On the contrary, I’ve heard nothing but good things about MTC and they’ve been professional, prompt, and informative in correspondence. I feel more comfortable with them than with any other Mandarin centre, and that includes CLD.
The only reason for contemplating a switch is that I’ve been reflecting on the distance from NCCU to downtown–and on how often I’ll make that trip, given how lazy I know myself to be–and I think the experience of living downtown is a bit better suited to my goals, priorities, and hopes for the trip. Since Chinese doesn’t figure too prominently in my career plans (except in a “can’t hurt, you never know” kind of way) I’m mostly concerned with personal growth and fun, so I want to do whatever will keep me on my toes for the year. Knowing what I know about myself, I’m worried NCCU will become a security bubble for me and I want to make sure that doesn’t happen.
That’s a pretty much universal requirement for PhDs in any China-related field. Japan produces and has historically produced some of the most important scholarship on China, so naturally anybody who wants to do such research needs to know Japanese in order to keep up with the shape of scholarship in Japan. Not to mention some of the best reference works are in Japanese (the Morohashi dictionary, for instance).
My PhD will be either in Traditional Chinese Literature or in History.
On the contrary, I’ve heard nothing but good things about MTC and they’ve been professional, prompt, and informative in correspondence. I feel more comfortable with them than with any other Mandarin centre, and that includes CLD.
The only reason for contemplating a switch is that I’ve been reflecting on the distance from NCCU to downtown–and on how often I’ll make that trip, given how lazy I know myself to be–and I think the experience of living downtown is a bit better suited to my goals, priorities, and hopes for the trip. Since Chinese doesn’t figure too prominently in my career plans (except in a “can’t hurt, you never know” kind of way) I’m mostly concerned with personal growth and fun, so I want to do whatever will keep me on my toes for the year. Knowing what I know about myself, I’m worried NCCU will become a security bubble for me and I want to make sure that doesn’t happen.
edit for spelling[/quote]
Yeah, true that–I’ve been a little worried about the distance too. However for me, it’ll be a good thing–force me to study!
Is it a reasonable expectation that when I am taking Chinese (on my scholarship) to do a decent amount of tutoring so I can have a decent amount of money to work with?
Depends on what kinds of living expenses you require. If you rent a economical place and budget yourself, the scholarships are very generous. If you blow your wad all the time, you will find yourself in need of those tutoring hours to make rent. Either way, the option is always there, but I suggest using your scholarship to get super good at Chinese while you are being paid to do it, by whatever means suits you.
On the contrary, I’ve heard nothing but good things about MTC and they’ve been professional, prompt, and informative in correspondence. I feel more comfortable with them than with any other Mandarin centre, and that includes CLD.
edit for spelling[/quote]
The thread on Shida by people who have actual experience there (as opposed to ‘what I’ve heard’) is one of the longest (but not the longest) on this website
Those reviews are five years old now. I had a very good experience there a couple years ago(sum,summer 2008). The teacher was engaging and very flexible. Was it the most engaging class I’ve ever had? No, but it still served it’s purpose.
Your experience was three years ago (as compared with five), yes?
You had just one teacher?
For just one class?
And that one employee of Shida was nice, right?
[quote=“shuiping”]
Your experience was three years ago (as compared with five), yes?
You had just one teacher?
For just one class?
And that one employee of Shi-Da was nice, right?[/quote]
Yeesh, who took a whiz in your cheerios?
Anyways, I posted to offer Chauncy a relative positive experience as opposed to some of the more critical reviews on that thread. Although change often does not come quickly, it does happen.
Besides, turns out it was all a typo and that they were referring to NCCU anyways.
Anyone hear anything about what kind of visa is appropriate? My girlfriend got a 90-day visitor visa and plans to get ARC when in Taiwan, but the TECO recommended I get a resident visa here in Toronto. I can only assume the obscure medical tests they want are easier to get over there than they are over here…
Well, I’m leaving from NYC and stopped by the TECO office near Grand Central, just to ask questions and get a sense of how tedious the visa application was going to be.
Hah. Completely not what I was expecting. First, there was no line. Second, there were three people who took the time to have conversations with me. And then the visa app “process” was as nice too.
