Mandarin student turned Italian teacher makes a home in Taiwan

Mandarin student turned Italian teacher makes a home in Taiwan

2024-06-13

Giovanni Patuelli moved to Taiwan from Italy nearly eight years ago to study Chinese. At first, he came simply as a student, but he ended up building a life here. Now he teaches Italian at a cram school and has made friends with many of his students. He has also become a popular content creator by making videos introducing Italian food and culture.

On a weekend morning in the classroom, Giovanni Patuelli says a phrase in Italian and his student repeats after him. After holding one-on-one classes every other week, his student has already mastered basic Italian speaking and listening.

Huang Ying-tzu
Student
Giovanni is great at teaching vocabulary. He can explain why two words go together so well. Italian has a lot of adjectives that are used metaphorically, but he breaks it down so you can understand it. It’s fun and helps you remember the word.

After Patuelli moved to Taiwan from Italy, he started teaching Italian. Now nearly eight years later, he has become friends with many of his students.

Giovanni Patuelli
Italian teacher
Being a teacher is quite fun. Even though as a language teacher I usually teach the same content every day, it’s with different people each time. Maybe through my class, they could even become Italian! They could find an Italian husband or work in Italy.

While he was at university in Italy, Patuelli decided to take a break and move to Taiwan to study Mandarin. His journey began after joining National Taiwan Normal University’s Chinese department.

Giovanni Patuelli
Italian teacher
I think Chinese is the hardest language and I wanted to challenge myself, so I came to Taiwan to study Chinese. I had a neighbor whose mother is Taiwanese and father is Italian. We grew up together, so I knew about Taiwan since I was little. When I decided to study Chinese, I knew Taiwan was the place to go.

In addition to teaching Italian in videos, Patuelli also shoots, edits and produces short videos about Italian culture. They have received positive feedback and showcase people’s friendliness and enthusiasm toward him.

Giovanni Patuelli
Italian teacher
Last year I got in a scooter accident and broke my leg. That was so sudden and I don’t have any family in Taiwan. But I realized, my friends here are like my family. I have lived in Taipei longer than any other city, so it really has become my home.

Patuelli may have moved away from his hometown, but Taiwan has been his home for a while. He hopes to get his permanent residency soon.

This story was provided by the program "We Are Family"
Funded by New Immigrant Development Fund

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呂文喬來臺八年學中文也開課教義大利文

2024-06-13

來自義大利的呂文喬，只是想來臺灣學中文，因為感受到臺灣人的熱情，讓他一待就是將近八個年頭。現在呂文喬不只在補習班，教導義大利文，和不少學員成為好朋友，他也經營自媒體，拍攝義大利美食或文化等相關內容，累積不少點閱率。

假日上午外語補習班的教室，呂文喬講一句義大利文，學員複誦一遍，兩人每兩週一次一對一教學，已經讓學員達到聽和說的基本門檻。

[[學員黃盈慈]]
“他很會詞彙學那樣的東西，可以告訴你兩個字組合在一起，為什麼要這樣組，因為義大利文有很多形容詞部分，用隱喻暗喻形容一個字，他就有辦法分解之後，讓你說喔，原來那麼好玩，讓你默默把這個字記得。”

義大利新住民呂文喬來臺灣以後，就開課教義大利文，將近八年來，已經和不少學員成為好朋友。

[[義大利新住民呂文喬]]
“當老師滿好玩的工作，雖然教語言每天都會教，一樣的東西，一樣的內容，但是每次都會面對不一樣的人，可能經過我的課，他們可以變成義大利人，去拿護照找到老公，或在義大利找到工作。”

原本在義大利大學念書，呂文喬卻決定休學，來臺灣學中文，考上師大華語系，展開另一段旅程。

[[義大利新住民呂文喬]]
“我覺得中文是最難的語言所以我要來挑戰，所以來臺灣學中文。我有一個鄰居，他媽媽是臺灣人，爸爸是義大利人，我們一起長大，所以我從小就知道臺灣這個地方，我很想去臺灣，所以確定學中文一定是來臺灣。”

影片教義大利文之餘，呂文喬也搭上短影音熱潮，自己拍攝剪輯製作一系列義大利相關內容的影片，獲得不錯的迴響，也感受到人們對他的友善與熱情。

[[義大利新住民呂文喬]]
“去年我騎摩托車出車禍了、腿斷掉了，那時候滿突然，在臺灣沒有甚麼家人，我發現身邊的人，可以當作我的家人。目前臺灣是臺北是我住過最久的城市，所以我覺得還是很像我的家，慢慢變成我的家。”

離鄉背井的呂文喬，早已把臺灣當作家，也盼望早日拿到永久居留證。

以上內容由《我們一家人》節目提供內政部移民署監製

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