Foreign language education in Taiwan

Looking at the second foreign language

Abstract

For the great majority of Taiwanese, English is the first foreign language they study at school. As for other languages, Japanese is the most popular second foreign language studied in Taiwan, and many schools offer a Japanese language program. As a result, there is a dearth of foreign language learners of other languages, e.g. German, French, Spanish etc. The popularity of the Japanese language in Taiwan might be flattering to Japanese nationals but it is argued that such a situation is not necessarily desirable for the Taiwanese society.