With support from two Taiwanese government organizations, the city of Fremont, California, began offering free Mandarin language training courses to its city employees on Sept. 19.

The course is part of a collaboration between the Taiwanese government and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). It is the first Mandarin training program provided by Taiwan to a local government in Northern California, according to Deputy Director Chu Yung-chang of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in San Francisco.

The two Taiwanese organizations supporting the classes are the San Francisco TECO and the Taiwan Overseas Community Affairs Council.

Taiwan and AIT began cooperating on the Taiwan-U.S. Education Initiative in June 2021. Under this initiative, the Overseas Community Affairs Council has been promoting the establishment of “Taiwan Centers for Mandarin Learning” (TCML) across the United States.

These centers are designed to support overseas Chinese schools and create dedicated learning centers that promote adult Mandarin education with a focus on Taiwanese culture. The Mandarin training course offered to Fremont city employees is being implemented by I Fly Young Chinese School in the city.

The opening ceremony for the course was held at the school on the evening of Sept. 19 and was hosted by Fremont City Councilmember Yang Shao.

At the ceremony, Fremont City Manager Karena McGee Shackelford expressed her gratitude to the school and the Taiwanese government for offering the class. She said the innovative Mandarin course, specifically designed for municipal staff, will enable employees to apply their language skills in the workplace and better serve the city residents.

Deputy Director Chu Yung-chang of the San Francisco TECO stated at the ceremony that, in a city like Fremont with a large Chinese population, the courses not only improve city employees’ language skills but also help them build trust and strong relationships with the Mandarin-speaking community.

Director Sophia Chuang of the Overseas Community Affairs Council shared that under the Taiwan-U.S. Education Initiative, 84 TCMLs have been established globally, with 8 in Northern California and 1 in Fremont. She was delighted to facilitate the collaboration between a TCML and the Fremont city government, providing high-quality Mandarin courses and an opportunity to experience Taiwanese culture.

Mark Hungerford, who works in the city planning department and is a participant in the class, told The Epoch Times that he learned about the course through an email sent by the city government to all employees. Given Fremont’s large Chinese and Taiwanese population, he felt that the skills learned in the course would help him better serve Mandarin-speaking residents and customers.

He was also excited because his wife is Taiwanese and his children are bilingual, so he signed up for the course as soon as he heard about it.

Israel Comonfort, who works as Fremont’s community development code enforcement agent, also learned about the course through an email and immediately signed up. He mentioned that he had studied Mandarin Chinese for several years in high school and had always been interested in the language. He believes the course will further enhance his language skills and improve his work performance.

The Epoch Times also learned from Chuang, the director of Taiwan’s Overseas Community Affairs Council, that through the TCML program, the council offers a variety of Taiwanese cultural activities, allowing overseas Mandarin-speaking communities to discover the beauty of Taiwanese culture.

This year, the TCML in Northern California has held four Taiwanese cultural events: the “Taiwan Qingming and Cold Food Festival Culture” in April, the “Taiwan Dragon Boat Festival Foods and Culture” in May, the “Taiwan Traditional Foods and Toys Culture Tour” in July, and the “Taiwan Mid-Autumn Festival Foods and Culture” in September.

Chuang said these cultural tours allow TCML students and their families to experience traditional culture while enhancing their enjoyment of learning Mandarin and deepening the understanding of Taiwanese culture among teachers and students in mainstream U.S. schools.