The Taiwan Center for Mandarin Learning (TCML) of the Taiwanese American Center of Northern California (TAC) held a Mid-Autumn Festival celebration at Google’s Mountain View headquarters on September 23. The event featured a range of activities, including snow-skin mooncake making, pomelo hat making, traditional riddles, and festival bingo, giving participants an opportunity to experience Taiwanese traditions while practicing Mandarin.

The activities were tailored to different levels of Mandarin proficiency. The Business Mandarin and Advanced Mandarin classes collaborated on a mooncake-making session in a cafeteria at Google’s Mountain View headquarters, led by teachers Hsin-Ling Tsai and Rita Yeh. Students made snow-skin mooncakes with purple sweet potato, sweet potato, and mung bean fillings. For Joseph Lewis, a student in the Advanced Mandarin class, it was his first time making mooncakes. He said he enjoyed the experience and also brought Kuai Kuai, a popular Taiwanese corn snack, to share with his teachers and classmates.

Teachers Tsai and Yeh said that many of their students have developed strong Mandarin speaking skills. Incorporating traditional festivals into the curriculum gives students opportunities to practice Mandarin in a practical setting while learning about Taiwanese customs and daily life. The Intermediate-Advanced class, led by Chia-Ling Yeh, also made snow-skin mooncakes and explored Mandarin vocabulary and characters through traditional riddles.

In the Intermediate class, teacher Sofia Jia introduced students to a Taiwanese Mid-Autumn Festival tradition of making pomelo hats. Students used pomelo peels to create their own hats while practicing Mandarin. 

Beginning Mandarin students, led by teacher Showjean Wu, learned about the Mid-Autumn Festival through Taiwanese pineapple cakes, the traditional story of “Chang’e Flying to the Moon,” and a festival bingo game, building vocabulary related to the Mid-Autumn Festival through food, stories, and games.

The sixth cohort of the TAC TCML Google Mandarin Program began on September 2, with 57 Googlers enrolled across five levels: Beginning, Intermediate, Intermediate-Advanced, Advanced, and Business Mandarin. The program provides Mandarin instruction tailored to technology professionals in Silicon Valley. 

TAC TCML said cultural activities are an integral part of its Mandarin curriculum. By bringing language instruction and Taiwanese traditions into the workplace, the program provides Googlers with opportunities to develop their Mandarin skills while learning more about Taiwan’s culture. TAC TCML and Google began their collaboration in 2024, and the ongoing program continues to expand opportunities for Mandarin education and cultural exchange within Silicon Valley’s technology community.

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