Read this:
Hi,
I am just curious, which school would be better for a yearlong advanced course (full time)? I checked Taida CLD, they say that beginner + intermediate is one year and advanced is one year long. Other schools have less info on their websites… I am actually more interested in learning reading/writing/literature since I am pretty outgoing, so listening/speaking is usually less of a problem… I intend to do MA in Taiwan after.
Thanks!
hey, i’ve decided to go to NCCU! 
I got my acceptance letter. I also got accepted to the dormitory in NCCU.
Will be joining the spring term. I’m pretty nervous… about staying in the dormitory, learning mandarin. etc. wah. :s
any tips for me? hehehe.
thanks everyone for all your replies and comments.
Keryl, we were all nervous about stepping across the ocean and landing on this island. Most people in your class will be on the same boat -situation- and that helps a lot.
No tips, other than study hard and enjoy your stay.
ps.
First of all, get the schedule for the shuttle bus to go from the dorms to the language center.
[quote=“Icon”]Keryl, we were all nervous about stepping across the ocean and landing on this island. Most people in your class will be on the same boat -situation- and that helps a lot.
No tips, other than study hard and enjoy your stay.
ps.
First of all, get the schedule for the shuttle bus to go from the dorms to the language center.[/quote]
Thaaaaaaaaaaanks!
Hi Keryl
I’m also considering about studying mandarin in taiwan, but after i get my master degree (i hope next year). NCCU is also one of my choices, next to NTU and NTNU. Please keep updating about your experiences in at NCCU after you go to taiwan!
Hi everyone. I’m new in forumosa 
NCCU’s international admission results were released yesterday and with God’s grace, I was accepted in the International MA Program. However, I have yet to know the next steps through the acceptance letter that they will be sending and if ever I get the taiwan scholarship offered by TECO here in the Philippines, I would probably be there in Taiwan by September as the fall term starts.
Any opinions on NCCU and taiwan scholarship would be highly appreciated. Thank you so much!
[quote=“choco_loka”]Hi everyone. I’m new in forumosa
NCCU’s international admission results were released yesterday and with God’s grace, I was accepted in the International MA Program. However, I have yet to know the next steps through the acceptance letter that they will be sending and if ever I get the taiwan scholarship offered by TECO here in the Philippines, I would probably be there in Taiwan by September as the fall term starts.
Any opinions on NCCU and taiwan scholarship would be highly appreciated. Thank you so much! [/quote]
Congratulations on your acceptance. That is the first big step.
Ask the people of the OIP (Office of International Programs) the procedures for requesting a dorm. The ones for MAs are a lot nicer and comfortable.
It is better to be here at the end of August to get adjusted. Anyway, they will assign a more advanced student to help you out when you get here.
Thank you, Icon for the response. I am waiting for the acceptance letter and check if the university was also able to supply me with a dorm, because in the application form I checked the dorm application option, hoping it’ll get approved too.
I will update you on what happens next and ask again for your help. Thanks a lot!
Hi
I just moved here to TW as my hubby (a local boy who I met in NZ where we both lived) is working here for the foreseeable future. I had applied to MTC but my application form mysteriously disappeared and now I’m not sure whether I’m going to be able to get into their Fall quarter or not. Mind you, having read this forum, I might just apply to NCCU for their Winter quarter as I’m more keen on getting proficient in speaking - way more useful to me than reading or writing (although I do want to learn that too).
Has anyone else had their application go missing like this? Any advice? I posted it from within TW…
Ah well I guess life throws us these sorts of things from time to time eh?
[quote=“KathInTW”]Hi
I just moved here to TW as my hubby (a local boy who I met in NZ where we both lived) is working here for the foreseeable future. I had applied to MTC but my application form mysteriously disappeared and now I’m not sure whether I’m going to be able to get into their Fall quarter or not. Mind you, having read this forum, I might just apply to NCCU for their Winter quarter as I’m more keen on getting proficient in speaking - way more useful to me than reading or writing (although I do want to learn that too).
Has anyone else had their application go missing like this? Any advice? I posted it from within TW…
Ah well I guess life throws us these sorts of things from time to time eh?[/quote]
Life in Taiwan will throw them at you with alarming frequency, when you first get here. 
ShiDa lost my ‘financial’ docs once. Good to know my bank account number and name and balance was left lying around… Had to go and get another one, which I was pissed off about. Just glad it wasn’t my health cert.
Try the other place; maybe it’s a lucky sign. Shida isn’t bad, per se, it’s just that the focus on reading and writing for absolute beginners (if you are?) is not really a good method, for most.
Good luck, anyway.
[quote=“Buttercup”][quote=“KathInTW”]Hi
I just moved here to TW as my hubby (a local boy who I met in NZ where we both lived) is working here for the foreseeable future. I had applied to MTC but my application form mysteriously disappeared and now I’m not sure whether I’m going to be able to get into their Fall quarter or not. Mind you, having read this forum, I might just apply to NCCU for their Winter quarter as I’m more keen on getting proficient in speaking - way more useful to me than reading or writing (although I do want to learn that too).
