Studying at Wenhua or Tamkang in Taiwan?

[13cyberphoenix]

I am considering enrolling in a Chinese course in Taiwan in one of the bigger cities, such as Taipei, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Taichung. I want to enroll asap instead of waiting until June. Because I'm in my mid-20s, I prefer not to be surrounded by classmates in their teens or early 20s, especially if they just want to party all the time. However, I don't want to just study at the library all the time either. It'd be nice if the fellow classmates are sociable, as opposed to a middled age crowd/people married to Taiwanese. So I think it would be better to enroll at a university than somewhere like TLI. It'd also be nice if the program had less westerners or Koreans, since I'd be forced to use Chinese more and I can meet more foreigners. It'd also be nice if the program emphasized spoken Chinese more than written, but I heard all Chinese programs in Taiwan emphasis the characters instead of conversation

I heard the programs at Wenhua or Tamkang could be good, since I can start taking classes at those schools sooner than most other places. Anyone know much about these programs?

 

I heard the program at NCCU might be good as well because it has lots of students who aren't westerners, such as Eastern Europeans. However, I don't really want to wait until June to start

[OneEye]

What is Tamyang?

 

Something to keep in mind about Wenhua is that they move much more slowly through the material than at, say, the MTC at NTNU where I studied. Some people prefer it that way because they like to give it time to sink in and they're not in any real hurry.

 

I've heard great things about the one-on-one instruction at TLI from people who know what they're talking about (professional translators, people who have done graduate degrees here, etc.).

 

But really, if you want a social place, the MTC would be hard to beat. You could work with a tutor until June if you want. They'd probably even be willing to set you up with one there. 

[13cyberphoenix]

I meant Tamkang, not Tamyang

 

As for MTC, I heard theres lots of students there in their late teens and others who love to party all the time. Thats not really what I'm looking for. I'm mostly interested in making friends, especially Taiwanese ones. Some partying is ok. And I don't really want to wait until June to start

 

I heard the program at NCCU might be good because it has lots of students who aren't westerners, such as Eastern Europeans

[roddy]

Have you seen the existing posts on MTC. Looked like they'd been studying a decent amount to me...

[OneEye]

There were very few teens (and all over 18 I'm sure) when I was there. Most students were in their twenties, though there were plenty of people older than that.

 

There were 2000 students at the MTC my last quarter there. There will be a good mix of partiers and more studious types. Picking the intensive course option should improve your chances of interacting more with the latter than the former. I studied there for 5 quarters, and while I had a healthy social life, I was mostly there to learn Chinese, as were most of my classmates.

 

NTNU is a fairly large university, you'll have no problem making friends with Taiwanese people.

 

I have heard good things about the program at NCCU, but I don't know much about it. The large majority of students at the MTC aren't Western though, so that's no reason to choose one over the other. At least a third of my classmates were Japanese, and there were plenty of people from Russia, Poland, Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, etc., as well as all over Europe, Australia, and the Americas. 

[etm001]

Hi,

 

I'm a little late to the party, but I just wanted to second OneEye's comments, as they align 100% with my experience at MTC. I also heard good things about TLI too (I believe the going rate for 1:1 tutoring at TLI is about $500NTD).

 

One thought about making Taiwanese friends: MTC - or any language school, for that matter - is not the best place to meet Taiwanese people (although you can/will make many great friends from everywhere else in the world). You'll need to look elsewhere to meet Taiwanese people, and your ability to make friends with them will depend on your Chinese proficiency (or their English proficiency). One easy and fast way to meet Taiwanese people is through language exchange. It's definitely hit-or-miss, but I've met some great people this way.

 

Good luck!