government sees it, English is the future.

在台灣政府看來，英語才是未來。

It's a policy of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to make the country bilingual in Chinese and English by 2030.

執政的民進黨的政策是到 2030 年實現中英雙語國家。

And it's at schools like this that better English begins.

進階的英語就是在這樣的學校開始的。

Officials want more schools teaching English through English.

官員們希望更多的學校透過英語教授英語。

And in schools that are ready, they even want some other subjects taught in English too.

在準備好的學校中，他們甚至希望其他一些科目也用英語授課。

But Taiwan schools have always taught the language.

但台灣的學校一直在教授這個語言。

Why push the bar up to bilingual?

為什麼要把標準提高到雙語？

Taiwan is a trade-dependent country, and we are making every effort to attract many international companies to Taiwan.

台灣是一個依賴貿易的國家，我們正盡力吸引許多國際企業來台。

Unfortunately, a lot of times we lose out to Singapore because those multinational companies found that our professionals are not that fluent in English as the Singaporeans are.

不幸的是，很多時候我們輸給了新加坡，因為那些跨國公司發現，我們的專業人員不像新加坡人一樣英語那麼流利。

The National Development Council charged with making the plan a success says Taiwan needs English to ensure the country's voice is heard on the world stage.

負責使該計劃成功的國家發展委員會表示，台灣需要英語，以確保在世界舞台上聽到該國的聲音。

That's especially important given the growing clout of nearby China, a country that claims Taiwan as its own and does its best to keep Taiwan out of global organizations.

考慮到鄰近的中國的影響力日益增強，這一點尤其重要。中國聲稱台灣是自己的領土，並盡最大努力將台灣排除在全球組織之外。

Experts have good news.

專家帶來好消息。

For a non-English speaking country, Taiwan has a high percentage of high school grads with strong English language skills.

對於非英語國家來說，台灣擁有較高英語語言能力的高中畢業生比例。

We conducted a baseline study of English proficiency for the Ministry of Education back in 2020.

我們早在 2020 年就為教育部進行了英語能力基線研究。

And that showed that 21% of students at senior high school were achieving upper intermediate or advanced levels of English language proficiency.

結果顯示 21% 的高中生英語語言能力達到中高級或高級。

But this enthusiasm for English has some strong critics.

但這種對英語的熱情也有一些強烈的批評者，

Among them, Professor Liao Xinhao, he says too much English too early will stunt students' first language, their critical thinking and their academic performance.

其中包括廖咸浩教授，他說過早過多地使用英語會阻礙學生的第一語言、批判性思維和學習成績。

He also sees Taiwan's local languages, including Mandarin, withering away.

他還認為，包括國語在內的臺灣在地語言正在逐漸消失。

And you know, countries like Holland, I mean the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark, they are becoming aware of the pitfalls of this whole policy.

你知道，像荷蘭這樣的國家，我指的是荷蘭、挪威和丹麥，他們正在意識到整個政策的陷阱。

So, Holland, I think in June this year, the Ministry of Education has put out this regulation that the university should limit—should, at least—provide two-thirds of the courses in Dutch.

所以，荷蘭，我認為今年六月，教育部推出了一項規定，要求大學應該限制──至少應該──提供三分之二的荷蘭語課程。

You know, for fear that the Dutch language would become obsolete one day.

你知道，擔心荷蘭語有一天會過時。

The campaign to become bilingual is going ahead all the same.

儘管如此，雙語運動仍在繼續。

So what does it look like on the ground?

那麼實際狀況為何呢？

Here at Neli High School in the northern city of Taoyuan, students can choose an experimental biology class taught in English.

在北部的桃園，內壢高中的學生可以選擇用英語授課的實驗生物課程。

Though the English teachers here see a boost in language skills, they say it's come at a price.

儘管這裡的英語教師看到了語言技能的提升，他們說這是有代價的。

It requires a massive amount of work for them to be really proficient in English and to like to connect with different vocabulary, those technical terms in different fields.

他們需要付出大量的努力，才能真正精通英語，並喜歡使用不同領域的詞彙和專業術語。

So at first, I feel very stressful.

所以一開始，我覺得壓力很大。

Teenagers stayed up all night because of abundant assignments.

青少年因為作業多而熬夜，

And the students clearly feel the same way.

學生們顯然也有同感。

What the hell is this education?

這是什麼教育？

Stressed teachers, stressed students and a tense political debate.

壓力大的教師、壓力大的學生和緊張的政治辯論。

It doesn't have to be this way, some experts say.

一些專家說沒必要這樣。

Doctor Stephen Krashen who has spent decades studying language acquisition is one of them.

花了幾十年研究語言習得的史蒂芬‧克拉申博士就是其中之一。

He has found that with gripping stories and a lot of free reading, stress-free bilingualism is not only possible but inevitable.

他發現，透過扣人心弦的故事和大量的免費閱讀，無壓力的雙語不僅是可能的，而且是不可避免的。

kids need libraries filled with good books, both in English and their native language.

孩子需要充滿好書的圖書館，無論是英語還是他們的母語。

And the rest will take care of itself.

剩下的事情會自然而然地解決。

What we have found.

我們發現：

If you, for every hour of reading you do, you gain about a half a point actually a little more on the TOEIC Test,

如果你每閱讀一小時，你在多益考試中就會獲得大約半分，實際上多一點，

which means a couple of years, you're way up there; not from doing flashcards, not from studying grammar, just from reading.

這意味著幾年後，你就已經達到了頂峰；不是透過做學習字卡，不是透過學習文法，只是透過閱讀。

And the best thing we can do is supply kids with lots and lots of interesting books.

我們能做的最好的事情就是為孩子們提供很多很多有趣的書籍。

Testing will not even be an issue.

測試根本不是問題。

They're gonna score very high on all kinds of tests of comprehension and on tests of speaking because that's the result of getting this input.

他們會在各種理解測驗和口語測驗中得分非常高，因為這是獲得此輸入的結果。

Now, conventional language classes are still the norm and packed schedules leave students little time to read for fun.

傳統的語言課程仍然是常態，排滿的課程安排讓學生幾乎沒有時間享受閱讀樂趣。

But Taiwan's people and government do have a choice to make.

但臺灣人民和政府確實需要做出選擇。

Is English really Taiwan's future, and is the current plan the right way to get there?

英語真的是台灣的未來嗎？目前的計劃是實現這一目標的正確途徑嗎？

As 2030 inches closer, time is running out to decide.

隨著 2030 年的臨近，時間已經不多了。

Howard Zhang and John Van Trieste for TaiwanPlus .

T aiwanPlus 的 Howard Zhang 和 John Van Trieste。