Giana Mae NUNCIO

A graduate from Ateneo de Manila University with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry with Materials Science and Engineering, I am innately curious about the workings of the world. Aside from being an advocate of science and health, I am also interested in various languages and cultures, particularly in East Asia and Southeast Asia. I deeply appreciate my Chinese-Filipino heritage and am enthusiastic in preserving and documenting the use of Hokkien in the Philippines in hopes of preventing its loss in the future generations. Growing up, learning Chinese meant learning only Mandarin and I found it such a pity that Hokkien, the language integral to the Chinese-Filipino community, was not taught as well. Since Philippine Hokkien was passed on from generation to generation verbally, the lack of published resources and standardization make it difficult to learn for a non-native speaker. I work to overcome this challenge and make the language more accessible for those interested to reconnect to their roots or to learn a new language.