The 2023 Aims and Objectives

[realmayo]

No real advice but would love to know how you get on because I'll hopefully be in Taiwan later this year! Two things I've found useful: 1. If you are talking with someone and they unobtrusively repeat a word back to you, they're probably not confirming what you said, but are politely correcting your pronunciation, so it's good to listen hard to how they said that word back to you. 2. If you have a naturally charming face then no problems, but if you tend to look serious when nervous or concentrating on producing the right langauge sounds, then you might unintentionally be intimidating people when initiating new chat! In my experience easily remedied (though it sounds foolish) by making a proper effort to smile each time you are, say, ordering a coffee or whatever. But this perhaps applies only to bald, thuggish, middle-aged men such as myself.

[Jan Finster]

On 2/21/2023 at 2:17 AM, malazann said:

(P.S I'll be looking to move cities every few weeks, so am also open to suggestions on cities to stop by)

 

I really enjoyed Tainan's food and I love Kaohsiung. It is right at the waterfront, there is a metro, beaches, plenty of night markets and it is much cheaper than Taipei. It also has a creative/artsy vibe.

[becky82]

On 2/18/2023 at 11:08 PM, abcdefg said:

I wanted to pull it off with aplomb.

 

Today I learned a new word: aplomb (n.) self-confidence or assurance, especially when in a demanding situation.

[abcdefg]

I wonder how one would say that in Chinese. Anyone know?

[abcdefg]

On 2/20/2023 at 7:17 PM, malazann said:

If anyone has any tips/advice for me, please feel free to share them.

 

I agree with @Jan Finster, above. The south of the island has lots of charm. I felt more at home there than in Taipei. I found those smaller cities great for just wandering around instead of being too tightly focused on hitting the "must see" tourist attractions from the guide book. (Disclaimer: I only visited several times; never actually lived in Taiwan.)

[pon00050]

 

I broke the streak of learning characters using Skritter yesterday.

That makes the longest streak 85 days for me.

Of course, I have already restarted the routine and I am going to try to do it consistently after doing another existing habit, so that I perform the action automatically.

 

[querido]

I aim to start again.

Previous materials/methods became crazily overcomplicated. Can't repeat that. 

Intend to switch to mostly listening and reading aloud and avoid "text handling" as much as possible, if you know what I mean.

Good luck everybody.

 

[Jan Finster]

On 12/19/2022 at 9:18 PM, alantin said:

I booked a month studying Chinese with LTL in Taipei in the spring and living with a host family

 

Any updates?

On 2/21/2023 at 2:17 AM, malazann said:

I'm lucky enough to get the opportunity to go to Taiwan next month for ~3 months (remote work)

 

Any updates?

[malazann]

On 3/19/2023 at 4:43 PM, Jan Finster said:

Any updates?

Been here for less than a week. I remember hearing a podcast on time, and how the secret to living longer is to have new experiences - it "tricks" you and expands your sense of lived life. My 4 days feels like the equivalent of my last 2 months back home. I think that says more about my deprecated social life though

I am currently in Taipei, got 1 more week of accommodation sorted and have started seeing apartments. I kind of forgot about the homestay idea tbh. I might have quick browse on homestay.com (someone mentioned the site to me). 

I love Taipei though. Taiwanese people are soooo friendly. I am having more success than I thought with using my mandarin in real-life. Went to the president's palace and a volunteer talked to me for 30 minutes in the room with Taiwan milestone pictures (taiwan through the decades). 

Went to a dope manga store and the clerk introduced me to Tawainese manga artists and her favourites. Another long convo. 

I can't be happier with my decision to come here. I am just gonna focus on learning through osmosis for now

[realmayo]

Very cool. I am going to / moving to Taipei in June - interested to hear how you get on with apartment-hunting.

[malazann]

On 3/21/2023 at 10:52 PM, realmayo said:

Very cool. I am going to / moving to Taipei in June - interested to hear how you get on with apartment-hunting.

I am only here for a few months, so I wasn't too picky. I joined some facebook groups (taipei rent, 臺北租房 should give you several active groups), and then just messaged a few people and it was fairly painless

If you are going to be here for more than a few months, I'd definitely suggest just getting accommodation for the first week and scrolling through these facebook groups to get an idea of the renting landscape before you arrive. maybe even arrange some inspections, if you have an idea of where you want to live (its a big city)

Alternatively you can of course use 591, a good option if you have a rough idea of what you are looking for. I was having easy success on facebook so I never turned to it. 

sidenote: facebook is pretty damn popular here.