Kia ora, my name is Wanwan Liao! My connection to Chinese languages (Hakka) starts where I grew up: Taoyuan City in Taiwan.

大家好，我是廖老師。我來自台灣桃園，那就是為什麼我會說客家話的原因。

I grew up with my Ah-ma and Ah-gong (paternal grandma and grandpa) and my brother in the countryside while my parents worked in the city. Ah-ma and Ah-gong spoke Hakka with me. My parents speak Mandarin and Taiwanese Hokkien to each other and us (My mother grew up speaking Taiwanese Hokkien), since marrying my father, my mother also learnt Hakka. Hakka is my mother tongue.

小時候，我的父母在台北奔波工作，所以我和哥哥是由阿公和阿嬤在鄉下拉拔長大的。阿公和阿嬤說的是客家話，爸爸媽媽說中文，也說台語（媽媽的母語是台語），媽媽「嫁雞跈雞飛，嫁狗跈狗走」也學了客家話。客家話是我的母語。

When I went to primary school, most kids spoke Mandarin. I felt like I had a superpower with my Hakka, it meant that I had a special language that others couldn’t understand.

上小學的時候大家都說中文，聽得懂又會說客家話的小朋友並不多。於是客家話便成了我的秘密超能力。

My father believed that learning English would give my brother and I more opportunities in the future. This led us both to move to Palmerston North, New Zealand for study. I was an international student in Palmerston North for two years.

我爸爸的觀念是：一定要學好英文。很幸運地，我和哥哥都來紐西蘭讀書，我們因此來到了北帕。我在北帕的ㄧ所高中當了兩年的國際學生。

In high school, some people (especially teachers) assumed that international students wouldn’t be good at English. I remember a dean advising us to take subjects like statistics, tourism and information management even though I really wanted to take media studies.

當國際學生的那兩年，有一部分的人總認為國際學生英文差，連老師主任們都只讓國際學生選一些「安全」科目，像是統計學、旅遊和資訊管理。我最想學的是媒體學。

But I proved them wrong. I ended up getting good grades in media studies and, with the support of my host parents, made the most of my time in school.

向老師主任們央求了大半天才能選的媒體學，果然是我喜歡的科目，我向他們證明了我的能力。當然，我的寄宿家庭爸爸媽媽也不斷地鼓勵我，幫助我，是他們讓我的高中生活變得有意義。

My experiences at high school inspired me to go into teaching so I could help kids like me believe in their potential. As a teacher I wanted to help children be proud of their own languages and heritage.

有了這兩年國際學生的經歷，我決定在紐西蘭當老師，想努力讓我的經歷成為其他老師的借鏡，希望從四面八方來的學生不用受到差別待遇，要相信自己的多元是一種優勢。在這樣的環境裡當小學老師，我深信多元文化不僅是優勢，學生們的母語更是他們的超能力。

When teaching in a classroom, I make an effort to promote the use of their home languages. One way I do this is by greeting my students in their own languages. I also want other teachers to look beyond a student’s ability to speak English.

教學的時候，我們常常透過討論、提問和體驗等方式，來增加學生對多元文化的認識和包容度。我最喜歡在早上的時候用學生的母語向他們問候。另外，我也想讓其他老師不僅僅只用學生的英文程度來判斷學生的素質。

Although my Hakka proficiency is declining, it’s a language that connects me to my grandparents. Growing up, I slowly learned Mandarin and English, which now connect me to other parts of my identity. As a full-time teacher working closely with bi/multilingual children (ESOL), my goal is to help them embrace their “superpowers!”

我對客家話雖然日漸陌生，每每聽見客家話仍然倍感親切，畢竟那是我和童年、和阿公阿嬤的連結。成長過程中，我慢慢學會說中文和英文，這些語言使我能在不同身分、角色中切換。如今我不在教室裡當班導師了，我是一位專任雙語教師（英語為第二外語教師），我的期望是：看見並聽見多元文化的孩子使用他們的超能力！