Has anyone else had their application go missing like this? Any advice? I posted it from within TW…
Ah well I guess life throws us these sorts of things from time to time eh?[/quote]
Life in Taiwan will throw them at you with alarming frequency, when you first get here. Shi-Da lost my ‘financial’ docs once. Good to know my bank account number and name and balance was left lying around… Had to go and get another one, which I was pissed off about. Just glad it wasn’t my health cert.
Try the other place; maybe it’s a lucky sign. Shi-Da isn’t bad, per se, it’s just that the focus on reading and writing for absolute beginners (if you are?) is not really a good method, for most.
Good luck, anyway.[/quote]
I’m not really sure what I’d be classified as - I’ve managed to pick up a fair amount of mandarin informally through being around hubby’s family in NZ but like I said it’s all informal so… Maybe the first rung up from absolute beginners?
I did wonder if it was a sign 
Thanks for the encouragement
[quote=“KathInTW”][quote=“Buttercup”][quote=“KathInTW”]Hi
I just moved here to TW as my hubby (a local boy who I met in NZ where we both lived) is working here for the foreseeable future. I had applied to MTC but my application form mysteriously disappeared and now I’m not sure whether I’m going to be able to get into their Fall quarter or not. Mind you, having read this forum, I might just apply to NCCU for their Winter quarter as I’m more keen on getting proficient in speaking - way more useful to me than reading or writing (although I do want to learn that too).
Has anyone else had their application go missing like this? Any advice? I posted it from within TW…
Ah well I guess life throws us these sorts of things from time to time eh?[/quote]
Life in Taiwan will throw them at you with alarming frequency, when you first get here. Shi-Da lost my ‘financial’ docs once. Good to know my bank account number and name and balance was left lying around… Had to go and get another one, which I was pissed off about. Just glad it wasn’t my health cert.
Try the other place; maybe it’s a lucky sign. Shi-Da isn’t bad, per se, it’s just that the focus on reading and writing for absolute beginners (if you are?) is not really a good method, for most.
Good luck, anyway.[/quote]
I’m not really sure what I’d be classified as - I’ve managed to pick up a fair amount of Mandarin informally through being around hubby’s family in NZ but like I said it’s all informal so… Maybe the first rung up from absolute beginners?
I did wonder if it was a sign Thanks for the encouragement [/quote]
I told you guy the story of getting a certification in English and Chinese from Shida’s MTC about my studie sthere and getting different data -plus an unexplained 3 month gap, on different dates- for each. Save you the grief, and if you still plan to attend Shida, don’t question their all mighty sapience…
That said, NCCU will give you a more practical approach, and a less stressful environment. Personally, from a teacher’s point of view, I’d say it is better prepared to handle absolute beginners, so go for it.
I ended up going to NTU CLD. The class size is 4-6 people (sometimes 3, never more than 6). It costs more then Shida, but the classes are smaller, so the price is pretty much proportional (or maybe the ratio at CLD is even better.) People in the office are really nice, relaxed and helpful. I have tried 4 classes before making a decision which one to actually take.
It feels like ~50% of the students are Japanese, ~30% are from the Commonwealth and US.
Looking forward to a great year
I have been living in Taiwan and teaching English for over ten years and am embarrassed by the fact that my Chinese is absolutely horrible. My wife tried to teach me but that didn’t go well and I think it might be fun to go to University for a while. Also, I’m getting disgusted with work, so I have decided to quit my job and study Chinese for a year or two (hopefully two if my wife agrees and we have the money). I’m not planning to go until the spring session so I still have a number of months before I have to make any decisions.
I’m trying to decide between Tai Da and Shi Da. Are these the best ones or are there other schools that I should be looking at? These two seem the most popular so I figured they would be pretty good.
From looking at the websites, I see that Tai Da is three hours a day while Shi Da is only two yet they seem to cover the same material on the same time schedule (i.e. one lesson a week). Does Tai Da teach extra material or do they just spend an extra hour teaching the same stuff? Do people feel really tired and bored after three hours? Do they find the extra hour really helpful or could they do without it?
I’m worried about the three hours because I live in Yilan and plan on coming into Taipei everyday to go to class. I thought about going to Fo Guang because it is in Yilan but they are at least twice as expensive as Tai Da. Even with taking into account transportation costs, going to Taipei still works out a lot cheaper. I hope to use the travel time for some studying but wonder if studying three hours will be too much. It will be around two hours a day to travel to and from Taipei.
I don’t need a visa so if I choose Shi Da, I am wondering if I can opt out of the 5 hours of culture classes. Has anyone here been able to do that and did it decrease the tuition by a significant amount? This will help free up some more time for studying, spending time with the family and working part time. What time do these cultural classes run? It may have been on the website but I couldn’t find it.