I don’t know how the Canadian TECO is, but the NYC one…
Me: “So, my bank is online, with no real office to get my financial statement signed… Can I just like, print you out…”
Visa Man: “Of course! Dont worry about it, just print it out and give it to us.” (He had an accent but I’m pretty sure if he was a native English speaker he wouldve been like “Just do whatever”
Me: “I’ll be a student so I bought a one-way plane ticket, but I heard there would be problems, like you wouldn’t give me a visa without an exit ticket… Should I just buy a…”
Man: “No don’t buy anything. One way is fine- especially if you’re a student.”
Me: “And do I have to bring you anything else besides the financial statement, ids and passport, and my acceptance letter to NTNUMTC?”
Man: “Nope! That’s all. And we’ll do it right here. You just have a good time and good luck!”
So I guess if your TECO is similar all you need is your financial statement, id’s and passport, airline ticket, pictures for the visa, and acceptance letter.
As for your girlfriend, whats her nationality? I would get the visa done in-home country because… why not? And as a student, I wouldn’t recommend the 90-day visa since it ends before the semester is over. She would have to leave the country and come back right when finals are starting. Since we really have only 2-3 days off and they are all Chinese holidays (whole point of being here for the cultural experience), if I were her, I would not be wanting to leave. Not to mention if you have a job on the side… then your available time is even more strict.
Interesting experience, doesn’t seem to match my information… if you don’t mind my asking, what kind of visa did you get, and with what duration? How long is your scholarship?
Coxinga: For the ICLP at least, they suggest that we get the 60-day visitor visa. I got one in 2008 for a stint at Shida (fortunately they gave me a multiple entry one, so I’m golden until 2013). These visas can be extended twice which will get you past the 4 month requirement for a resident visa and ARC.
As a Huayu scholarship winner in the Midwest, my experiences speaking with TECO Chicago on the telephone in many ways mirror those of Lili; the consular staff I spoke with essentially waived many of the small requirements for the application especially with regards to notarizing my health examination, leading one to believe that the guidelines posted on their website are just that–guidelines.
By the way, TECO told me to apply for a Resident Visa here in the US since my scholarship is 9 months long–anybody else doing the same?
Hey guys, I just found this forum while searching for HES info. I thought I would post a little information about my own situation in order to make connections with others who are going to Taiwan in September, and to share information for future HES applicants. I received a 9-month HES from Sep 2011-May 2012 from Houston TECO.
I am a 23-year old American guy. I will graduate this month from the University of Colorado with a double major in economics and Japanese language. I’ve never studied Chinese before but I applied because my career goals (business) require Chinese, and I want to spend more time in Taiwan. My “qualifications” are a few other scholarship wins (Morgan Stanley Bridging Scholarship, Foundation for Asia Pacific Education), good recommendations (a well-known Japanologist, and a Japanese teacher with whom I was close), and having already had international experience in Asia (1-year study abroad in Japan). I think they look for young candidates with a proven interest in Asia, but not necessarily in Taiwan or China. My experience proves you can get it even with no prior formal Chinese training. From their perspective, giving it to a true beginner possibly generates a new Chinese learner, whereas people with 3 or 4 years of university study under their belts are already in the bag. I’ve heard of other true beginners winning it, too.
Also, I was pretty aggressive about getting in touch with them and checking the status of my application every week or so during May and June, and I think that helped. In the essay, I think they are mostly concerned about weeding out people who will just spend their scholarship time as a vacation, so convince them that you will study hard, and are dedicated and capable of learning Chinese (I did this by showing how quickly I had achieved proficiency in Japanese–Level 2 on the JLTP in a little over two years). Good luck to all future applicants.
By the way, I’ll be studying at MTC. The only major complaints people seem to have about MTC are cranky administration and too much emphasis on reading and writing, but uh, as far as I’m concerned you need a ton of writing practice to be a good reader and a ton of reading practice to be a truly expressive speaker, so, sounds great! I think a few others of you are studying there, too. Any tips for apartment searching? So far I’m just scouring tealit and the boards here.
