With over half a million dedicated followers; Barack Obama has no need to worry about the popularity of his Google+ account. However, the all-American President faces a very international problem – he cannot understand the comments left by one of his biggest groups of followers.
Since last week, the President has been unexpectedly graced with thousands of comments from Chinese citizens in what some are calling the "Occupy Obama" movement.
While many of the comments are good natured and fun – including many Chinese citizens trying their luck asking the President to visit their homes in China – it appears some are a little more serious.
These include some slightly more awkward requests which, while Obama cannot grant, citizens would appreciate him reading and understanding.
Appearing to be both adored and trusted by his International friends – is it time for him to further his international relations by learning the Mandarin language?
iMandarin, one of the country’s biggest Chinese Education Institutes says a big confident "Dui." In fact, they are so keen for the President to learn Mandarin that they’re challenging him to jump on the bandwagon and take advantage of a free Chinese course they are offering to him.
“Sasha Obama recently made the headlines after speaking with China’s President Hu Jinato in native Chinese. We’re now inviting Obama to start learning Chinese language skills so he can do the same. In fact, we’ll make the official offer to him via Google+ today,” says Frank Zhu, Chief Operating Officer of iMandarin.
Their offer to Mr. Obama is simple – commit to the challenge and they’ll provide 12 months of free Chinese classes to him and a 3-month crash course to his wider White House staff.
“We are offering this course to not just allow him to understand the Chinese comments on his Google+ profile, but to also improve his international relations by communicating with our nation in its mother tongue,” adds Zhu.
Ariel Shi, a veteran Chinese teacher and part of the iMandarin team, also believes the offer is important:
“Due to his prestige and grandeur, Mr. Obama should only know how to learn Chinese from the best. We are certified by the Education Berea and were recently endorsed by Lonely Planet guides” she says.
With many tempting offers coming his way each day, will Mr. Obama see this one as something to Jiao (shout) about?!