A free Mandarin-learning program designed to help migrant workers assimilate more easily is to be launched in Taoyuan early next month, the Taoyuan Migrant Workers Service Center announced on Wednesday.
The service center’s Mandarin program is to begin on March 6 and run for eight weeks with classes from 10am to midday every Sunday until April 24.
The program is to focus on language used in the workplace and other general conversation skills, aiming to provide basic knowledge of conversational Mandarin, an official at the center said on Thursday.
The basic-level course would cater to Indonesian, Vietnamese, Philippine and Thai workers who live in Taoyuan, and would split participants into two groups of about 20 to 30 students, with those from Thailand and Indonesia in one group, and those from the Philippines and Vietnam in the other, said the center, which is run by the Taoyuan Labor Bureau.
Splitting students into groups according to nationality would enable teaching staff to translate the instructions into their native languages if needed, it said.
When the eight-week course ends, a small ceremony would be held the following week to award the students certificates for completing the program, it added.
The free course is aimed at breaking down language barriers so that migrant workers can better communicate with their colleagues and employers, and assimilate more easily into Taiwanese society, it said.
Registration has begun for the classes, which are to be held at the city’s New Immigrant Culture Hall, the center said.
In addition to the language classes, the center is also to present a series of free dance classes, and arts and crafts activities on Sundays in March and the first Sunday in April from 1pm to 3pm, it said.
A street dance class is to be held on March 6, a 3D flower jelly-making class on March 13, a paper flower art class on March 20, a balloon art class on March 27 and a Hakka textile dyeing class on April 3, it said.
Migrant workers are encouraged to enroll for the activities, as participation is limited to about 15 students per class, the center said.
As of the end of last year, there were 113,247 migrant workers in Taoyuan — 37,719 from Vietnam, 32,881 from the Philippines, 25,770 from Indonesia and 16,877 from Thailand, Ministry of Labor data showed.
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