Latest News | Office of Global Mandarin Education

Organization：Department of International and Cross-strait Education According to the “Ethnologue: Languages of the World” website, there are now 1.1 billion Chinese users in the world, roughly 1/7 of the world’s population, and more and more people are learning Chinese. “Chinese Fever” has been spreading like wild fire in the past decade, and in response, the Ministry of Education and National Taiwan University have created a new online course for learning Chinese: “Learning Chinese: Start from Scratch”. The course is being offered on Coursera, the largest MOOCs platform in the world (Website: https://www.coursera.org/learn/learn-chinese-mandarin), and it will be free for all learners. It can also be used by educators as a supplementary teaching resource.  The course is designed for beginner-level learners of Chinese and spans six weeks. Everyday scenarios and conversations, and videos, photos, animation, and comics are used throughout the course to enhance memorization and understanding.  Features: Learners only hear Chinese: All the course videos are completely in Chinese. The videos present typical real-life scenarios and everyday conversations with a step-by-step approach, to help learners understand the contexts. BOPPPS model: There is a 40-minute video and quiz each week, designed to help effective learning. The videos incorporate BOPPPS, a popular lesson planning framework. Gamification: The course designers worked with PaGamO—a company that has won the Reimagine Education award—to incorporate game-related components into the course, to enhance learner motivation and enjoyment.  The course starts on Coursera on August 31 and it will then be repeated every six weeks. Learners can register on Coursera using their e-mail or Facebook account from August 20. Anyone is welcome to register at any time. The Digital Learning Center of National Taiwan University will hold several workshops for educators on ways to use this online course. Please visit its website for more details. (https://www.dlc.ntu.edu.tw/)

According to the statistics of Ethnology, Mandarin users in the world have reached 11 million, accounting for 1/7 of world population. In order to encourage foreigners to learn Mandarin in Taiwan, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has invited the Ministry of Transportation and Communication’s Tourism Bureau, and the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs to be co-organizers to promote the “Mandarin On-the-Go in Taiwan” program, and draw up complementary measures for foreigners learning Mandarin in Taiwan. MOE trains more than 400 Mandarin teachers to teach overseas, including in India, the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and dozens of other countries. Foreigners can feel an open minded academic atmosphere and experience the beauty of Chinese culture and traditional characters. In addition to this, MOE cooperates with professional Mandarin teachers and has developed the “Mandarin 101” online learning tool to meet the needs of foreigners temporarily staying in Taiwan. Origin of Mandarin Promotion by MOE According to Andy Cheu-An Bi, the Director General of the Department of International and Cross-strait Education, Ministry of Education, promotion of Mandarin teaching is based on the global requirements of Mandarin education. The ”Eight-year Chinese Language Education Promotion” was planned and has been executed since 2013, integrating resources from different fields and related institutions and promoting it in diverse ways, such as the “Mandarin On-the-Go in Taiwan” program which was launched by MOE, which integrated resources of tourism and Mandarin teaching and developed a brand new learning model. Andy Cheu-An Bi pointed out that the advantage of learning Mandarin in Taiwan is that the quality can be ensured, and you can experience the beauty of Chinese culture and traditional characters. For example, the word “door” will lose its imagery if written in simplified characters, and we only know how to “love” unless we have a “heart”. He mentioned that reason for Mandarin fever happening among foreigners is their desire to learn about Chinese culture. We can show them our culture through festivals and tourism and these will make learning more interesting. “Working with domestic experts to develop an online mandarin learning course is for the purpose of building a complete learning system. We are following the wave of globalization, and TOCFL, The Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language in Taiwan just gained recognition by the Hungary Language Centre and Vietnam Government.” Regarding to globalization of Taiwan’s Mandarin, said Andy Bi, these are all big steps for study and employment. In the future, MOE will integrate an information platform and make use of online learning, online influencer marketing, culture promotion, and combining resources of overseas education fairs to catch people’s eyes. “Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth.” As the Principal of Leverage said, MOE hopes the export and import of Mandarin education can spend less effort while achieving more results.

  Professor Zhang has been teaching Mandarin for almost 20 years. He said that in the past, learning Mandarin was a difficult task for foreign students, especially the characters and pronunciation.   Professor Zhang has been teaching Mandarin for almost 20 years. He said that in the past, learning Mandarin was a difficult task for foreign students, especially the characters and pronunciation. Mandarin 101 helps them to learn Basic Survival Language easier.   The majority of Taiwan’s foreign students have a keen interest in the history and art culture of Taiwan’s traditional characters. Their purpose of learning Mandarin is beyond use for communication, but also for passing down culture. Professor Zhang said that the open-minded academic environment of Taiwan is safer for them to discuss and do research.   “Mandarin is a product of wisdom from Chinese’s 5000 years of history. It’s difficult to sum up in a word or master the language within a short stay. Mandarin 101 was born to solve this.” Professor Zhang said bluntly. This material is suitable for beginners, and foreigners can learn 66 grammar points, 372 vocabulary, and 624 words in a short period. Self-recommendation, ordering food, asking for help, directions, accommodation, and hospitality. In the past, foreigners thought that a lot of vocabulary had to be learned before communicating with others. Mandarin 101 teaches them Basic Survival Language.   Currently, Mandarin 101 has launched a beta version in universities in Japan, the Philippines, and other countries, Professor Zhang hopes that it can be put into use after the material is completed. After finishing the foundational learning, it can be used according to different professions and fields.

