Scholarship Period: July-3-2018 through August-22-2019
Name of School: National Taiwan Normal University – Mandarin Training Center.

■Background of applying for RHF scholarship
In Japan, I used to use sign language in volunteer work helping hearing-impaired people.
In Japan there seems a certain progress in understanding the hearing-impaired in general, and thus there are various support and work opportunities for them. However, I learned that there are many countries where understanding and support for the hearing-impaired is insufficient, and even some countries have no established local sign language. So, I wanted to be of even a little help in such countries, and I wanted to come to Taiwan as a volunteer worker for the hearing-impaired using sign language. I decided to come to Taiwan in the spring of 2016. Although both are called sign language, the Japanese sign language and Chinese sign language in Taiwan are different (Chinese sign language in Taiwan incorporated half of signs from the Japanese sign language because the sign language was brought into Taiwan during the Japanese occupation era). During my first few years in Taiwan, I was desperate to learn sign language, and so time flew. When my difficulties in sign language became less, I began to realize the fact that many signs are originated from the Chinese language and I need to be able to communicate in Chinese with the family members of the hearing-impaired people and I need to act as an interpreter too. I felt that if I could speak Chinese well, I would be able to do more, so I wanted to start learning Chinese seriously.
At that time, I was studying Chinese by myself, such as by listening to NHK radio.
Since I needed to use sign language more often every day, I could not improve my Chinese; I was looking for some way. At that time, I learned about the scholarship program from a fellow volunteer in Taiwan and decided to apply.

■Looking back on the days when I was a scholarship student
I have been very busy with studying Chinese every day, I think I have never studied this much even when I was a young student. Looking back, I felt like I’d been studying for years every day non-stop. I was eager to keep up with the class, so when the class was over, I did homework for about two hours in the library, and even there were days that after I got back home, I continued my study. However, compared to when I studied on my own by listening to the radio, the class allowed me to ask questions to the teacher right away when I did not understand, and the environment where we have friends to learn together was great, it enabled me to improve my language skills faster.
As a scholarship recipient, I honestly felt pressure to get a grade of 90 points or more every month, which is a condition for receiving this scholarship.
The reason is because only 2 or 3 students can get a grade of 90 points or more in the class. It involved all the listening test, weekly test, semester exam, a good attitude during class, homework submission, attendance rate etc. Even so, I appreciated the pressure from the scholarship that helped me to push myself and as a result I have learned many good things.

■Current situation and activities
Time flies so quickly. I was able to finish a year of my study class. Thanks to RHF, I was able to learn up to the third textbook. Of course, there are still some things I do not understand, but I have more confidence now with simple daily conversations. It also has a positive effect on my sign language activities. Now that I can understand Chinese better, I can also understand the Chinese-origin words in Chinese-sign language. I could communicate in both Chinese and sign language while talking with a group of people who need to learn sign language. I am mostly happy since the range of things I can do to help have increased.

■Future hopes
I had a slight hope that if I studied at the language school for a year, then my Chinese would be fluent, but it seems not the case in my situation. Still, Chinese is a “foreign language” to me. Yet unlike in the past, now that I have gained the basic knowledge from the language school, when there is something that I do not understand, I don’t worry about it as I can review again my textbook. And I do feel that I am making progress step by step. There is no end in learning a language. I would like to continue studying every single day and continue to work toward my goal of helping the hearing-impaired in Taiwan which is my original reason for coming here.

■For those who are considering applying to RHF for scholarship program
It takes time to study a language. I think that you can spend a very meaningful time if you utilize the time by going to a school and studying under the scholarship system that gives you a positive pressure to achieve the grades that are a requirement of the scholarship. It may be very busy and tiring but please do enjoy your irreplaceable time! I also think that being able to get acquainted with people of various ages from different countries is another advantage of going to school. You have my support!

Scholarship Period: December-1-2018 through May-31-2019
Name of School: Reggio Lingua Language School, Italy.

■Background of applying for RHF scholarship
The main language I need to use for my social contribution activities in Italy is Chinese. Since not many understand English in Italy, while living in this country, it is also necessary to use Italian language to some extent such as when applying for visas, health insurance, identification cards, etc. as well as when engaging in daily activities and social contribution activities. In addition, Italian language skill is essential for working. Thus, I thought of the need of attending a language school. However, the tuition is not cheap at all, and it was quite a burden for me to maintain my living abroad and pay for tuition fee while conducting my social contribution activities. And at that time, I learned about the RHF scholarship system and applied for it.

■Looking back on the days when I was a scholarship student
Italian is a very complex language and there are limits to self-study in this language.
I was able to take a lesson with native Italian teachers at a local language school, and I learned a thorough understanding of grammar from a more practical perspective. Moreover, the group lessons at the language schools were very useful whilst self-study has limitation in terms of listening and doing the basic conversation. It is true that it was not an easy life in terms of the amount of time and energy I have to spend for commuting to school, doing homework at home while continuing my social contributing activities. However, considering the amount of time and energy I have to spend even if I study on my own, in fact the advantage of attending language school was greater.

