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.
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