Suraj came to Taiwan from India less than three years ago. A few months ago, he graduated with a master’s degree in electrical engineering from National Tsing Hua University and joined TSMC as a software engineer specializing in machine learning and AI.
When meeting Suraj for the first time, Teacher Stacy was a bit surprised because his spoken Chinese was very fluent, far exceeding many foreigners who have lived in Taiwan for years. Over time, she discovered his “secrets.”
First, Suraj is very confident. Even in unfamiliar environments, he is willing to use Chinese to chat with locals, which has helped him make many local friends and naturally increased his opportunities to practice.
Second, Suraj has a clear learning goal. Since he needed to quickly adapt to his job, he chose to focus on business Chinese. He pays close attention to new words he hears at work and actively asks about them during lessons. He doesn’t follow textbook sequences but learns based on the challenges he encounters at work. For example, he first learned vocabulary related to office environments and basic technical terms, then moved on to topics like interviews or business negotiations.
Third, people who thrive in new environments usually have a rich personal life. While studying at National Tsing Hua University, Suraj and his friends ran an Indian food truck to promote cultural exchange through cuisine.
The first semester of our Business Chinese course has just concluded, and Suraj shared with Teacher Stacy the progress he has made at TSMC. In just a few months, thanks to his excellent work capabilities and language skills, Suraj has already earned the Excellent Internal Trainer Award
We know that many foreigners living in Taiwan encounter various challenges due to language barriers. However, in our Chinese teaching experiences, we often meet learners who are fearless, goal-oriented, and strategic. We hope their experiences will inspire everyone.
Suraj從印度來台灣不到3年，幾個月前，他從清華大學電機碩士畢業，加入台積電，成為一名研究機器學習和AI的軟體工程師。
第一次見面的時候，Stacy老師有點驚訝，因為Suraj的口語非常流利，遠超不少在台灣生活多年的外國人。經過一段時間，老師慢慢發現到他的“秘密”。
第一，Suraj非常自信，即使在陌生的環境，他也敢於使用中文跟台灣人聊天，所以有了不少本地的好朋友，自然練習的機會也增加了。
第二，Suraj很清楚自己的學習目標，由於要盡快適應工作，他選擇主攻商用華語。Suraj很留意工作中聽到的新詞，並在上課時主動提問。他並不按照書本的順序來學，而是根據在工作中遇到的課題來學，例如，先學辦公環境和基本的技術詞彙，再學面試或者商業談判。
第三，能在新環境如魚得水的人，通常自己也有豐富的人生。Suraj在清華大學的時候，就跟朋友一起經營印度餐車，以美食來做文化交流。
我們商用華語第一學期剛剛結束，Suraj跟Stacy老師分享了他在台積電的進步，僅僅幾個月，因為出色的工作能力和語言優勢，Suraj 就獲得了傑出表現獎。
我們知道，不少在台灣生活的外國人，因為語言不夠，會發生這樣那樣的狀況，但在愛華語的教學中，我們也常常遇到這些不怕困難、有目標、有策略的學習者，也希望他們的經驗成為大家的動力。
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