Hello and welcome back to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Allie Highsmith.

And I'm Jacob Ingram.

In this episode of News Bites: online Taiwanese language classes get big
interest

And, Spain struggles with overtourism

And in this episode's News Flash: to struggle.
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歐洲人來上臺語、客家話和原住民語言課
Online Taiwanese Language Classes Get Major Interest in Europe

Many people in Taiwan might think that people outside Taiwan aren't
interested in learning local 本土的 languages.

But actually, more and more people in other countries are interested in
learning languages like Taiwanese, Hakka, and

Taiwan's many Indigenous languages.
雖然許多台灣人以?外國人對台灣本土語言興趣不大，但是在國外越來越多人在學臺語、客家話跟台灣的原住民語言。

In the European Union 歐盟, a school is offering 提供 online classes for
those languages, and for Mandarin too.

They're working together 合作 with Taiwanese universities like National
Taiwan Normal University 師大 and National Chengchi University 政大.

One professor, Liu Chan-yueh 劉展岳, says that those courses are being taught
online.

Liu said that the platform 平臺 lets people around the world learn about
Taiwan, and it also trains 訓練 Taiwanese language teachers to help
foreigners learn Taiwan's languages.

There are 28 classes, including 5 on Taiwanese, also known as Hokkien, 2 on
Hakka, 8 on Taiwanese Indigenous languages, and 13 on Taiwanese Mandarin.

Taiwanese Hokkien classes got the most people to sign up 報名.

223 people signed up for those classes.

120 students over there chose to study Taiwanese Indigenous language classes.

Most of the students are from European countries, like France, the Czech
Republic 傑克, Poland 波蘭, Austria 奧地利, the Netherlands 荷蘭, Germany,
Finland 芬蘭, Latvia 拉脫維亞, and Portugal 葡萄牙.

In total 總共, there are 465 students taking the classes.

Liu says that most students want to learn more about Taiwan from learning the
languages.

Many Taiwanese Europeans 台裔歐洲人 also want to strengthen their connection
to Taiwan with the classes.

Liu says that Taiwan's diversity 多元 of languages is very special, and can
be used to connect to the international community.

And, Liu says, Taiwan has good experience in language revitalization 語言復興
that can be shared with the world.

He says that the idea that no one cares about Taiwanese local languages is
just not accurate 正確的.

Liu emphasizes ?調 that the important thing is to give people an opportunity
機會 to learn about the languages of Taiwan, and he says the government
should do more to support 支持 people who want to learn local languages.
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西班牙面對過度觀光客的問題
Spain Struggles with Overtourism

There sure are a lot of tourists in Taiwan these days.

Yeah, I guess it's a mixed bag 有好有壞; on the one hand, tourists help the
local economy 經濟 a lot.

Without tourists, many businesses might lose money.

But on the other hand, sometimes people have disagreements with tourists if
they are very loud 吵鬧 or disrespectful.

People in Spain are experiencing 體驗 this problem now.

In Santiago de Compostela, Spain, people are trying to find ways to fix
處理好 an overtourism problem.

Residents say that many tourists are not well-behaved.
居民覺得很多觀光客不守規矩。

They thought that one solution 答案 could be to give a guide to good manners
to visitors.
居民覺得分發一本好禮貌指南書可能會有幫助。

The manners book had many languages, and was handed out all over the city at
hostels 背包客 where tourists might stay.

People wanted tourists to be quieter and respect traffic 交通 rules.

But it seems like the manners book didn't really help the problem.

Still, many tourists sing loudly in the streets and ride their bikes in the
wrong direction.

Santiago de Compostela is the last part of a pilgrimage 朝拜 for Catholics
天主教徒 called the Camino de Santiago, so many of the tourists are pilgrims
朝聖者.

Residents say that the main problem 主要的問題 is that there are just too
many tourists.

Because of the amount of tourists, rent 房租 is getting higher and higher.

Some residents can't afford it, so now one part of the city has lost about
half of its residents since 2000.
許多的居民付不起這?貴的房租，就需要搬走。

They insist 堅持 that they do not dislike tourists, but they say the
situation 情況 now is over-the-top 太過分了.

The amount of tourists means that there are more hotels and hostels for
visitors, so rent is also about 44% higher than it was in 2018.

Several areas across Spain have similar problems, with many people protesting
抗議 against too many tourists.
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So, in today's News Bites:

Online Taiwanese language classes are getting a lot of interest in Europe.

People there signed up for classes in Taiwanese, Hakka, Taiwanese Indigenous
languages, and Taiwanese Mandarin.

Experts say that it is clear that people have interest in learning these
smaller, more local languages.

But they emphasize that the government should do more to highlight Taiwan's
unique languages and promote the country.
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And,

People in Spain are dealing with too much tourism.

One town, called Santiago de Compostela, tried to fix problems with tourists
by encouraging people to be more quiet and respectful, but it didn't work.

Some people think there are just too many tourists, which means that the rent
is getting higher and making residents move out.
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News Flash

In today's News Flash, our vocab word is "to struggle."

That's a verb, and it's spelled "S-T-R-U-G-G-L-E."

Struggling to do something means that you're trying really hard, or you're
trying to fix a problem.

For example, in Spain, Santiago de Compostela is struggling with tourism.

That means, they have a problem with tourism that they're trying to deal with.

"To struggle" is called 掙扎 in Mandarin.

And now you know!
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We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!