■Current situation and activities
Currently, I work for over 70 hours per month in social contribution activities. We have been working with more than 100 Chinese people living here in Italy and are working to understand the current situation and build a relationship of trust. Some of them live in a garment factory that is not originally made as a place for living, but the place is like a “home factory.” In such a living environment, parents are often forced to work all day long while children often stay in their homes (factory) except for school. As a result, there are language and cultural barriers in their social life, and their range of friends is very limited due to such conditions.
With the help of the RHF scholarship, I was able to obtain a basic knowledge of Italian language. I am able to collaborate with the local Italian social contributors in helping these children to develop friendships with other people and cope with their life pressures which are quite typical for immigrants.

■Future hopes
There are various living conditions and problems for the Chinese immigrants in Italy. For example, when the children were born and raised in Italy, and attend the local school, they may have communication problems in Chinese with the parents. There are other cases where the parents came first to Italy, and a few years later when their lives become stable, their children will come to Italy to join them. In this case, the children will face difficulties in terms of communication at school and adjusting to the community. Another issue is that such children would not be able to communicate properly with the parents because they have been away from home for a long time. In addition, the communication between the schools and parents are often weak too. Therefore, to help them out, I will continue to work hard improving my Italian language skills.

■For those who are considering applying to RHF for scholarship program
As a social contributor you may agree that to continue our activities, we need to have some margin in our physical strength as well as our heart. Furthermore, starting a new life abroad and engaging in social contribution activities may be more difficult than what we initially expected, not only in terms of expenses but also our physical and mental strength. That is why if you can make the best use of the scholarship program, it helps in reducing the expenses you need to worry about. And for fellow scholarship recipient, you need to pay attention to your health including emotional aspects while studying hard and please do keep a life-balance so that you can maintain your focus on your original goals of social contribution activities.

Scholarship Period: March-15-2018 through August-30-2019
Name of School: National Cheng-Kung University – Chinese Language Center

■Background of applying for RHF scholarship
In my opinion, what is important for volunteering as social contributor in overseas is to get to know the local people and understand the culture. Thus, I think the first step would be learning the language. In the beginning I tried to self-study, however there were limitations as I tried it. I came to conclude that to have a systematic learning process, attending a language school is necessary. However, the tuition fee was challenging for me to take the next step. I engage in volunteer activities by helping the hearing-impaired to improve their quality of life, and at that time I learned about RHF scholarship program. I liked the purpose of the foundation. I applied for the RHF scholarship and from the support I received I hope to continue helping as many suffering people as possible.

■Looking back on the days when I was a scholarship student
In Japan, there is an idiom: “wearing two pairs of sandals”. It means that doing two different activities at the same time is very difficult, if not impossible. So I realized it was more difficult than I had imagined for learning a language while doing my social contributor activities, not only with the time schedule, but also with my physical condition. In addition, while studying at the language school, I also had to face the challenge of coping with my living expenses every 3 months. However, I enjoyed the experience and felt joyful when I managed to overcome those difficulties. As I understand the language better, I was able to broaden my volunteering activities, and as a result I felt a deeper sense of satisfaction. There were times when I felt desperate as a scholarship student, but now, looking back, it was a fulfilling life. Also, I think that if I could minimize the financial challenge side a little bit more, then I would have been able to delve more deeply in learning both the language and culture.

■Current situation and activities
Now that I have finished my study under the scholarship program, I am fully focusing on social contribution activities. And having studied the Chinese language, it helped me to be more responsive to the hearing-impaired people, thus the areas which I could contribute to helping them are increasing as well. Besides continuing to improve my language skill, my share in social contribution activities has expanded. In addition to learning sign language, I was also able to participate in teaching sign language to beginners. The scholarship program played a major role in supporting me, not only to learn the language but also to be able to do more in social contribution activities.

■Future hopes
I am very grateful to meet many people and expand the scope of my social contribution activities through the one-year language learning opportunities provided by RHF scholarship program. And, to make use of this valuable opportunity, I would like to enhance my understanding of the language and culture. Also, many social contributors are still needed in certain areas, so I hope that I can go to those areas. Regarding the RHF scholarship program, I hope that this is not the last contact with you, but I do hope that I can do something for RHF too. I believe that by doing my utmost in social contribution activities and collaboration with RHF, it will be a rewarding opportunity for me. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to RHF and its founder for giving me these valuable opportunities. Thank you so much.

■For those who are considering applying to RHF for scholarship program
When I received an RHF scholarship for the first time, I’d been through some trial-and-errors, and I wondered if things would really go through smoothly. What I would recommend about this scholarship program is: Please proactively try on the first step of your application process. Of course, things may not always move as quick as you expect. However, this scholarship has provided me with a good opportunity to consider my future goals more specifically. Thus, I would really recommend for you to consider your future goals. And when you get the chance, I encourage you to make the most of the benefits that you can achieve when attending school and expand the range of social contribution activities for yourself.