On Tuesday, January 8, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and sponsor, the Taipei Economic & Cultural Office (TECO), presented the first in a series of free Chinese Mandarin lessons at Brooklyn Borough Hall. The classes, which are the first ever language programs offered at Borough Hall, will take place every Tuesday through February 19.

The lessons are the brainchild of TECO education director CJ Liu and will be taught by Li-Lei Liu, who has experience teaching Mandarin in New York and Brooklyn. TECO director David Chien says providing free Mandarin lessons reflects TECO’s mission of promoting international cultural exchange, an opportunity to facilitate one-on-one communication and understanding.

BP Markowitz points out that Mandarin is a language of the future and a useful tool for those who want to do business with Chinese speakers, the annual profits from which can be as high as $80 billion U.S. dollars. Brooklyn, with three Chinatowns, has the fourth largest Chinese population in the nation—and rapidly growing.