Taipei Story · Hook of a Book · Radar

Lily's Summer in Taipei1:10 – 4:07

1:10

Let me read you a summary of Taipei Story right now.

1:13

Lily is a freshman in college, and she is off to Taipei, Taiwan for a very intense language learning program for the summer.

1:21

She's gonna be studying Chinese, and she's Chinese American, and the program is filled with students like her that want to connect with their culture a little bit better.

1:28

It's not going to be easy.

1:30

It's known for being a very difficult program.

1:32

You can't use any English at all, and you really have to get super comfortable with your Mandarin.

1:37

Initially, the program seems great.

1:39

Her classes are interesting, she's friends with her roommate, and there's just a whole city to explore before her.

1:45

Then things start going south very, very quickly.

1:48

Classes become super intense and super difficult, and Lily begins struggling trying to keep up.

1:53

She's not getting along with her roommate as well as she used to anymore, and they begin to have more and more issues.

1:59

Then Lily becomes the talk of the program when she goes on a trip to some hot springs with a guy, and some rumors get slightly out of hand.

2:06

All of a sudden, Lily's picture perfect summer in Taipei is beginning to unravel beneath her fingertips, and she doesn't know how she can stop this before it becomes unbearable.

2:16

And then the unthinkable happens.

2:18

Lily finds out from her mother that her grandfather has passed away.

2:22

Her grandparents were part of the reason Lily was even learning Chinese in the first place using this program.

2:27

She's never been able to fully connect with them like she wanted to.

2:31

Mandarin was going to help her do that, and now that he's gone, she doesn't know what she's going to do.

2:35

Lily is crushed by this news.

2:37

She begins inquiring about her family history, trying to figure out anything she can learn about her grandfather.

2:43

She begins to learn some pretty shocking information about him, stuff that he's never really talked about from his grueling adolescence.

2:50

But as she connects with her grandfather through his memory, she has to grapple with the fact that he isn't here anymore, and he's not coming back.

2:58

Will Lily's experience in this program eventually help her connect with a side of her family that she never fully understood? [upbeat music] R.F.

3:07

Kuang is a writer who's known for her study of linguistics.

3:11

She wrote Babel, which is a very famous book, and it's actually the only book of hers that I haven't read, but I think that book is all about language, and I think that's really interesting.

Lily's Summer in Taipei1:10 – 4:07

1:10

Let me read you a summary of Taipei Story right now.

1:13

Lily is a freshman in college, and she is off to Taipei, Taiwan for a very intense language learning program for the summer.

1:21

She's gonna be studying Chinese, and she's Chinese American, and the program is filled with students like her that want to connect with their culture a little bit better.

1:28

It's not going to be easy.

1:30

It's known for being a very difficult program.

1:32

You can't use any English at all, and you really have to get super comfortable with your Mandarin.

1:37

Initially, the program seems great.

1:39

Her classes are interesting, she's friends with her roommate, and there's just a whole city to explore before her.

1:45

Then things start going south very, very quickly.

1:48

Classes become super intense and super difficult, and Lily begins struggling trying to keep up.

1:53

She's not getting along with her roommate as well as she used to anymore, and they begin to have more and more issues.

1:59

Then Lily becomes the talk of the program when she goes on a trip to some hot springs with a guy, and some rumors get slightly out of hand.

2:06

All of a sudden, Lily's picture perfect summer in Taipei is beginning to unravel beneath her fingertips, and she doesn't know how she can stop this before it becomes unbearable.

2:16

And then the unthinkable happens.

2:18

Lily finds out from her mother that her grandfather has passed away.

2:22

Her grandparents were part of the reason Lily was even learning Chinese in the first place using this program.

2:27

She's never been able to fully connect with them like she wanted to.

2:31

Mandarin was going to help her do that, and now that he's gone, she doesn't know what she's going to do.

2:35

Lily is crushed by this news.

2:37

She begins inquiring about her family history, trying to figure out anything she can learn about her grandfather.

2:43

She begins to learn some pretty shocking information about him, stuff that he's never really talked about from his grueling adolescence.

2:50

But as she connects with her grandfather through his memory, she has to grapple with the fact that he isn't here anymore, and he's not coming back.

2:58

Will Lily's experience in this program eventually help her connect with a side of her family that she never fully understood? [upbeat music] R.F.

3:07

Kuang is a writer who's known for her study of linguistics.

3:11

She wrote Babel, which is a very famous book, and it's actually the only book of hers that I haven't read, but I think that book is all about language, and I think that's really interesting.