Hello Forumosa-ers. There are some past posts on the topic but I’m looking for contemporary information and opinions. I’m job-hunting in Taipei (for non-teaching, and thus seemingly non-available, positions) and so would like to enrol in an evening beginner’s Mandarin class, in the overly optimistic hope that I find my days filled with toil.
There don’t seem to be a heap of options here. I’ve read a bunch of bad things about NTNU MTC. Is it really that shit? People keep going on about how expensive it is, but it seems like the best bang for buck, at least per hour. Then there’s TMI, but they won’t respond to my prodding for a quote and, looking at their hours, it looks like they wouldn’t be able to offer a visa - which, being unemployed, is a desirable thing.
Are there any other options? Anybody got recent experience of MTC?
I’m a total beginner and just want to get some foundations in place.
I say you check Shih Chien University’s evening classes. I haven’t taken any classes there but applied for the fall term. Their facilities seem great and the courses are affordable.
I’m not hung up on attending a university. Theoretically, a bigger institution should have more accountability and hence higher standards, but I’ve just read a bunch of comments, many of them on this forum, that say the opposite of Shida. Any recommendations on the language-school front?
I’ve been going to Han Institute for the past 3 years. They’ll work with you in terms of times and days, and the class fees are reasonable. The teachers can give you as many or as little tests or homework as you want. All of my evening classes have been one-on-one as well. Basically private tutoring but with the benefit of a classroom with a white board, projector, etc.
To mention a few I’ve attended, I like TMI best. Also like Wenhua Daxue better than Shida or TLI. TMI for me has the best teachers, energy, teaching aids, with flexible scheduling. Han I liked with the evening one on one.
I’ve had a couple classes at each and maybe had 3 or 4 teachers at each.
How is the teacher turnover at the other schools? At Han, the longest I’ve had a teacher last is 1 year. They usually scoot off after that to join Han’s one-year teaching gig in Spain, or, more often than not, they’re teaching in between jobs or their day job gets too demanding with OT and they have to cut their losses.
Pretty much all of my teachers have been nice though, I guess it’s just a semi-transient gig.