Taipei, Taiwan -- The Ministry of Education (MOE) announced the launch of Huayu 101, a new online Mandarin learning initiative, at the end of May. This is one of several to attract and motivate more young people to learn Mandarin in Taiwan. Huayu 101 taps into learners’ interest in Taiwan and its culture. The designer of Huayu 101, Professor Chang Yuhsin from the University of Taipei, has been teaching Mandarin for more than 20 years. He and his team collected key basic survival phrases that people can immediately use, covering topics such as accommodation, shopping, ordering food, transport, and getting emergency help. Foreign students and travelers will find the material really useful in Taiwan and other Mandarin-speaking regions. The MOE worked with Logan D. Beck, a YouTube enthusiast, to produce two videos about Taiwan’s culture and learning Mandarin: Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage, and Taiwan Night Market Street Food. The first video drew 50,000 views the night it was launched and it’s been watched more than 150,000 times since. Beck and a popular rice cake seller, Mr. Liu, attended the launch and showed some Huayu 101 video footage featuring them in a scene set in a night market.   The global demand for Chinese language education led to the planning and implementation of the Eight-year Chinese Language Education Promotion Plan (2013–2020). Taiwan’s Chinese language education sector has been vigorously marketing itself internationally, and the Office of Global Mandarin Education (OGME) was set up to integrate the Chinese language education resources in Taiwan. Another exciting initiative that similarly integrates Taiwan’s tourism resources and language learning resources is Mandarin On-the-Go. The MOE worked with the Ministry of Transportation and Communication Tourism Bureau, and the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs to create this new study-tour model. You can find lots of information about both of these initiatives on the OGME website: https://ogme.edu.tw/Home/tw   Contact details: Office of Global Mandarin Education OGME (OGME) Chi Kuo-Ning Tel No: +886-2-2391-1368 ext.1360 Email: c1360@csd.org.tw  

The creator of famous Tainan delicacy, Nuofu (right), and the youtuber, Logan D. Beck (middle), represent content of the lesson in "Mandarin 101."   Ministry of Education (MOE) held “Mandarin 101, Take Me to the World” press conference Thursday, a brand new online Mandarin learning model would be published, including “Mandarin 101” online learning material. MOE has also worked with a youtuber to recommend Taiwan’s culture and content of Mandarin learning.  Professor Zhang Yu-Xi from University of Taipei is invited to design “Mandarin 101” online learning material for short-term stayer. These materials are the only and the first teaching material in Taiwan chosen as supporting material by United Nation. “Mandarin 101” is a learning material of Basic Survival Language, the content of first issue includes accommodation, shopping, food ordering, traffic, emergency help, etc. It’s suitable for foreign students and travelers and will be helpful to Mandarin learners using in Mandarin usage area such as Singapore and Hong Kong. He also mentioned on the press conference that in Japan and the Philippines, Mandarin 101 has been adapted.  In order to attract attention of young people and motivate desire of learning Mandarin in Taiwan, MOE works with Logan D. Beck, who is a hotshot youtuber and also married with a Taiwanese girl one year ago, to produce 2 videos of promoting Mandarin teaching and Taiwan’s culture. The first video, “Dajia Matsu Pilgrimage” reached 50,000 views within a night and it’s over 150,000 hits now.  And in the second video, Logan tastes all kind of traditional delicacies in Changhua, and teaches the viewers how to pronounce those delicious snacks in Mandarin. Currently, Logan is studying for a bachelor of Business Administration at National Changhua University of Education and still producing videos to recommend and promote Taiwan to the world through Youtube. According to Tourism Bureau, there are more than 10 million people visiting Taiwan every year, and with this app, foreigner can learn Mandarin in an easy attitude when shopping and visiting tourism spots. Bi Cheu-An, the director general of Department of International and Cross-strait Education, also wished that through this app and the Mandarin program, the talented people all around the world can stay in Taiwan for employment or education.   Bi Cheu-An, the director general of Department of International and Cross-strait Education.   In the future, MOE will integrate information platform and make use of online learning, online influncer marketing, culture promotion, combining resources of overseas education fairs to catch people’s eyes, hoping that export and import of Mandarin education can spend less effort while achieving more results. Beside this, MOE found Office of Global Mandarin Education in 2016 to promote Mandarin and has worked with Tourism Bureau of Ministry of Transportation and communications since 2017. They launched “Mandarin On-the-Go” program to integrate resources of tourism and Mandarin teaching and developed brand new learning model.   More related information: https://ogme.edu.tw/Home/tw  

1. Background: Cross-sector integration activities for Chinese language education are organized under the MOE's Project for Establishing the Office of Global Mandarin Education and Promoting Mandarin Education, bringing together people involved in the development of the Chinese language industry for resource integration and cross-sector exchange. 2. Purpose: To create new value for Chinese language education through cross-industry vertical/horizontal integration and information sharing. To set examples that highlight the cooperation between Chinese language education institutions, and copy the cooperation model in industries related to Chinese language education. To immediately share government information, combine resources through an alliance, and create synergistic effects on a supply/demand platform. 3. Subjects: Representatives of Chinese language centers/departments and Chinese language related industries.   Please click the following link for details on meeting topics and the agenda: Activity and registration website: https://ogme.edu.tw/Home/news_detail/430