[quote=“austin”]Before you go to Shi-Da, visit
[forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … ant#602684](Shida Rant
Both Shi-Da and Mandarin Daily News(near CKS subway stop) are very traditional, meaning the scent of rigid authoritarianism is everywhere and so thick in the air you can hardly breathe(i.e. study in a relaxing manner). This may be nothing new to an ABC, but for others it is an unpleasant first encounter that stifles their interest in learning.
If you are right off the boat, you should take private lessons at Pioneer or TLI. Buy a month’s worth and make sure they give you the records to extend your visa(if needed). Pioneer is across the street from Shi-Da. The owner of Pioneer is the best teacher at Pioneer. TLI is around the corner from Shi-Da. At TLI, my best experience was with an older kind of heavy(for a Chinese) Hao laoshi. After that was ‘wang mama’ who can help your pronunciation. Wang mama is a typical Chinese insofar as asking you about every personal matter which is none of her business but if you keep her on track, she’s very good. 3rd best there(imho) was a short woman. she was probably attractive 15 years ago and is still sure every foreign guy wants to date her. ignore this and you’ll find she stays on message and challenges and doesn’t let you slack.[/quote]
I’m no fan of shi da but I have to disagree with your advice here. From the experiences that my friends and I have had at TLI and pioneer you are way better off at shi da.
At the very least you will get the same teacher for the period that you pay for. I had a friend who signed up at TLI for a couple of months and had a different teacher virtually every lesson.
I went to pioneer before and it was a waste of money for me. The teacher (who i’m sure is the short one you mentioned) had no idea how to teach and simply went through page by page following the AV books. We would go through a chapter in 2 hours and then she’d be amazed when the 40 odd vocabulary words weren’t burned into my memory after such a thorough class.
I’d say go to shi da. You’ll have to work to keep up with the classes too and you will notice the improvement more than with one on ones.