The fool that I am, I was only looking at working in Taiwan when I can actually study Taiwanese Mandarin and work Part-Time to survive!
I’d like to find a Mandarin course that works alongside TOCFL. I don’t think there are any ‘TOCFL courses’ per se, but more exam preparation courses (Unless they’re the same thing, different wording?) i’ve tried scouting places online, but coming up blank specifically for TOCFL-related courses.
Years ago, I did get to HSK3 as only mainland Chinese mandarin was available. I’m not 100% on the conversion, but I think HSK3 is only in TOCFL Band A. I learned traditional characters too in my own time, so this isn’t too much of an issue.
Other than TOCFL, I have looked into NTU (too expensive for my start-up budget), The Mandarin Institute in Taipei and LTL. I currently have £3000.00 British pounds / 120,203 TWD to start up with flights, renting, visa ect. in my budgeting, I am left with around £700.00 / 28,047 TWD for tuition cost for the first semester. I could possibly push this up to £1500.00 / 60,103 TWD. I’m hoping to work 20 hours teaching english which i should be able to save and live on to pay for subsequent fees. I am looking for just a 1-year long course if they exist. If they offer the chance for a scholarship too, I will be happy to apply.
However, I am struggling to find out how much Mandarin you will be taught during these courses. They boast about 4-8 week courses, semester courses ect. but not so much about the curriculum or an approximate language level you would be at after completing any course that is offered.
So, has anyone completed any courses that they would recommend? I’m not too fussy about location at this point as you need to go where the education is.
Unless things have changed drastically, you need a work-permit in order to work.
If you are on a student visa, then you can ask for and possibly receive permission from your advisor and the NIA to work after 6 months, but it’s not guaranteed.
If you are on a student visa and receiving a scholarship, then you can’t work at all on a student visa.
Can you please provide me with a link to an official reference?
As far as I have heard it is possible to work after 6 months of studying here first, and only with your advisor’s permission and the NIA.
But, if you’re on a scholarship and receive government monies for your studies I believe that you then can’t work. I got this information from another member here.
Be sure to check this out thoroughly beforehand. There have been many sad stories over the past 25 years of people having their Taiwan dream ending up with disappointment.
I think you wouldn’t be able to legally work for about a year if your visa is for studying mandarin. I’m pretty certain after attaining the mandarin study Alien Resident Card(which is just a piece of paper to be renewed every 6 months), you still have to wait 6 months to be able to apply to work part time. I’m having trouble finding where I found this information originally.
I wasn’t aware of students of Mandarin being treated differently to other foreign students. I thought everyone was allowed to work 20 hours a week. I’m pretty sure the OP is correct.
I’m having a little trouble understanding exactly what you want to do. My understanding is that you want to teach English, study Chinese/Mandarin, and enroll in a course for teaching Chinese as a foreign language.
That should also be possible but it would be easier if it was not all at the same time and if you did it outside of Taipei where cost of living rent is materially higher.
Your Chinese is nowhere close to good enough to to a TOCFL course effectively. You will need to study in Taiwan for at least a couple of years. You should do that at a Mandarin Training Center. There are 64 such centers including several in Kaohsiung and Tainan.
Years ago I managed to finance study at an MTC by teaching English 20 hours a week. The economics of this are not as easy as they used to be but it should still be possible. Since English teaching is no longer very lucrative in Taiwan relative to the cost of living, you will definitely want to be somewhere where there are jobs and the cost of living is lower.
I would suggest that you apply for admission to an MTC and apply for a Huayu Enrichment scholarship at the same time. Consider coming to Taiwan on a visa for Chinese language study. You may be able to change to one after visa-exempt arrival. Not sure. and that might involve a trip to Hong Kong.
The advantage of being a Chinese langauge student is that after one year you can get a work permit on this basis. This is gold because you can do any job for any employer (up to 20 hours/week).
I think you may well be able to get a work permit for a separate English teaching gig in the first year. Just stay on the student visa/ARC.
After a couple of years, you will be ready to start a TOCFL program. National Kaohsiung Normal University has a TOCFL program. I’m sure there are others.
It seems that you are referring to Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, but you are using the acronym for Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language. OP would certainly be sufficient enough to do a TOCFL (Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language) course, but obviously not a Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language course. It seems to me that in the OP, he wants to do a course to pass the Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language exam.