One of Taiwan's most important targets is to increase its present degree of internationalisaton. And indeed, you find English names and descriptions on many products. Apart from this aspect, the use of English in everyday life, however, remains rather limited. Therefore it has been a good idea to create English zones at some schools and universities.
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An English zone is a well-defined area in which the exclusive English is prescribed. Even if this area may be limited to a small number of rooms or some metres in a corridor, this is much more than nothing. Respecting these zones and the rules set for them is by far more important than their mere geographic extent. Such English zones, thus, represent a symbol which goes beyond any lip service - a symbol which stands for the strong determination of a nation which lives far away from the Western world and its languages and which works hard to get closer to and to be heard by them. And some Taiwanese people do this excellently, speak foreign languages, I mean. Hats off! Maybe one day, the whole country will be an English zone. Who knows?!
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