In regards to admission, do they basically take anyone who shows up with money in hand? I would hate to quit my job and then discover that for some reason I am not accepted into the program. Are you also able to pick the times that you want to study? I’m hoping to get up really early, catch the bus to Taipei and make if for the 8:00 classes. This will let me get home in time to play with the kids, study and do a part time job.
One more question. If I understand the websites correctly, you need two quarters to complete Book 1. Is it possible to skip the first quarter (and the first twelve lessons) and start at the second half of the book? My Chinese is terrible but it’s beyond the basic “Ni hao” stage. I have studied this book for a bit on my own and am confident that I can write and read most of the characters in the first twelve lessons and I really don’t want to go through the beginning lessons again.
Anyway, thanks for any help and encouragement that people can give me in my quest to speak, read and write Chinese.
Hiya,
I have a friend who started taking individual lessons at ChengDa from scratch and basically said that, as useful as the lessons were, he could really just study book one on his own and pick up from book two-ish and it would be better.
The grammar is quite simple in book one, so I’d tend to agree with him, especially if your wife is able to help you with pronunciation etc. If you’re not intending to attend spring session I’d recommend you to study book one (and keep working your way through) all on your lonesome. You get more out of the language centres when your Chinese is at a better level.
I heard (from the same friend!) that the language programme at Ilan is very, very good, so you might actually want to look into that.
Basically, each language centre will give you a placement test on arrival, so no matter what your level is they’ll put you in a class that’s more or less suitable. And they do pretty much take anyone with the cash and visa (visa = legal permission to be in Taiwan. They really don’t care if you’re doing visa runs every month, as long as you’re doing them).
Picking the classes is more tricky; it depends on your level, what time the classes are available and how many other students want the same class. If you’re at a lower level it will be easier for you to get the class you want as there are usually more classes at a beginner level. If you really, really, REALLY want that time, emphasise it when you apply and keep ‘randomly’ dropping it into conversation with the office ladies that you might not be able to attend classes if you can’t get that time… It’s usually a first-come first-served basis, and having them remember your name certainly doesn’t hurt.
Ring up after putting your application in to make sure it’s in, ring up just before you’re meant to find out to find out if you’re in (and ask about times), ring up before classes start to ask about the times, ring up again to ask about the materials (and mention the times), ring up to find out if they know your schedule yet… Keep ringing them, be smiley, don’t overdo it too much (once or twice a week is enough) and they’ll be 90% sure to remember you and pop your name in that class when they see it on the list. If you mention that you want that class to spend time with your kids, make sure to take a photo of your kids on the first day to show them.
This may not work at Shi-Da, where I hear all the people are nasty and want to eat you, but it’d work down here and should work in other places jia-you!
Hey I’d like to know how you get on, keep us posted please.
I think someone in the OP’s position really needs to take the classes.
I would take two hours a day, not three. The important thing is to be studying every day or at least looking at your text every day. Two hours is enough.
The focus in the programs is on learning characters, not the spoken language. Thus an extra hour will just give them more time to assign more characters. You will then need to spend even more time studying to keep up. Many people find a rapid pace in studying characters frustrating. The program at Taida is notorious for its emphasis on teaching literacy to grad schools in the US who are in a big hurry to learn Chinese. I’d choose Shida, Cultural University, or Zhengda. The Cultural University might be the most convenient for you since I believe it is near Technology Building where a bus stops from Yilan. Shida is about 15 minutes aways by bus, and I think it would take at least 40 minutes to get to the Zhengda center by MRT, bus and foot.
Foguang claims to have plans to allow you to study as little as 4 hours per week. Would that still be more expensive?
There are many programs. If you are a high school grad etc, you should have no trouble getting in although you do need to follow the entrance requirements at Shida carefully because they have many applicants.
Commuting sounds very tiring. Make sure you do your planned route a couple of times. Traffic in the tunnel and coming into Taipei can be really bad.
“burning the candle at both ends”
I just couldn’t do it.
Studying, being in a relationship, working part-time, enjoying the outdoors, creating a business…
… still figuring out my priorities
If you are only planning on starting in the spring session, I would recommend: chineselearnonline.com/course-outline/ in the meantime.
Thanks for all the replies.
I talked to my boss the other day and she begged me to stay until the end of the summer. She made some changes to fix the things that were pissing me off. I still want to quit and study but now I may wait until the end of the summer just so I don’t burn any bridges. I may try to work part time there to support my family while I study so I don’t want them to be upset with me.
I’m still tempted to go in the spring but if I stay working we will be in a better position financially by the end of the summer. I think I will try and focus on finishing Book 1 by the end of the summer and get my wife to give me some Chinese lessons when we have the time. It’s hard to find the time with work and looking after two children, both who are under two years of age.
I will go and talk to Fo Guang to see how much they cost. The commute does sound tiring to me as well but it will save me a lot of money if Fo Guang’s prices aren’t comparable to Taipei schools.
Anyway, I have a lot of thinking to do before I decide what to do.
Again, thanks for all the help. The replies were very helpful.
Gilgamesh