Independent Adventure August 06, 2025
By A student (Chinese, Middlebury College) - abroad from 09/09/2024 to 12/20/2024 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Taiwan
I developed a stronger connection to my Taiwanese heritage and explored the island and made connections with friends and relatives.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Middlebury college has an excellent Chinese program and set the bar very high for in-class learning, engagement and complete learning experience. Some of the professors on this program fell short of these high expectations. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The administration was a real highlight of this program. They were very involved, thoughtful and open to feedback. Very friendly administration where I felt I could voice my opinions and be myself. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My roommate was fantastic, he was my key to the city and a massive help on all fronts of the experience. The building was pretty old and in rough shape. The kitchen was heavily deteriorated, the showers were weak and there was no toilet paper, soap, or paper towels provided. There were rats in the building, some insect infestations, and some hornets flying around. The rooms were large enough and the air conditioning worked well enough. |
| * Food: |
There were many options for food on campus and a few off campus as well. It became a bit monotonous at times and finding vegetables was not always easy. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The college students here are not very out going or even social at all. My roommate was my closest Taiwanese friend but aside from the other students roommates I did not meet that many people. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I had no healthcare experiences. I had to get a lung X-ray for this program. |
| * Safety: |
I felt completely safe at all times. The only real danger is from mopeds. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
It was challenging and not everything was ideal, but it was still very wholesome and fun and easy to make a great experience out of. Great chance to explore a really cool small country and learn about culture, food and heritage. Language skills also increased a great deal. |
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) |
You can get things for very cheap in Taiwan, especially Kaohsiung. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $50 or less |
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 |
Language pledge |
| 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? | level 2 (202) |
| 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? | Always speak with your roommate. Try to get quicker and quicker with your roommate, but always ask if you made a mistake because they might understand what you are saying without signaling that you misspoke. |
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? | Kaohsiung is not as impressive as Taipei |
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 Outright UrbaniteA social butterfly, you're happiest in bustling cities with hip people, and took advantage of all it had to offer. You enjoyed the nightlife, and had fun going out dancing, and socializing with friends. Fun-loving and dressed to the nines, you enjoyed discovering new restaurants, shops, cafes, and bars in your host country. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Exploring Kaohsiung |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Claire Liu, Jane |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | Great course to learn about the city and its history and even have a few chances to go to locations and explore. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | NA |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Business Chinese |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Tsai |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | Learned lots of vocab, but the teacher was not effective at helping us actually learn how to use our words and grammar. Basically exclusively reciting sentences from the textbook word for word. Would not recommend this course, but also do not think there is a better option. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Newspaper Reading |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Liu |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | This course had interesting moments, but most of the time it was completely un engaging. The instructor was not an effective teacher and I don't feel that I truly learned much from this class at all. I hardly remember any grammar or vocabulary from this class. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
One on One Tutorial |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Zhang |
| Instruction Language: | Chinese |
| Comments: | This was my favorite course. Having one on one time with an instructor was incredible because you can learn at the right pace for you and all your questions get addressed. By selecting my own topic, I found that all of our material was super interesting. The teaching style was effective, and I felt that my instructor was passionate about teaching. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
