By Qi Fon Siin, Teacher of Yuying Elementary School, Longteng Branch, Mioali County, Taiwan
“It’s not enough that I speak Hakka, I want my kids to speak it too.” That moment when I stood on stage receiving an award with my two sons was unlike any other. I’ve accepted many awards before, but the joy I felt that day will never fade. These days, giving kids allowance is no big deal, but hearing your child speak a sentence in Hakka? That was a ten-year dream that finally came true. And I did it! I heard it, and I made it happen.
Let’s rewind to the summer of 1996. I was a college student in Tainan, Taiwan, escaping the heat in Miaoli. At my mother’s encouragement, I joined the 7th Hakka Cultural Summer Camp hosted by Hakka Magazine at Mingde Reservoir. That three-day, two-night camp planted the seed of Hakka culture in my heart, which slowly began to grow. I still remember the nervous excitement of speaking Hakka publicly for the first time, the emotional moment singing “Hakka Identity” at the evening gathering—that was the start of my Hakka journey. That summer, I searched music stores across Tainan asking for the CD “Let Me Teach You Hakka Folk Songs.” I also remember hearing Sheng-Hsiang Lin and Atao perform “The Things of the Past” at a small village temple pond in Miaoli, an unforgettable memory from my college years.
As the saying goes, “Better to gather firewood than sit around worrying.” In 2000, I finished military service and became an elementary school teacher. Luckily, Taiwan had just implemented a new curriculum, and each student had one Hakka class per week. In teaching my students, I myself returned to reading and speaking Hakka—word by word, sentence by sentence.
In 2001, the Hakka Affairs Council, the world’s first national-level Hakka agency, was established. That moment truly felt like a blessing! Our school applied to become a Hakka immersion campus. In the mornings, Hakka nursery rhymes filled the campus. After class, students practiced poems, conversations, and Hakka oral arts. During festivals, we had traditional activities like catching lanterns in January, wrapping zongzi in May, and making tang yuan in winter. Hakka was everywhere on campus. In spring, we admired tung blossoms while singing and writing poems. Teaching was joyful and fulfilling.
Hakka language certification became our shared goal. From basic to advanced levels, I also leveraged our school’s digital tablets to develop interactive tools that made learning Hakka fun. Through games, students learned to listen, speak, read, and write in Hakka. The “Hakka e-Learning Center” was a great resource with courses and downloadable materials. After years of teaching, I proudly told my grandparents during Lunar New Year that I had passed the advanced certification—a personal milestone.
Today, Taiwan has 70 officially designated Hakka cultural regions where Hakka is a regional language. To help build a friendly environment for Hakka, I joined interpreter training and received advanced certification, hoping to promote easy and joyful Hakka communication. With today’s AI technologies like voice recognition and synthesis, Hakka can now be transmitted instantly—yes, even in LINE messages. “Speech is wind, writing is trace.” I also work on building Hakka language visibility in communities, creating signs and spaces where Hakka can be seen and used in everyday life, making the process both meaningful and fun.
Time flies. I started speaking Hakka to my son even before he was born, telling him not to kick too much. After he was born, I read him Hakka storybooks, took him on weekend trips to Hakka towns, and supported him in participating in Hakka language competitions. Now, as a high school junior, he volunteers at summer camps, speaks Hakka with younger kids, and even leads his classmates in Hakka theater and speech contests, showcasing the energy of a new generation.
School, family, and community—this path of Hakka language transmission has enriched my life and made the journey all the more beautiful.
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