International and local students were recently given the opportunity to bolster their language skills, build relationships with new people and broaden their knowledge on Taiwan’s rich cultural heritage through the “Your Tracks in Taiwan: Explore Tainan City” interactive activity.

In response to positive feedback from the year prior, on November 24, the Office of International Affairs and the Language Center once again joined up to host the “Your Tracks in Taiwan” language exchange activity. This year, there were a total 38 “ENG-CHN Language Exchange Partners” who took part in an excursion which was designed to increase levels of interaction between international and local students and encourage international students to learn more “every-day Chinese”.

For the activity, the students found themselves wondering down the historic Shennong Street in Tainan, which once served as an important place of commercial activity in the city. The area has now been reinvented as a tourist attraction with many culturally and artistically rich things to do and see. The tour brought them to Blueprint Culture & Creative Park to take part in some creative experience activities as well as the Chihkan Tower, which is connected with many rich and mysterious legends from the past.

As there is no shortage of eats and treats in Tainan, the students also had the chance to enjoy a variety of local delectables, such as duck noodles, fried mackerel, winter gourd tea and peanut brittle. In addition to sightseeing and snacking, the “day out” also gave focus to organized language learning activities with groups formed to include mixtures of international and local students. For the final task, the international students were required to use Chinese and Taiwanese students use English as they shared about the tour and worked with one another to create a short video presentation on the experience.