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An elementary school in Tainan is the only one in the country to require all children to learn the Siraya language of the Plains Indigenous group of the same name. But without official recognition as an Indigenous group, the Siraya are finding it hard to expand their language-teaching efforts.

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00:00Tabe, or hello in the Siraya language, is the first phrase these fresh-faced elementary
00:12school students in southern Taiwan are learning in their first Siraya language class. It's a
00:18mandatory course that's part of the Kobe Experimental Elementary School's mission
00:22to revitalize this once-extinct plain's indigenous language.
00:30Students in this third grade class are learning to introduce themselves and ask each other's
00:36names through music. The song's composer Edgar Macapiti from the Philippines has been fundamental
00:43to the language revival movement.
00:45Nobody heard Siraya spoken, right? So the phonological structure and the grammatical structure of Siraya
00:52must be established first and then only then you can compose the music. For example, I
00:59compose this, what is your name, right? I compose one of these melodies.
01:05Nanang au tatitakalang nanang tinta si sakaray nanang au tatitakalang kamang tananang oho
01:14That means my name is Takalang. Your name is Sakaray. What about you? What's your name?
01:20Together with his Siraya partner, Uma, and linguists interested in Taiwan's Austronesian languages,
01:28they created language guides based on historical archives written in the Xingang script, a Latin
01:34letter-based writing system developed by the 17th century Dutch clergyman and the first written
01:41words in Taiwan's recorded history. But until recently, Siraya hadn't been spoken for more
01:47than a century, gradually fading as first Taiwanese Daiyi, then Japanese, and finally Mandarin Chinese
01:55became more dominant. The plains in the west were typically the Chinese migrant colonies where
02:02they did very well and where they became organized and where they controlled the city and the economy.
02:08And in those places, the local Siraya was sort of slogan for stuff, as you can expect. They didn't
02:15even know their culture. But in the case of Siraya, they have become Chinese without really knowing
02:22what is what was about. Some Siraya are today are actually being done. They get it slowly. They
02:30were integrated. The Koubi school teaches Mandarin and Taiwanese Daiyi, also called Taiwanese
02:36or Mingnan, and similarly taught using the Latin alphabet. The principal says the alphabet helps students
02:44learn both Taiwanese Daiyi and Siraya at the same time.
02:47We are also able to use the Chinese language to use the international alphabet.
02:49We are able to use the international alphabet. The international alphabet is completely
02:54to the international alphabet. We also help children find a bigger sky. It is really
03:01helping to learn English. We are also able to learn English.
03:06Of course, there are a few of them are more望ous, but it's not a problem.
03:12because when we teach them, they will be able to learn from the children.
03:19But teaching Seraya in other schools is challenging.
03:23Despite the Tainan city government recognizing the group since 2005,
03:28Taiwan doesn't officially recognize the Seraya as an indigenous nation
03:32with a unique language and culture.
03:35For example, when we first entered a school,
03:38the teachers would ask,
03:39teacher, do you have a certificate?
03:40Or, teacher, do you have a certificate for me?
03:44But Seraya is not a certificate in the legal level,
03:50so we can't give these things.
03:54Many teachers take on other subjects or have other jobs to get by,
03:58as few other schools provide Seraya language classes.
04:02And even when they can't teach the language,
04:05sometimes there's not enough students.
04:07Because we were asked,
04:08why do you still teach Seraya?
04:10It's only one week,
04:12but it's only one week.
04:13If we plan on our current time,
04:16especially when we have some young people
04:20who have a better job,
04:22but they want to continue to teach Seraya.
04:27We feel it's not easy.
04:29We don't know how long we can keep this information.
04:33We've been able to prove it.
04:36We've been able to prove it.
04:37But we feel it's very difficult.
04:40But these challenges haven't stopped the Seraya
04:42from fighting to reclaim their identity and heritage.
04:46So while challenges remain,
04:50the future of the Seraya language and culture
04:53is now being shaped by the voices of a new generation.
04:56Yusin Chen and Irene Lin in Tainan for Taiwan Plus.
05:22This is a to-
05:27Welcome to Tainan of cultivating
05:32too.
05:33That makes sense to me as
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