Author: Li Xinping 李⼼平
My grandfather is a very warm and enthusiastic person. When he was younger, he worked as a civil servant in a government department in Taipei City. Around the time he had just retired, I was born. Because my parents were busy with work during the day, a large part of my preschool years was spent being taken care of by my grandfather.
Back then, he accompanied me every day as we went out to explore new and interesting things. My grandfather is someone who can speak both Taiwanese and Mandarin, but compared to Mandarin, he is more accustomed to speaking Taiwanese. As a result, my first teacher of Taiwanese was my grandfather.
Later, perhaps because my grandfather began to feel bored with retired life, one day he said that he wanted to start a Taiwanese language class near our home, specifically for preschool children and their parents to learn Taiwanese together.
At first, I was somewhat unconvinced. I even thought that my grandfather was probably just doing it for fun and that it would not really take off. After all, many people in Taiwan can speak Taiwanese, but teaching Taiwanese is not something that can be done simply because one can speak it. Taiwanese language teaching involves not only listening and speaking, but also reading and writing using Romanization and Chinese characters. Aside from speaking Taiwanese with my grandfather, I had never seen him write Taiwanese articles or read Taiwanese books with me, so at that time, I thought he would probably lose interest after a few months.
Unexpectedly, after some time had passed, one day my grandfather called me and told me that he was going to publish his first Taiwanese language teaching book. The sudden news shocked me, and I immediately searched online frantically to learn more about his situation in Taiwanese language education. I was amazed by what I found. Not only had my grandfather published Taiwanese teaching books, he had also created so many Taiwanese language teaching groups on social media that they could not be counted on one hand.
It was then that I suddenly realized that my grandfather’s determination to change careers and become a Taiwanese language teacher was not just talk. He had truly begun to present himself publicly as a Taiwanese language teacher. In addition to writing books, he appeared on radio programs, ran Taiwanese language classes, and was even hired to teach Taiwanese at a junior high school. The age range and number of students he had taught were astonishing. Among his many students, my own Taiwanese proficiency had quietly become one of the weakest. Nevertheless, even though my Taiwanese ability remains mostly at the level of spoken language, the bond between my grandfather and me is still as close as it was when I was young. We still often make plans to eat out together, and from time to time we chat in Taiwanese over the phone. Although I still cannot fully understand the articles my grandfather writes, the memories of my childhood have made Taiwanese our shared language. Compared to other elders, my grandfather and I seem to understand each other more deeply and always have endless topics to talk about. I am also very happy that my grandfather has successfully found his second career in life
我的祖⽗是⼀個⼗分熱情的⼈，年輕時是在台北市的政府部⾨內擔任公務員，
在他剛退休的那段時間我也剛出⽣，但由於我爸媽⽩天忙於⼯作的緣故，因此
我學齡前的時光有好⾧⼀段時間是由祖⽗帶⼤的。那時他陪著幼⼩的我天天到
外⾯去探索新奇的事物，我的祖⽗他是個既會講台語⼜會講中⽂的妙⼈，但跟
中⽂⽐起來，他還是⽐較習慣講台語，因此我的台語啟蒙⽼師就是我祖⽗。後
來有⼀天也許是祖⽗開始對退休⽣活感到無聊，於是他便說要在家裡附近開⼀
個台語班，專⾨收⼀些學齡前的孩⼦做台語親⼦共學。
⼀開始我有點不以為然，甚⾄覺得祖⽗應該也就玩玩⽽已，不太可能做得起
來，因為講台語在台灣其實不少⼈都會講，但如果是台語教學就不是會講就有
辦法教的了，台語教學不只是聽和說⽽已，還會有羅⾺拼⾳與漢字的閱讀及書
寫，⽽我平時除了和祖⽗⽤台語交流外，也不曾看過他寫台語的⽂章，或帶我
讀台語的書籍，因此那時的我覺得祖⽗也許玩個幾個⽉就會不玩了。
沒想到在那之後⼜過了⼀段時間，某天祖⽗居然打電話告訴我他要出他的第⼀
本台語教學的書，突如其來的消息讓我驚訝的上網瘋狂查詢關於祖⽗在台語教
學上的狀況，結果不查還好⼀查簡直不得了，祖⽗不但出了台語教學的書，他
在社群軟體上建⽴的台語教學社團已經多到⼀隻⼿數不出來了。這時我才恍然
⼤悟的認知到原來祖⽗想轉⾏成為⼀名台語⽼師的決⼼不只是說說⽽已，祖⽗
對外是真的開始以台語⽼師的⾝份⾃居，除了寫書、上廣播頻道、開台語班、
甚⾄還被聘到某國中裡教台語，祖⽗教導過的學⽣的年齡簡直跨⾜之廣且數量
之多，我的台語程度在他眾多的學⽣之中居然不知不覺已經算吊⾞尾的了。
不過即使我的台語程度只停在⼝說，我和祖⽗的感情依然和⼩時候那般深厚，
我們還是會經常約出去吃飯，時不時地透過電話⽤台語聊天。雖然直到現在我
還是讀不懂祖⽗寫的⽂章，但因為⼩時候的回憶，讓台語成為了我跟祖⽗之間
的共同語⾔，⽐起其他⾧輩我跟祖⽗之間好像更能互相認同，有著聊不完的話
題，我也很開⼼祖⽗順利找到了他⼈⽣的第⼆事業。