Taipei language school for 1-month group course?

Language Learning Chinese
1

Hi everyone,
I’m planning to come spend about 2 months in Taiwan in October/November and I’m looking for a language school in Taipei where I can take Chinese classes for about 1 month/maybe 6 weeks (before doing some travelling). I was initially considering enrolling in 1 semester of the NTNU MTC but I don’t want to be away from home for quite this long. I’m now looking at private school options - e.g. TMI, LTL, MLC…?

Does anyone have any personal recommendations? (no ads please!)

Some info about me:

I’m a 29 yo woman from Europe on a career break (aka quit my job because of burnout). Planning to spend the autumn travelling in east Asia.

I’m a total beginner but I love languages and have been learning to write Chinese characters (I know maybe 100). I am learning just for fun, not for career/family/heritage etc.

I don’t mind the ‘rote memorisation’ style of learning that is common in Taiwan - I love the routine of school and find rote learning weirdly calming (strange for a westerner, I know!).

I want to do a group class so that I can meet other students (big classes are ok with me, I’m not interested at all in 1-1 tuition). If a school provides accommodation and social activities that would be a massive bonus.

TMI is looking like the best option right now (although I’ve seen some dodgy reviews and I’m not 100% they are still open?). Any thoughts from anyone who has been through language courses in Taipei?

2

Yes, some of those schools are dodgy. Why not enroll in one of the university programs? You can stay in those for an entire semester or just leave after 4 or 6 weeks.

3

Never MTC. I hope MTC goes bankrupt.

4

Since this topic is staying pretty stagnant, I’ll just post what I always post and say that mandarin centers in Taiwan are pretty much all the same, regardless of public (university)/private and where.

How good of an experience you’ll have will be based on your teacher. But NTNU has a pretty bad rap (many posts about incredibly old school and old fashioned teachers + the school just wanting your money).

No where is good — you’ll sit in class for many hours each day and then have to memorize long lists of vocabulary words and grammar patterns, which wastes enormous amounts of time that could be better spent elsewhere (like listening to and reading stories that you understand)

The textbooks that every school uses are the same, “A Course in Contemporary Chinese”. They’re not bad from a content standpoint but you won’t get enough repetition from the textbook texts to actually acquire the language. That would need to come from class, but your teacher will be too busy with highly engaging activities like “just guess what this character might mean” and then telling you you’re wrong while you read the definition of that character directly from the MOE dictionary extension on Pleco.

Throw a dart at a dart board and go to that school is my advice…

5

You’re no doubt correct. However, for fairness if nothing else, how many of them do you have experience of?

6

Personally, only one. I was so angry after two weeks I wanted to sue the school for wasting everyone’s time and money (no lawsuit there. Turns out wasting people’s time is not against the law…) But I do know people and talk to people. And have worked in the public schools, so I have a clear idea of what place the teachers in the mandarin schools came from. I have yet to come across anyone who says “yes, the teachers at blablabla school are highly qualified and well worth your time”. All I ever hear is that it’s kill and drill everywhere.

7

“mandarin centers in Taiwan are pretty much all the same” is emphatic. I agree that it is probably the case, but to reach such a level of certainty based on one personal experience combined with people you talk to…?

The OP is looking for a Taipei language school. ‘They’re all a bit shit’ is a valid reponse, but not useful in a positive way. Except for the OP to save their money, perhaps.

8

Thanks for the suggestion! Quitting after a month seems a valid option (especially when the cost is so much higher for the private schools anyway)

Do you know what the social life at the MTC is like? I’m not a big party person but keen to meet people to chat to/have coffee with/go for a hike?

9

Thanks! I’m definitely aware that they are all a bit shit haha

My expectations for what I’ll learn are pretty minimal. Right now I’m just excited when I recognise a character on a Chinese takeaway signpost. So mostly keen for just learning to read a bit more and meet some cool people and live in Taipei for a little bit

10

My point, since no one else was piling on to offer any useful suggestions, is that there’s not much out there for OP to be excited about. Basically, just choose a school and spend a lot of time reading what Outlier linguistics, Skritter, and Terry Waltz have said about Mandarin learning over the years if you want to make progress. The mandarin center you choose is more or less irrelevant as long as you use strategies on your own that work.

11

You’re not going to get much out of one month.

You really shouldn’t even be considering MTC.

But there is no social life at MTC. If you make friends with your classmates at any school then great! Then you can go out with them and make your own fun, but there is no ‘officially sanctioned’ fun at Taiwanese universities. My university in Canada has a club attached to it.

This doesn’t exist in Taiwan.

They all can be a bit shit but MTC is total shit. I spent two years there.

12

I know a number of people who went through the university mandarin training programs and they’re quite fluent. A number of them went on to get their masters as well. That said, I spent 3 semester (1 at Taida and 2 at Shida) and learned a lot. But, I also felt as though I lost my mind. The Taiwanese method of learning is not for me. It does work for some and if the OP doesn’t mind memorizing lots of vocabulary, then I’d suggest Shida. It’s a bit less intense than Taida and as far as the teachers are concerned, if you’re lucky, you’ll get a good one. There are also plenty of opportunities to meet language exchange partners (especially female ones).

13

I don’t have any experience at the MTC but I also haven’t heard great things about it. I met a french woman last year who spent a number of months there and she wasn’t too impressed. As far as taping into the social life is concerned, there are numerous opportunities to meet people through groups. You can find a number of them on Facebook. Some are mostly for foreigners or locals while others are more mixed. It will also depend on how outgoing you are. Let’s say you want to take a calligraphy class or join a local hiking group or do some other local thing. There are lots of these things going on all the time that only locals attend and that can be a good opportunity to meet people. These same groups are also out there for foreigners, but then you’ll probably end up spending most of your time speaking English.