Taiwan Gave Me So Much Confidence June 01, 2024

By A student (East Asian Languages & Cultures - Chinese, Wellesley College) - abroad from 02/21/2024 to 05/18/2024 with

CET Taiwan

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

Academically: continued solidifying my basics, advanced my reading/speaking/writing/listening skills. Personally: massively improved my confidence, gained several skills for dealing with anxiety Overall: extremely worthwhile

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	2 weeks - 1 month

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	Studying Chinese at NTU was intense. The CET staff were happy to give studying tips if you needed them. I usually had about 3-4 hours of homework a night.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	The CET staff were incredibly welcoming and helpful. I went to them multiple times throughout the semester for help and they always responded promptly.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	Housing was all off-campus apartments near subway lines. All the apartment were in richer areas and were quite lovely. (My apartment had 3 different chandeliers as a random touch). I lucked out and got a single with a built-in wardrobe. The living room and kitchen were quite large, and we had a washer and balcony to air-dry clothes on. The one major surprise was the hard beds but I adjusted pretty quickly.
* Food:	I have some taste sensitivities so I couldn't always eat all the local food. But everything I did try was amazing! My favorite night market to visit is Raohe. Crowded, but I enjoyed a lot more food there then other night markets.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	Each apartment was assigned 1-2 local roommates. I had a lot of really cool deep conversations with each of mine about cultural differences in the US vs Taiwan and where they might originate from. CET hosted a number of program activities to introduce students to local culture. We were also assigned language partners, but our schedules didn't really match up well for me, so I didn't end up meeting with them a ton.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?	I signed up for therapy early on and it was incredibly helpful. First in helping me navigate the early days of the program when my anxiety was spiking and freaking out over everything, and then by giving me someone to talk to about how I was feeling about this experience.
* Safety:	I never felt I entered an unsafe area I had to leave. I never stayed out super late, but even at 10 pm I felt safe walking around by myself as a woman. I only ever had one strange night encounter, and that was outside a brightly-lit 7-11 and was more of a strange scam than anything weird. The guy asking for money took my response of "sorry , no cash" well and even wished me a good night before leaving.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes As with all programs, there were minor annoyances. But overall I felt CET really supported me and created a great program.

Finances

* 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)	You could definitely live in Taiwan for very cheap depending on where you go. I tended to be ok with spending "more" (more as in more expensive in Taiwan, all still way cheaper than the US) if it meant something I could eat with my taste sensitivities.
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week?	Probably about $90 a week.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component?	Yes
How much did the program encourage you to use the language? 0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language	There was no language pledge to only speak Chinese at home, but there was inside the Chinese Language Division building where classes were.
How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program?	Advanced
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?	Advanced Chinese
How many hours per day did you use the language?
Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants?	Work it in to your life as much as you can - it's okay if it's only little ways. Thinking about your schedule for tomorrow? Try translating it!

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Apartment
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Local Students Americans
* Who did you take classes with? Select all that apply	Americans International Students
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?	Program-led activities
* What could be improved?	Roommate housing
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	Bring more American foods from home you might miss - the cravings are real and hit with the homesickness.

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 Academic or Linguist You went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you!

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Low Advanced Chinese
Course Department:	Chinese Language Department
Instructor:	Guo-laoshi
Instruction Language:	Mandarin Chinese
Comments:	The Chinese class met 5 times a week for 3 hours per day, with daily vocab quizzes (excepting test days). Homework usually took me 2-3 hours minimum with reviewing class content, looking ahead, practicing vocab/listening and workbook exercises. Exams should have been once a week but my class ended up moving through some of the lessons slowly and had to rush to catch up. We went from 3 weeks on one lesson at the start of the semester to cramming lesson 6 in 3 days and lesson 12 in two to take our midterm with the rest of the level. It was a very challenging class in the middle of it, but afterwards I can see that my Chinese skills have improved. There was a department-wide field trip, but I took advantage of the day off and stayed home to take a break.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Taiwanese Culture, History, and National Identity
Course Department:	CET Program Hosted
Instructor:	Vivian Chih
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	This class was not super challenging lesson-wise. Midterm- and final- project-wise was another story. Class met once a week for 3 hours. Before each class, we were assigned 2-3 readings of 20-80 pages each. This was our only homework. I personally did all the readings and did feel that, while long and boring at times, overall they did give me a much better sense of the overarching lesson topics. A classmate I worked with never did the readings and felt she understood enough from class. Class was pretty much lecture-based with Professor Chih reading almost straight from the slides most days. I feel the readings covered more advanced topics than what we covered in class slides. Each class also involved a group discussion of the readings, which is what I found the most impactful for understanding the topics. The midterm/final projects were connected and very confusing. First she had us put together a bibliography to research a topic, then we created a description of a museum exhibit. Then we wrote a analytical paper, then finally put together our museum item exhibit as a presentation. It was difficult to move back and forth between "easy to understand interactive exhibit" and "research paper on cultural identity," especially as my group's chosen topic did not translate to physical objects well and we were not originally given indication that it was important to be able to have objects. Overall the projects were confusing and we only had very vague rubrics to work with. There were 3 field trips to small local museums throughout the semester that were quite fun.
Credit Transfer Issues: