I am a professor in South Korea (but US/Canadian citizens). We originally intended to come to Taiwan for the 2021-2022 school year, as I have a research sabbatical. I will be affiliated with NTU and doing research, as well as refreshing my very rusty Chinese skills. Of course, with the pandemic now it is very hard to plan, and so now I am planning to shorten our stay and come later, likely February 2022 through the summer.
My daughter is 9 and in 4th grade. She attended a Chinese immersion school (Taiwanese curriculum) here in Korea from kindergarten through the first semester of 4th grade. By the time we are in Taiwan she will have been out of Chinese school (in Korean public school) for almost a year, but we are doing some online tutoring and are hoping that will help her not to forget too much of the Chinese she knows.
I have searched these forums and asked questions on other forums and Facebook groups, but am still having a hard time figuring out what the best option would be for this kind of short stay. I think 6 months is enough to really improve my daughter’s Chinese, and we will continue coming to Taiwan in the long Korean winter breaks to maintain. But she’s not a little kid anymore–will be 10 in August–and the social aspect is important too. A really strict and competitive academic environment will probably not be good for her. I saw recommendations for the Taipei New World Montessori School, as well Waldorf schools. For a short stay I think we can afford this kind of private school. However, I am concerned that the amount of Chinese listening and speaking she would do at these schools would be minimal. A truly bilingual Chinese-English school would be best. Or even all Chinese but more experimental (forest schools, etc.).
Thanks for any advice! I also was planning to study Chinese intensively at ICLP on the NTU campus, but since the affiliation itself doesn’t require that I am on campus or even in Taipei at all times, I could conceivably also consider schools (and living) in other parts of Taiwan too.
you don’t need to worry about it for Taiwanese elementary school, especially for 1st to 3rd grades. Imo, public school would be the best if she already knows some mandarin and it is only for 6 months.
I’m assuming you will get ARC for the 6 months via your affiliation to NTU.
It seems that I will get the ARC through my affiliation with NTU, but as it’s not a paid position, my husband and daughter will not get visas. So that is where I was confused (and also a big reason why I am postposing the trip, as tourist visas are not currently available). I was also thinking of trying to apply for a Gold Card due to this, and because we may be in Taiwan at least a few months each year in the future. But I’m not sure if it really applies to me due to being paid in Korea.
they should get their ARC as your dependants. You sponsor their residency. When you will apply for your resident visa, you should apply for theirs to gather as your dependants at the same time. Without her ARC, your daughter cannot go to school.
If she has an ARC. she should be accepted by a public school.
I had a kid in one of the bilingual schools and they are a mixed bag. Your daughter will hear a lot of Chinese, but she won’t be able to keep up with the local curriculum and people will speak to her in English. Socially and for English my kid did fine, but you may may not see much Chinese progress in six months.
Public school is also a mixed bag. If you can do that + tutoring, that is probably the way to go. It also depends on how long you’re willing to have her in school. When we did bilingual we didn’t realize our kid probably needed a couple of hours of tutoring to keep up (ie 4-6pm). Of course, this also depends on how much Chinese you all have and what your support network is like. For six months I’d probably aim for public school. If you want a bilingual school I think Fu-hsing and Lih-Jen are probably relatively close compared to the other schools (Kang-Chiao, Kuei-shan). Good luck!
Yes, I checked it! It does seem like I am eligible, though it seems slightly shady (or too good to be true) to apply as someone who has no intention of living permanently in Taiwan. I’ve been holding off on applying since I’ll be leaving Korea in two months to spend the first part of my sabbatical in Canada, and I wouldn’t want to be in a situation where I was supposed to pick up my passport at the Taipei Mission in Seoul but it took too long to process and I need the passport to fly in late July. It’s hard to find information online about how long the process takes.
Hello! We’re in the same boat for this coming 2023 fall semester. My husband is a professor and we are going to be living in Taiwan for 6 months during his sabbatical. We are flexible in where we live and actually prefer to be closer to my family in Taichung, but are open to living in other cities. My children will be 10 and 12 years old, rising into 5th and 7th grade. They have both been attending Mandarin immersion in the US since kindergarten and are bilingual, but have studied simplified, not traditional characters.
We also think that living for 6 months in Taiwan will be an excellent opportunity for them to improve their Chinese. We have many of the same criteria for their schooling:
Not a super competitive academic environment. We’re expecting they’ll need some tutoring, but don’t want to spend a ton of time doing buxiban.
Okay with public school or less expensive private schools.
Looking for some amount of instruction in Chinese, something that will help them improve, not just maintain their Chinese. Not as interested in international schools that are 100% in English.
We are open to homeschooling in Chinese, but we’re not fluent Chinese speakers and also don’t know how to do that in a way that allows for peer social interactions.
Ideally attend school in Taichung, Taipei, or Hsingchu. But open to other places in Taiwan too.
Would love to hear how your experience was and where your child ended up attending school. Thanks!!
I saw that OP had said Taipei New World Montessori as a possible school choice. I wont say “avoid at all costs”, but be aware that, while they are an international school in the morning (all the kids in the full day program come from abroad), they cram an additional 26 kids from the public school across the street into their TINY room when those kids get off at noon. It can’t be legal from a fire code standpoint, and even if it is legal, its no good for general common sense safety.
Taipei Montessori International School is literally a landing ground for any insanely rich Taiwanese person to send their kid to when they can’t get them into TAS. Their Taiwanese teachers are highly qualified but their foreign teachers are “fresh out of buxiban”, if that, in quality. Some classrooms have two Taiwanese teachers in them/no native English speaking teachers. Definitely avoid at all costs.
Taiwan International Montessori Elementary School (also in Taipei) is a solid mix of foreign and local kids, with a (qualified) native English-speaking lead teacher and two Taiwanese Chinese teachers that make sure Chinese language “foundations” are covered.
Theres also a school in Taipei near Xinyi Anhe called “漫兒園“ that has a number of foreign children. The teachers do not speak English, but the foreign children do. A few years back there was only one girl in the class though, with some reasoning about how “boys need a school like this more than girls do”. Ummm, no. Mixed aged and mixed gender means there should be an even split of ages and genders.
Since you said Taichung, note that Harmony Montessori claims to have an “international” class, but they are 100% Taiwanese kids. They are also what could best be described as a “traditional school posing as a Montessori school” — lots of showing off what skills the children learned to the parents and other forced output.
There is a Montessori school in Chiayi that was started by an American (I think??). Ive heard lots of good things about it from people whose opinions I trust (and I met a former student of that school. A very well-mannered and self-driven adult)
I know you didnt ask about montessori schools, but when I saw that OP mentioned Taipei New World, I needed to pick my jaw up off the floor before warning you and anyone else on this forum.