Dear Konrad, I'm a family doctor at Kaohsiung, southern Tai-oan. Very touched by your letter. I've published a book, "Taioanji ABC", which means An Introduction To The Pronunciation Of Taiwanese. There's also a CD. Tell me your address, and I'll send you a copy, free of charge. Babuza(An Aboriginal in Central Taiwan)

----- OriginalMessage ----- From: Konrad Hsu Aschenbach Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2003 1:30 PM Subject: [TGB] Konrad's introduction
Hello All on Tai-gu-bang,
I am a third-year graduate student in Electrical Engineering at the
University of California, Berkeley. My research is toward the development of a
power system that will make electricity from sunlight without using silicon.
Outside of school, I have been taking Taiji class on campus, like to play jazz
saxophone, and study things about Taiwan.
My mother sent me to Taiwan for the summer of 2001 to study Mandarin at
National Taiwan Normal University. I did not know any Taiwanese or Mandarin at
the time, so I did not venture to interact much outside of class or my host's
home.
Since that summer was my first-hand introduction to anything related to
Taiwan, I did not know of all the issues contributing to the rise of Mandarin
language on Taiwan. Through my readings,I now have a better idea of the
island's history and also what proper Mandarin sounds like.
I realized that I don't like the harsh Beijing consonants and simplified
pronunciation, and that Taiwanese Hoklo sounds more comforting and has
pronunciation with roots way back to before Tang dynasty. I also know about
the political factors that forced Mandarin upon Taiwanese people.
At least for my own enjoyment, I am going to start learning Taiwanese Hoklo.
People say Hoklo has no writing and the Romanization is for illiterates. I
think Romanization isa convenient way of conveying the pronunciation of a
language. I hope to be able to communicate with this group after I learn some
Hoklo.

I have a question: Does the group really have 97 members, as shown at
http://tw.groups.yahoo.com/group/taigubang/ ?

Sincerely,
Konrad

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  • Li chu-chheh e e-mail khau-cho si: Konrad Hsu Aschenbach <>.
  • Beh kia phoe ho' tak-ke tioh iong chit-e khau-cho chiah kia-e-kau.