Young leader to study Mandarin in Taiwan
Congratulations to young leader Melissa Wong, who has just obtained a six-month Huayu Enrichment Scholarship (HES) to study Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan.
Melissa is the ninth New Zealander to be given this award since 2007. Melissa plans to study at the ‘National Taiwan Normal University’ (NTNU) between March-September 2011. She chose NTNU because it is the most prestigious and well-recognised institute for second language learning in Taiwan. The scholarship will provide her with a monthly stipend for the duration of her studies. After six months of intensive language lessons, Melissa aims to be fluent in spoken Mandarin and to get a good grasp of some of the classical characters.
Melissa is now studying towards her MSc in biology at the University of Auckland, where she is doing a research project on biofuels at LanzaTech NZ. Melissa’s grandparents immigrated to New Zealand from Guangzhou, China in the 1920s, so traditionally her family speaks Cantonese. However, in an effort to connect with her heritage, she decided to take up Mandarin lessons as a young adult for fun. Melissa found her basic Mandarin skills very useful during her 10-week Asia:NZ-supported internship at the Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan in 2009, and also when she went on a 5-week sightseeing tour of China.
The HES scholarship is provided by the Ministry of Education, China (Taiwan) and administered by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New Zealand (TECO). The purpose of the scholarship is threefold: to encourage the study of Mandarin Chinese and culture, to promote the development of friendships between Taiwanese and people from other countries, and to generate more opportunities for international educational exchange.
Scholarship selectors at TECO felt that Melissa was an outstanding candidate because of her fantastic academic record and work experience. They were most impressed by her enthusiasm and involvement in Asian community projects and her strong commitment to learning Mandarin. Taiwan is often under-acknowledged as a great destination for international student exchange and TECO would like to encourage more young New Zealanders to apply for the HES scholarship or the Taiwan Scholarship.
For now Melissa is concentrating primarily on finishing her MSc thesis. However, she’s very excited about her impending trip and has renewed her passport and emailed friends in Taiwan in preparation.
For information on scholarships or study in Taiwan please contact Iris Lai from TECO: iris@taipei.org.nz
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Photo: Melissa Wong with Joerg Kistler, ProgrammeDirector of the School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland
