Taiwan - The Better Version of China May 23, 2023
By A student (International Politics & Economics, Middlebury College) - abroad from 02/24/2023 to 05/20/2023 with
CET Taiwan
I gained friends, more world perspective, and an awesome 3 months abroad
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Chinese language learning is intense, but manageable |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
At the beginning, they were slow to provide details, making things uncertain and diminishing my confidence in the program. However, they eventually provided info before absolutely necessary, and always delivered. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Great housing accomodations with nice roommate pairing |
| * Food: |
Food in Taiwan is great, but it's all unhealthy |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Didn't speak a ton of Chinese outside of language classes, but this was somewhat of a personal choice |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
GeoBlue has fantastic healthcare coverage |
| * Safety: |
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| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | approx $200 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Go out to street food, don't go to craft markets (except they have awesome stuff for a semi-reasonable price so I highly suggest this) |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Chinese 301 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Try not to worry about them getting organized later than expected. It'll all work it |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Nearly Native or Trail BlazerCraving the most authentic experience possible, perhaps you lived with a host family or really got in good with the locals. You may have felt confined by your program requirements and group excursions. Instead, you'd have preferred to plan your own trips, even skipping class to conduct your own 'field work.' |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Chinese |
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| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | |
| Comments: | Great course, but the level of teaching was below what is found at Middlebury |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Global Health |
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| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | The class was pretty good, but CET was overbearing on the professor to hand out more stringent/lower grades. The instructor was great, but CET's guidelines for teachers took away from the class |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
