I’m interested in learning mandarin and maybe live in Taiwan long-term as I am not attached to anything in my home country. I have done some research but have came up with nothing except the, I believe, government sponsored scholarship studies. I have the funds and interested in attending a language school.
Are there any full-time mandarin language schools anywhere in Taiwan and do they sponsor student visas?
Any my second question. Does anyone think learning mandarin is a better investment than pursuing higher education ( MA or teacher certification) in terms of better living/job prospects in Taiwan? This for a foreigner/American with an undergrad degree and TEFL experience from another country but open to other opportunities outside of teaching English.
You might wanna dig around a little more on this forum for answers to your questions. They’ve been answered many times before, so people will be reluctant to answer them all again.
But I’ll get you started with a few little info bytes.
I believe you’re talking about the MOE scholarship. These are always applied for through your nearest Taiwan representative office. I believe in the USA they’re called Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO). Contact your nearest TECO.
There are lots. I mean lots of language schools in Taiwan. They range from ball-breakingly intensive to very-light-workload-type. The immigration authorities set a minimum number of class hours for you to maintain a student visa. For the “lighter” courses, your language school finds a way to fill up the hours.
Your local TECO website should have a list of the most popular language schools for you to start your research with. If they don’t you can call them or dig up a list of the most popular schools from somewhere else.
You need to have picked a school and sent in your application before you apply for an MOE scholarship.
One thing that’s worth mentioning, with regards to your last sentence, if that if you have a BA but less than 2 years of full-time work experience, you will be restricted to teaching jobs. Have a look around in the Legal Issues at Work subforum for more discussions about that.
Thank you. I have taken a deeper look on this site and have found more info. I am probably going to forgo more education in the US to gain experience in Taiwan and try to learn mandarin. But I will pay the education fees myself so not interested in the scholarship.
One thing that puzzles me are the prices I’ve seen so far. For example, tuition at ICLP, at about 4,000 USD is twice what I would pay at a state university in California. I thought it would be a little cheaper in Taiwan.
The path I’m working on is studying Mandarin then going for a Masters degree. My understanding is that knowing Mandarin (in Taiwan) will mostly help you if you can speak it fluently - a long term investment. If you are personal interested in learning Mandarin then go for it! The scholarship applications can be submitted I believe from Jan-March then you’d find out in June whether you were selected or not. Otherwise it seems like many foreigners end up working as English teachers. If you were fluent in Mandarin the hours of work you would need to put in is a lot more than you would need as a teacher. If you can get a job at a corporation then transfer to Taiwan then that is another gateway into the country.