Hi all,
I’m fresh outta college and on my way to teach at a buxiban in Taipei mid-Augst. I’ve got no teaching experience, but I was hoping to learn the ropes first and apply for the 2nd quarter of the ICLP starting January. The average schedule at my buxiban is 24 hours/week and the ICLP is 20 hours/week + extensive individual prep time. Has anyone tried this or something like it? Do you think it would be possible?
[quote=“Nonixskis”]Hi all,
I’m fresh outta college and on my way to teach at a buxiban in Taipei mid-Augst. I’ve got no teaching experience, but I was hoping to learn the ropes first and apply for the 2nd quarter of the ICLP starting January. The average schedule at my buxiban is 24 hours/week and the ICLP is 20 hours/week + extensive individual prep time. Has anyone tried this or something like it? Do you think it would be possible?[/quote]
Ok, excuse my ignorance, but what is an ICLP? International Chinese Learners Program??
Haha!! Googled it!! International Chinese Language Program, right? This one from NTU? ccms.ntu.edu.tw/~iclp/ If it is then there should be no problem. Most folks who come here work 20 to 25 hours a week, have 20 hours a week Chinese at a Uni and still find time to socialise and travel. No worries. Just do it!
You don’t apply to the ICLP by quarters - you either apply to the full year program (3 quarters starting in the fall) or the summer program. It’s not like many of the other language schools where you can enroll or not for any given term.
I currently attend TaiDa’s CLD (one floor down from the ICLP), which is 10 hours a week of class - I know people that teach & attend the CLD, but I see tons of ICLP students who are at the ICLP all day (4 hours of class, LOTS of prep time outside of that). I will be at the ICLP starting in September & I honestly can’t imagine trying to work 20 some hours a week & doing intensive language study there, based on what I’ve seen the current students doing & what people I know who have attended there have told me.
Um yep… I misread… 
25 hours of work a week with 10 hours Chinese classes is the normal, not 20.
Bafooz is probably more correct on that count. Also I would be bored out of my skull having to do 4 hours a day. But then again I never liked classes per se.
Better option is probably to start with the 10 hour a week Tai-Da course and see how that goes first.
thanks
The ICLP summer program is 15 hours a week, BTW, and I suppose you could conceivably work & do that. The culture at the ICLP is very different, though - the expectation is that you’re here to do intensive language study & not doing intensive language study and working.
ShiDa and TaiDa both have their 10 hour a week classes, and I have friends who have/are teaching and going to class the TaiDa’s CLD, too.
My professor who attended the ICLP when it was still the IUP told me she was easily doing 4, 5 hours of prep time outside of class a day, sometimes more. I really can’t imagine trying to work AND do that at the same time; maybe I’m just lazy. I think I’d go crazy with no free time, though.
I have several friends who had been, up until last week, studying for a full year at Tai-Da. I’ve been to the ICLP campus, learned extensively from the books they have, etc., I’ve had ample opportunity to observe the materials the students use and the workload.
That said, I can’t imagine ANYONE working a full schedule at a buxiban and studying at ICLP. ICLP is very hard core and intensive. I would recommend ShiDa or TaiDa’s other program (though I can only speak for ShiDa’s program out of experience).
I’m doing ICLP this fall, and you can in fact register for half the year. But, from what I have heard it is pretty difficult. Of course, your perception depends on what kind of classwork you are used to from college. You may be able to work at the same time, or maybe not… could always try. Just remember that ICLP used to be where the US sent its diplomats to learn Chinese before the program moved to the mainland. Some of the same staff still work there, so as far as I know it has retained the serious (though helpful) attitude.
I went to ICLP for one year including the summer program. I would say that it would be impossible to work at a bushiban and go to ICLP at the same time, unless you did not mind being left behind and having very little idea of what was going on in class. Since the admission fees are 3 times more expensive than the other schools in Taipei, I expect you would not want this feeling while attending class.
Some students at ICLP had a few private students for a few hours a week, but I found in order to properly prepare for the classes the next day, 4-8 hours of homework time was necessary. Almost all of the students there did the same amount of homework as I did. It was very intense, rigorous, and fast paced learning.
Realistically speaking, it might be best to check out other schools and do the 10 hour per week programs if you want to work at the same time. Or, get a private tutor. Both options would be less expensive and more appropriate for working and studying.
Huh. Interesting that you can apply for half a year (or two quarters, or whatever, not including the summer) - I can’t imagine it’s common though? It’s certainly set up to be a full year program, not bits and pieces (as opposed to where I’m at now, where I’m sure the expectation is that you’ll be studying continuously, but I had friends who bounced in and out depending on their work schedules that semester and had no problems).
I personally really like the CLD at TaiDa for the 10 hour a week programs & I know you CAN work at a buxiban and do that at the same time - I had friends that did it & it’s not uncommon.
I’d just be very wary of flushing $3K US+ down the toilet if I had a lot of other responsibilities (ie: job) outside of language acquisition. I’ve found that comparisons to regular college course loads aren’t necessarily accurate - I never carried 20 credits a semester, but generally 15 & there is a big big difference between taking five 3 credit classes and then having two (or, in the case of the ICLP, 4) hours of class a day with one subject. I’m used to doing a LOT of independent work, but getting set up in Taipei, learning the city, and then throwing myself into a language on top of everything else I have to do has been exhausting. I think I’d just lay down and die if I had to work 24 hours a week on top of whatever my ICLP schedule will wind up being.