Cheap & easy Taipei schools for visa?

Language Learning Chinese
1

hi,

      I'm coming to Taipei on 1st October, and have a normal 2 month visa. I'm wanting to enroll into a school to learn chinese and so need a student visa. Can anyone advise which school is easiest to deal concerning visas and which is cheap. Is it a problem that I am arriving after the school year has begun? what's my best bet?

thanx.

2

Just check out the newspapers when you arrive. Most offer student visa services. CLD is pretty good, and I’d recommend them for sure if you’re serious about learning. Don’t get it confused with CLI. All the names are pretty similar. They charge $NT8,900 for a 3 month tuition. Equivelant to almost $NT3,000 a month. They’ll also extend your visa for you, providing you live in Taipei county.

To answer your question of - Is it a problem that I am arriving after the school year has begun? what’s my best bet? … That doesn’t matter at all. CLD is a government approved language school, not a Uni. So new courses start every month or so.

3

Here are some institutes’ websites at downtown.
You can check them.

Personal institute

1.CLD
chineselanguage.org.tw/

2.TLI
tli.com.tw/

University Mandarin center

1.MTC
ntnu.edu.tw/mtc/index.htm

2.MLC
cec.pccu.edu.tw/mlc

3.TKU
psc.tku.edu.tw/2000/chinese/chinese.htm

4.LTTC
lttc.ntu.edu.tw/

Included in Forumosa.com Knowledge Base

4

thanks for the advice, I’m following it up!! Does Taiwan screen English Premier games? I thought they may since everton have signed 2 chinese (li Tie and li Weifeng) or do they not follow mainland chinese?

5

What is the cheapest Chinese school that is recognized enough for me to get a visa extension through them, preferably one close (next door) to an MRT?

Thanks.

6

For classes CLD or Pioneer, for no classes CLI. Check the paper for addresses.

Brian

7

Thanks.

I just went in and talked to the “nice” folks at the CLI. Apparently they don’t realize that I have the potential to pay their salaries. They were very assuming snobs; especially the snappy filipina front-woman. I had a similar experience at the CLD; but after I explained, in the best Chinese I can muster, that I am serious about studying Chinese but need some leniency to travel, they defrosted a bit. These friggin’ buxibans assume that all of us foreigners are at their mercy. CLI lost my business today.

Taiwanese businesses need to learn two concepts (cliche in the West): “The customer is always right” and, for those of us who teach but continually lose rather than gain incentives, “Respect your employees”.

End Detour.

8

I think it’s important to advertise the good with the bad, so I’d like to plug Pioneer. The staff went out of their way to help me with my visa and travel situation - so much so that I think one poor woman got yelled at by the “boss”. I was treated like a real customer, so I gave them some money. :smiley: