Thank you for your additional information, Wei. I'm sure it helps others.

Anyway, I'm interested in Taiwanese writing and reading. I don't have enough time to spare for that at the moment, though...

Thank you for the information, Yuko!  It looks awesome.

I went to the link.  For those of you interested, it's a FREE online course (5 weeks, 3 hours per week) on Japanese pronunciation and communication provided by Waseda University, which to my knowledge is a top-notch Japanese University, kind of like a Japanese Ivy League.  It starts on Nov. 6; I'm not sure if you have to watch it live or if you can watch it later as a recording.  You need to know basic Japanese and know how to read Hiragana and Katakana.