The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the West Virginia Department of Education and Taiwan was made this week and that will create an opportunity for students to take up a second language and draw more teachers to the state. West Virginia has a teacher shortage and struggles to find local Mandarin Chinese teachers. West Virginia Department of Education Deborah Nicholson said this could make the process easier. Overall, an agreement with Taiwan will encourage more students to study foreign languages and boost West Virginia’s economic competitiveness in the future.