Currently based in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Salim Yuhe Fang is a restaurant manager, freelance translator, writer, and language teacher from Taiwan.

/Education/

Main fields of interest: sociolinguistics, second language acquisition, and Arabic studies.

Master of Philosophy in Middle East Studies,
University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. 2019 - 2022.

Bachelor of Arts in Arabic Language and Culture,
National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan. 2013 - 2018.

Arabic Language and Islamic Civilization,
Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait. 2015 - 2016.

/Conference Presentation/

ENTA-4 at the University of Oslo, European Network for Teaching Arabic, December 2022. «Diglossic Curriculum: An Investigation Into the Exclusion of Spoken Arabic Varieties and the Students’ Learning Outcome of National Chengchi University, Taiwan»

See abstract

Diglossia, whether considered as an empirical fact or an ideological concept, is a dominant socio-linguistic phenomenon in the Arabic-speaking regions and thus has a multi-layered impact on Arabic teaching strategies. As university programs worldwide have provided Modern Standard Arabic and Spoken Arabic varieties in their Arabic programs, the Department of Arabic Language and Culture of National Chengchi University, Taiwan, includes only Modern Standard Arabic in its undergraduate program. The research treats the exclusion of Spoken Arabic varieties from the curriculum as the higher education institution’s reaction to Arabic diglossia. Similarly, the students’ learning outcomes at the university are discussed as results of in/direct effects of Arabic diglossia through the curriculum, in joint with the learners’ empirical understanding of the socio-linguistic realities in the Arabic-speaking regions. By interviewing the learners who have attended the Arabic program and traveled to an Arabic-speaking country as well as the teacher who participated in the initial linguistic training of these students, the thesis investigates how diglossia affects the curriculum’s instructing approaches and students’ learning outcomes. The findings of the research aim to (1) provide a profound understanding of how the Arabic program has been designed in response to Arabic diglossia in the unique context of Taiwanese society, (2) discuss the benefits and disadvantages of excluding Spoken Arabic varieties.

/Publication/

Main fields of interest: Culture, food, the Middle East, language, emigration, immigration and migration.

Ten Myths About Israel, Ilan Pappé,
Translation: Traditional Chinese edition. 2022.

”COVID-19 in Norway”, World View Magazine, Yuhe (pen name),
14th March 2020. Full text (in Chinese)

”Traveling Abroad Into Prisons”, World View Magazine, Yuhe (pen name),
3rd August 2020. Full text (in Chinese)

/Experience/

Language

Lecturer, Middle Eastern and Islamic cultural topics and Arabic,
New Taipei Municipal Hsin Tien Senior High School, Aug 2017 - Jun 2019

Teacher, Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese,
Taiwan International Workers' Association, Aug 2013 - May 2019

Contracted Translator,
The Affairs, Mar - Oct 2018

In-House Translator,
Portico Media, Jun 2017 - Feb 2018

Food and Beverage

Co-Founder,
PÁ - Smaken av Taiwan, Sep 2020 -

Bartender / Bar Manager (temporary/vikar) / Assistant Bar Manager
Svalbar Pub, May 2022 - / May 2023 - / November 2023 - April 2025

Waiter / Restaurant Manager
Restaurant Polfareren, May 2025 - / October 2025 - June 2026