________________________________

Saving Eels in England

Eels look like snakes. They move like snakes. But they live in water! Eels
are very long fish.
鰻魚長得像蛇，動作也像蛇，但牠們其實是水生動物！

Long ago, rivers in one part of England had many eels! People could catch two
hundred eels in one night! But now people can catch one in one night. Maybe.
很久以前，英國有個地方的河流中有很多鰻魚。可是現在鰻魚數量已經大幅減少。

Why? Rivers are dirty. Eels cannot find food. And they cannot go to other
rivers for food. River walls stop them.
Eels need help! But not many people know.
這是因為河流被汙染後，鰻魚找不到食物吃。他們想去別的河流覓食也會被河堤擋住。鰻魚需要大家的幫忙！

Some people are telling others about eels. One teacher gives baby eels to
many schools. The kids give their eels food. They clean the eel tanks. They
study all about eels. A few weeks later, the kids put their eels in a river.
Now they know eels need help.
有一位老師把鰻魚幼苗分發給不同學校。小學生飼養這些鰻魚，給牠們良好的生活環境。幾個星期之後，小學生把鰻魚送到河流中。

Other people are helping eels find food. They make big ropes. They put them
on river walls. The ropes help eels go over the walls. Then they find food in
other rivers.
還有其他人也在想辦法幫助鰻魚覓食。他們在河堤上放繩索，幫助鰻魚跨越河堤，到別的河流吃東西！

Now more people know eels need help. And more people are helping. Let's hope
there will be many eels again in England!
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Vocabulary
拯救野生鰻魚，有各種不同的方法。

1. catch 捕捉。
Did you have a nice weekend? 周末過得好嗎?
Yeah, I just got back from a fishing trip. 很好，我才剛剛去釣魚回來。
Interesting! Did you catch anything? 真有趣，有抓到什麼嗎?
I did! 有!

2. look like 看起來像。
A turtle. 一隻烏龜。
A turtle? 烏龜?
Hey, it's not your everyday turtle. 可不是普通的烏龜。
It looks like a pancake 牠看起來像鬆餅。

3. live 居住。
Turtles are not fish, right? 烏龜不是魚吧?
Of course not. 當然不是。
But they live in water. 不過牠們住在水裡。

4. river 河流。
Did you put your turtle back? 你有把烏龜放回去嗎?
I sure did! It's a nice river. 當然有，那是一條很好的河。

還記得剛剛的單字嗎?
catch捕捉 look like看起來像 live居住 river河流
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Quiz

1. What are eels?
a. Fish
b. Snakes
c. Birds

2. Long ago, how many eels could people catch in one night?
a. One
b. One hundred
c. Two hundred

3. What are the big ropes for?
a. Catching eels to eat
b. Helping eels go over walls
c. Cleaning eel tanks

Answers
1. a
2. c
3. b
 

________________________________

Hello and welcome back to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Allie Highsmith.

And I'm Jacob Ingram.

In this episode of News Bites: online Taiwanese language classes get big
interest

And, Spain struggles with overtourism

And in this episode's News Flash: to struggle.
________________________________

歐洲人來上臺語、客家話和原住民語言課
Online Taiwanese Language Classes Get Major Interest in Europe

Many people in Taiwan might think that people outside Taiwan aren't
interested in learning local 本土的 languages.

But actually, more and more people in other countries are interested in
learning languages like Taiwanese, Hakka, and

Taiwan's many Indigenous languages.
雖然許多台灣人以?外國人對台灣本土語言興趣不大，但是在國外越來越多人在學臺語、客家話跟台灣的原住民語言。

In the European Union 歐盟, a school is offering 提供 online classes for
those languages, and for Mandarin too.

They're working together 合作 with Taiwanese universities like National
Taiwan Normal University 師大 and National Chengchi University 政大.

One professor, Liu Chan-yueh 劉展岳, says that those courses are being taught
online.

Liu said that the platform 平臺 lets people around the world learn about
Taiwan, and it also trains 訓練 Taiwanese language teachers to help
foreigners learn Taiwan's languages.

There are 28 classes, including 5 on Taiwanese, also known as Hokkien, 2 on
Hakka, 8 on Taiwanese Indigenous languages, and 13 on Taiwanese Mandarin.

