Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) A free Mandarin program designed to help migrant workers assimilate more easily into Taiwan society, will kick off in Taoyuan in early March, according to a post on the official website of Taoyuan Migrant Workers Service Center under the city government's department of labor Wednesday.

The service center's "Mandarin Class" will begin on March 6 and run for eight weeks with classes held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. every Sunday until April 24. It will focus on language used in the workplace and other general conversation skills with the aim of providing a basic grounding in conversational Mandarin, an official at the center confirmed to CNA Thursday.

The basic-level course will cater to Indonesian, Vietnamese, Filipino and Thai workers who live in Taoyuan, and will be split into two groups of around 20-30 students, with those from Thailand and Indonesia in one group, and those from the Philippines and Vietnam in the other, the service center said.

The students will be divided into groups so translators can help translate the instructions into their mother tongues if needed, the service center said.

When the eight-week course ends, a simple ceremony will be held the following week to award the students certificates for completing the program, the service center added.

The free language course is aimed at breaking down language barriers so migrant workers can better communicate with their colleagues and employers and assimilate more easily into Taiwan society, the service center said.

Registration has already begun for the classes, which will be held at New Immigrant Culture Hall in Taoyuan.

In addition to the Mandarin classes, the service center will also hold a series of free dance classes and arts and crafts activities on Sundays in March, and the first Sunday in April from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

According to the service center, there will be a street dance class on March 6, 3D flower jelly making on March 13, paper flower art on March 20, Balloon art on March 27, and Hakka textile dyeing on April 3.

Migrant workers are encouraged to enroll for the activities, which will have a maximum of about 15 students per class, the service center said.

As of the end of 2021, there were 113,247 foreign migrant workers in Taoyuan, 37,719 from Vietnam, 32,881 from the Philippines, 25,770 from Indonesia, and 16,877 from Thailand, according to Ministry of Labor statistics.