UNIversity

Hello. So, i am thinking of going to uni next semester–partly to improve my chinese and also to avoid going on visa runs. any advice on which uni to take? any insight would be appreciated forever. thanks

While I don’t want to discount your plans to attend a Taiwanese university, I would be really interested to know something about your overall motivation for beginning such a course of study. How does this tie in with your “life goals” or “career goals” at this point?

Christ, Mutron, looks like your dad followed you all the way to Taiwan. Or is it your old high school guidance counsellor? In either case, sorry.

Hartzell is right. Even if you are just taking some classes to “avoid going on visa runs” you should have some idea of the type of classes you want to take. Though, I’m not familiar with the universities in Taiwan, yet, I’m sure that each of them has different programs, etc… that they are good at or focus on, like most universities. What you want to study, besides Chinese, will determine where you should consider going.

And, no Boots, I am not his dad. But, I AM career counselor. Hartzell’s comment was valuable. Your comment was not (imo).

LJ

Stop getting bogged down in terminology – Mutron has made it crystal clear what he wants. He wants to study Chinese and avoid visa runs. He’s obviously not been in town long, so I think its safe to assume he’s simply not aware of the various educational/visa options available here.

Mutron, for your purposes, you want to enrol at a language school such as the Mandarin Training Center or some such, rather than embarking on a full-blown university course.

I’d advise you to post on the “Learning Chinese” forum for more constructive answers.

I looked into university programs several years ago, but lost interest when I found out I’d have to take the entrance exams to be eligible. At the time, they were offered in Chinese only. I’m not sure if that’s changed. I agree with others who recommended studying at a language institute.

As a foreigner, you don’t need to take the exams if you have two letters of recommendation from professors at your home university plus a proof you have finished secondary school. Though I’m not sure if you can take letters from any two professors of any university without studying at one in your home country…
However, this is how I went to NCHU a few years ago to study at their Chinese Literature Department. They would have let me do the whole four years, but I could only take one year off at my university in Germany…
I had to extend the ARC’s validity at the beginning of the second semester as it was only valid for one, but all that was only some paperwork, no problems involved.
For classes being held in Chinese: Well, that sounds natural to me as we are in Taiwan. But there is good news: Last week a “gong wen” (What would such a letter be called in English?) from the MOE was spread to the universities announcing measures to raise the level of local students. In the future, to get the degree from university one has to proof a TOEFL score of at least 510 points. And to enable students to reach that score the teachers are asked (Lean back, fasten your seat belt and hold your breath) to hold their classes in English instead of Chinese…
During my time at NCHU I once secretly attended an English class of my fellow students. The teacher was a professor for English. I never did something that boring again.

There is also now an IMBA program at Cheng-Zhi University that offers a 2 year full-time MBA program conducted entirely in English. I don’t know what kind of visas they offer but I would be willing to guess that it’s probably similar to the ARC.