Senior Hakka Master –Meidu Qiu –had started carrying out the mission of reviving Changhua Raoping Hakka on campus since 2014. She opened Raoping Hakka Club for students, and every Tuesday and Thursday morning during self-study time, she taught us Raoping. From March to May and from July to August, she applied to open a course called “Parent-Child Learn Raoping Hakka” On school’s three bulletin boards, there are many pictures of Hakka Promotion activities. Mrs. Qiu successfully revived Raoping Hakka and that attracted media to set foot in school and interview her. When Raoping Hakka was like a desert in Changhua, her perseverance in irrigating it paid off. Her Hakka course received good notices and was liked by many.

From September to November, she applied to open “Parent-Child Love Raoping Hakka” course, which was taught every Wednesday from one to three o’clock, with 30 students taking the class. She never ceased on giving the once dried-out Raoping Hakka water. Now it grew into an oasis, she was highly praised. In October, some students –Ningyu Chen, Yuzhang Huang, Tingfeng Qiu, Lizhuo Fanm, Minshun Huang, and so on –formed Raoping Hakka Junior Corp. They wanted to take down Mrs. Qiu’s amazing feat and to join Taiwan School Cyberfair to show everyone how wonderful our irrigator Mrs. Qiu is!

The Junior Corp looked forward to the Wednesday afternoon on October 21st. It was Mrs. Qiu’s fifth class in the fifth month in Jing Siou Elementary School, and the Corp was about to learn vocabularies and sentences on traffic and to introduce Yuanlin Jing Siou Station and festivals in Hakka. When compiling the teaching materials, Mrs. Qiu marked the phonetic symbols of Changhua Zhuolan Raoping Hakka, Hsinchu Raoping, and phonetic writing of Hakka. She also recorded audio materials and that makes speaking Hakka much easier. Learning Hakka is no longer confined to school. Two of the school’s volunteers –Yongmei Chen and Yuexian Liu –were also Mrs. Qiu’s students. Their families made great progress and they appreciated Mrs. Qiu for letting them know their identity as Raoping Hakka and taught them to speak their mother tongue. They had made it a habit to listen to Mrs. Qiu’s Hakka audio materials at home every day. Her Raoping teaching materials really offer great help to those who want to learn Raoping Hakka.

In 2006, Mrs. Qiu had written Yuanlin Railway and won Huang Qi Literary Award. In 2014, she guided Railway Students Vanguard to save antiques from the to-be-torn-down Yuanlin Railway. Yuanlin Jing Siou Station, which was rebuilt from school’s 40 year-old restroom and dormitory, was the object of the research named In Love with Yuan-Lin Railway that won platinum award in Taiwan School Cyberfair in a succession. This year, the Corp kept up the same spirit and Mrs. Qiu exerted her magical writing skills to make a beautifully written and history-filled Raoping Hakka teaching material. One of the lessons “We Are Now Arriving at Yuanlin Station” is very catchy.

During the class, Mrs. Qiu brought us to the close-by Yuanlin Jing Siou Station. We still remember that the four painted trains over there were eye catching. Mrs. Qiu moved the class to Railway Education Area. We read Yuanlin Railway text and it felt so fresh and different. It almost felt like we were conductors broadcasting in Raoping Hakka, saying “Attention please! We are now arriving at Yuanlin Station.” We recorded a short video clip, which would later on be touched up by Mrs. Qiu adding title and subtitles to it. The clip would be posted to YouTube to share with those from all over the world who want to learn Hakka. Many of the students sent the pictures and videos via Line to draw more attention to learn Hakka. Under the instruction of Mrs. Qiu, we did not only learn Hakka, but we also learned to live up to a sense of mission. Getting involved in reviving Changhua Raoping Hakka makes us proud of ourselves. This time, we learnt Hakka on the topic of transportation. The Corp members all had a great time. It is a memory that we share and cherish. Taking Mrs. Qiu’s class is an enjoyable thing. She is an expert in Hakka and in other areas. She had written nine Yuanlin and Yongjing village histories and also Yongjing Compilation, so like a trained storyteller, she often told us many local legends, history stories, customs and so on in both Taiwanese and Hakka. She made learning local languages fun and at the same time, our listening skills were enhanced. I remember the stories she told about the change of Yuanlin Railway from 1950s until today and the past of Yuanlin railway and its rail division. She also told us about the origin of many festivals, for example, the custom of Sky Broken Day, Chang E and the rabbit on Moon Festival, Yuanlin Grand Uncle, eating Zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival, the Chungyuan Festival on the seventh lunar month, Double Ninth Festival and so on. These stories are fun and listening to Mrs. Qiu telling stories really helps me Raoping Hakka promotion ability and gives my sense of mission a boost.

Also being the members of school choir, the Corp members Ningyu, Lizhuo, and Tingfeng sang Yuanlin Jing Siou Train Station written by Mrs. Qiu in Hakka. By using Raoping tone, Jing Siou tone and Taiwanese opera tone taught by Mrs. Qiu, they really sang beautifully. Mrs. Qiu broadcasted our singing and it was really a moment of glory. At the end of the class, every one said goodbye in Hakka and wished the class lasted longer. My mom and I had taken an interest in Hakka ever since we started taking Mrs. Qiu’s Hakka class in July. The whole family often goes to her class together and we practice it at home. We look forward to every of her class and after every class, we can’t wait to share what we have learnt and sing Raoping Hakka songs together. Mrs. Qiu’s We Are Now Arriving

Yuanlin Station draws us into the lyrics. We can vividly see how much Yuanlin railway had changed. When we sing the part “the train flew overhead” and see that it is now elevated, the feelings are beyond description. The 110 year-old Yuanlin railway were graphically described in Mrs. Qiu’s song and I am looking forward for Mrs. Qiu to take us to renovate Raoping Jing Siou train station.