Taiwanese Hokkien classes got the most people to sign up 報名.

223 people signed up for those classes.

120 students over there chose to study Taiwanese Indigenous language classes.

Most of the students are from European countries, like France, the Czech
Republic 傑克, Poland 波蘭, Austria 奧地利, the Netherlands 荷蘭, Germany,
Finland 芬蘭, Latvia 拉脫維亞, and Portugal 葡萄牙.

In total 總共, there are 465 students taking the classes.

Liu says that most students want to learn more about Taiwan from learning the
languages.

Many Taiwanese Europeans 台裔歐洲人 also want to strengthen their connection
to Taiwan with the classes.

Liu says that Taiwan's diversity 多元 of languages is very special, and can
be used to connect to the international community.

And, Liu says, Taiwan has good experience in language revitalization 語言復興
that can be shared with the world.

He says that the idea that no one cares about Taiwanese local languages is
just not accurate 正確的.

Liu emphasizes ?調 that the important thing is to give people an opportunity
機會 to learn about the languages of Taiwan, and he says the government
should do more to support 支持 people who want to learn local languages.
________________________________

西班牙面對過度觀光客的問題
Spain Struggles with Overtourism

There sure are a lot of tourists in Taiwan these days.

Yeah, I guess it's a mixed bag 有好有壞; on the one hand, tourists help the
local economy 經濟 a lot.

Without tourists, many businesses might lose money.

But on the other hand, sometimes people have disagreements with tourists if
they are very loud 吵鬧 or disrespectful.

People in Spain are experiencing 體驗 this problem now.

In Santiago de Compostela, Spain, people are trying to find ways to fix
處理好 an overtourism problem.

Residents say that many tourists are not well-behaved.
居民覺得很多觀光客不守規矩。

They thought that one solution 答案 could be to give a guide to good manners
to visitors.
居民覺得分發一本好禮貌指南書可能會有幫助。

The manners book had many languages, and was handed out all over the city at
hostels 背包客 where tourists might stay.

People wanted tourists to be quieter and respect traffic 交通 rules.

But it seems like the manners book didn't really help the problem.

Still, many tourists sing loudly in the streets and ride their bikes in the
wrong direction.

Santiago de Compostela is the last part of a pilgrimage 朝拜 for Catholics
天主教徒 called the Camino de Santiago, so many of the tourists are pilgrims
朝聖者.

Residents say that the main problem 主要的問題 is that there are just too
many tourists.

Because of the amount of tourists, rent 房租 is getting higher and higher.

Some residents can't afford it, so now one part of the city has lost about
half of its residents since 2000.
許多的居民付不起這?貴的房租，就需要搬走。

They insist 堅持 that they do not dislike tourists, but they say the
situation 情況 now is over-the-top 太過分了.

The amount of tourists means that there are more hotels and hostels for
visitors, so rent is also about 44% higher than it was in 2018.

Several areas across Spain have similar problems, with many people protesting
抗議 against too many tourists.
________________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

Online Taiwanese language classes are getting a lot of interest in Europe.

People there signed up for classes in Taiwanese, Hakka, Taiwanese Indigenous
languages, and Taiwanese Mandarin.

Experts say that it is clear that people have interest in learning these
smaller, more local languages.

But they emphasize that the government should do more to highlight Taiwan's
unique languages and promote the country.
________________________________

And,

People in Spain are dealing with too much tourism.

One town, called Santiago de Compostela, tried to fix problems with tourists
by encouraging people to be more quiet and respectful, but it didn't work.

Some people think there are just too many tourists, which means that the rent
is getting higher and making residents move out.
________________________________

News Flash

In today's News Flash, our vocab word is "to struggle."

That's a verb, and it's spelled "S-T-R-U-G-G-L-E."

Struggling to do something means that you're trying really hard, or you're
trying to fix a problem.

For example, in Spain, Santiago de Compostela is struggling with tourism.

That means, they have a problem with tourism that they're trying to deal with.

"To struggle" is called 掙扎 in Mandarin.

And now you know!
________________________________

If you have a fun fact or a joke you'd like to share with us, record your
message and send us your Bite-Sized Break to newsbites@icrt.com.tw, and you
might hear it in an episode!

We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!