It is illegal to teach English in kindergartens and in pre-schools in Taiwan. Many schools still try to hire teachers for work in these types of schools and they go so far as to set up elaborate alarm systems where if an inspection occurs the receptionist triggers an alarm that sounds in the teaching area and the teacher then heads for the nearest fire escape and takes the day off.
What is most strange about this is that it is common knowledge that these alarm systems occur and in many cases the people required to do the inspections have had their kids in a similar program. Learning English starts very young in Taiwan and those the snooze and miss out on early opportunities for their kids often feel they are depriving their child and they feel like their child will fall behind if they don't do what everyone else is doing. Competition in all facets of education in Taiwan is fierce.
The commonly understood reason for this legislation is that the Taiwanese want to protect the younger people from cultural imperialistic imposition resulting from exposure to English at too early an age... interestingly, there are some places where you can get English lessons played through a headset to an unborn child in a woman's pregnant belly...
Anyone care to debate this point or provide more information?
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