Has anyone taken literary Chinese at a university in Taichung? I have one year of literary Chinese behind me, though it was one year ago and I’ve probably forgotten most of it, but want to find a school or a tutor who can really help me progress over the course of one year. It’s pretty much imperative that I make some progress as I’m all but into a PhD. program, the only question mark remaining being whether or not I’ll be prepared to head into archives someday. Supposedly one can get proficient in a year, but I’m doubtful. Still, does anyone have experience learning classical in Taichung and have advice about schools or teachers. I’m torn between finding a class or just hiring a tutor and reading with him/her daily. If I go with the latter, how much does one typically pay for a private tutor in Taiwan?
I’d suggest getting a tutor. I think you should be able to find a grad student in a Chinese dept. for about NT$300-$400/hour.
I’d recommend using the high school textbooks and then perhaps Guwen guanzhi. These are not necessarily ideal texts but your teacher will know them well and there will be lots of reference materials. What is your field?
I’m (hopefully) a budding historian, interested mostly in local/social history. I haven’t gone much further than that in defining myself in academia since I’m presently stuck trying to learn enough Chinese to do research. I’m also interested in narrative development (how stories get told and retold and transform) but I’m not sure I’ll be able to pursue that for awhile since I’ll probably be doing more history as a PhD.