The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) on Tuesday announced plans to expand the Taiwan Center for Mandarin Learning (TCML) program next year by establishing centers in Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.
The council held its two-day biennial International Summit on Mandarin Education in Taiwan on Tuesday and yesterday, demonstrating its commitment to advancing Mandarin-language teaching.
The OCAC has already helped set up 68 TCML branches in the US and 20 centers in 12 countries across Europe, OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said at the opening presentation on Tuesday.
Photo courtesy of the Overseas Community Affairs Council via CNA
The TCML program offers Mandarin-language instruction to adults aged 18 and older, and its centers can be found across the US and in major European cities, including London, Paris and Rome, its Web site says.
About 280 domestic and international educators attended the two-day summit, which offered keynote speeches on both days, with a focus on integrating artificial intelligence and digital tools, and incorporating Taiwanese culture into Mandarin teaching, the council said in a statement.
After the establishment of the US-Taiwan Education Initiative in 2020, the council launched the TCML program in 2021.
The San Francisco TCML has cooperated with libraries, local communities and even tech companies, Hsu said.
The center has partnered with Google to launch specialized programs to teach Mandarin to Google employees, and is in talks with Apple to set up a similar program, she said.
These partnerships would improve the image of the TCML and provide more outreach opportunities, she added.
The council has also collaborated with overseas Taiwanese schoolteachers, and this year more than 20 international youth groups visited Taiwan, she said.
The council runs events such as the Global Mandarin Speaking Competition, and the Singing Competition for Overseas Compatriot School Students and Overseas Compatriot Students Studying in Taiwan, Hsu said.
These events encourage students to read and sing in Mandarin, Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) and Hakka to gain a deeper understanding of Taiwan’s multilingual and multicultural society, she said.
The TCML also hosts cultural activities, including cooking classes, calligraphy lessons and celebrations of holidays such as the Dragon Boat Festival, and this year recommended students for the council’s English Teaching Volunteer Service Program for Overseas Youth 2025, its Web site says.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
Passengers on Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) will be required to use headphones and make phone calls in gangways under new “quiet travel” rules starting Sept. 22. THSR Chairman Shih Che (史哲) told media that THSR will run a three-month promotional campaign to ensure widespread adoption of the new rules. Those repeatedly ignoring the guidance face the potential termination of their transport contract, which can result in them getting escorted off the train, according to THSR. Shih shared his hope to cultivate an environment conducive to rest and reading for the train’s passengers, stating that these changes aim to “promote self-discipline” among passengers
RSS