TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Culture is inviting performing arts groups to apply by Dec. 12 for a funding program to create or perform shows in Taiwan’s national languages, per CNA.

The MOC said Monday the program, first launched in 2023, helps artists keep national languages alive through theater, music, and dance. It has initially focused on Taiwanese and will expand to additional languages at risk of fading.

Each team must work with a language expert to ensure accurate pronunciation and cultural context, the ministry said. Groups are also asked to add audience-friendly tools such as subtitles or brief explanations to make performances easier to follow.

Since its launch, the program has supported nearly 200 groups, staged about 630 performances, and drawn roughly 150,000 attendees, according to the report.

Officials said the goal is to bring Taiwan’s languages back into daily life by letting people hear and experience them on stage.

Taiwan recognizes more than 20 national languages, including Taiwanese Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, and 16 Indigenous tongues. Taiwanese Mandarin remains the most widely spoken, while the use of Taiwanese is shrinking among younger generations.

Taiwanese is more widely used in daily life in southern Taiwan than in the north. Kaohsiung has about 1.19 million Taiwanese speakers while Tainan has about 948,000, per Storm Media.