Mandarin Training Center, National Taiwan Normal University

[etm001]

Hi,

I can see the value in recording a university lecture, perhaps because:

• The professor speaks rapidly and you can't keep pace while taking notes.
  
• The professor provides information not covered in the textbook (and upon which you will be tested).
  
• You have difficulty hearing.
  
• etc.
  

None of these really apply at MTC, at least based on my experience so far:

• As compared to a university lecture, the MTC teacher's pace is markedly slower. You will not be taking notes periodically, not constantly.
  
• Since it's a language instruction class, there is a lot of repetition. You don't have to worry about missing anything important.
  
• 98% of the classroom instruction will be focused on the materials in your textbook, and these are the only topics upon which you are tested.
  
• The rooms are small, so you shouldn't have any trouble hearing.
  
• etc.
  

I think OneEye's suggestion is a good one. Personally, I don't see much value in recording the class, and I can't imagine spending extra time reviewing the recordings (three hours worth each day for the intensive class) - that's time I could spend studying, practicing with a language exchange partner, or even just watching Taiwanese TV.

[aushaun]

Thanks all for your advice! I've actually went ahead and bought one of the "livescribe" pens, since it can play back to particular written points - should be useful for pronunciation!

I'm really looking forward to going, albeit extremely nervous. Hope to provide a writeup that future students will find useful.

[etm001]

Hi all,

Having recently completed my second quarter at MTC, I thought it would be a good time to share some new thoughts. And, assuming that you are reading this thread because you are considering attending MTC, then I want to try and answer a question you may be asking yourself:

• After "X" months of study, how much Chinese will I have learned at MTC? What will be my level of proficiency? When speaking Chinese, what will I *really* be able to do (i.e., order food, open a bank account, etc.)?
  

The only way I can answer this question is simply to share my own progress, from which you can draw your own conclusions.

MTC/PAVC Quick Stats

As of today:

• Total Months of Attendance: ~7 months (2.5 MTC quarters)
  
• Class Type: 2 quarters intensive, 1 quarter non-intensive
  
• PAVC Starting Point: Book 1, Chapter 6
  
• PAVC Current Point: Book 3, Chapter 11 (39 chapters)
  
• Total PAVC Vocabulary Words: ~3,500 (counting from PAVC Book 1, Chapter 1 to PAVC Book 3, Chapter 11).
  
• Total PAVC Grammar Concepts: ~200
  

It's hard to accurately calculate the number of grammar concepts reviewed, but I think ~200 is a reasonable estimate, for whatever it's worth.

Experience Last Quarter (Winter)

Last quarter I enrolled in my second intensive class:

• Start: PAVC Book 2, Chapter 9
  
• Finish: PAVC Book 3, Chapter 8 (14 chapters total)
  

Overall I did not care for my teacher. She was a nice person, but whether due to a lack of experience (she was relatively young compared to many of the teachers I see around the MTC) or a lack of interest, it felt like she expended the minimum effort in teaching the material. She never supplemented the PAVC book with additional materials (as others teachers have done), and often times the class discussion would wonder into topics that were unrelated to the chapter/subject at hand (which is fine for general speaking/listening practice, I suppose, but I found it frustrating). As the quarter progressed I grew increasingly frustrated, and attending class felt more and more like a burden/chore.

The other point I want to make is related to the pace of the intensive course and PAVC Book 3. Earlier in this thread I stated the following:

• In the intensive class, a chapter is completed every 4-5 days.
  
• Starting in PAVC Book 3, the number of vocabulary words and grammar concepts in each chapter noticeably increases.
  

In other words, starting in Book 3, you have to learn more material in the same amount of time, making the intensive course that much more challenging. Based on my experience, the pace of the intensive class, combined with the larger volume of material in Book 3, raises questions as to whether it's best to take non-intensive classes as one progresses further into the PAVC series.

Regular vs. Intensive Class

Well, I decided to answer my own question: for this quarter I switched from the intensive class to the non-intensive class. It's only been ~4 weeks, but so far I think it was the right decision for me. Although the total amount of material covered in the non-intensive class is less than that of the intensive class (8 chapters vs. 14), there is much more time to review the material (both inside and outside of class) and really let it sink in. In short:

• Intensive: total volume of material reviewed is greater, but retention rate may suffer to do the pace of the class.
  
• Non-intensive: total volume of material is lesser, but retention rate may be greater.
  

My recommendation:

• Take the intensive course through PAVC Books 1 and 2.
  
• If you felt that you just barely kept up with the pace of the intensive course for PAVC Books 1 and 2, then definitely switch to the regular class for Book 3.
  
• If the pace of the intensive class was manageable for PAVC Books 1 and 2 (it was for me), then stick with it for Book 3 and see how it goes. But prepare yourself for a increased volume of work, and perhaps a lower overall rate of retention.
  

I also have to admit that my experience with my teacher last quarter may have influenced my decision to switch to the regular class. While the total volume of material wouldn't have been reduced with a different teacher, a more positive experience might have lead me to continue to take the intensive course.

That's all I have to say for the regular class for now. I'll probably provide more thoughts about the regular class experience in a few months, once this MTC quarter is over.

Measuring Proficiency: Where I Started From

Now we get to the hear of this post. I want to try to give a sense of how much Chinese you will know, and how proficient you might be, after 7 months of study at MTC. First, here's how much Chinese I knew before starting at MTC:

• Back home I attended a small Chinese class once per week for 1.5 hours, for about six months before coming to Taiwan.
  
• The class was taught by a native Chinese speaker, but much of the instruction was in English.
  
• My class attendance was a little spotty due to work.
  
• Not too much homework.
  
• No knowledge of traditional Chinese characters.
  

With this background I was able to start at MTC from PAVC Book One, Chapter Six.

Measuring Proficiency: TOCFL

After ~7 months of study at MTC, here's how I recently performed when testing myself against the TOCFL word list (Taiwan's equivalent of China's HSK):

• Level 1: 95% correct, 507 total words
  
• Level 2: 77% correct, 384 total words
  
• Level 3: 63% correct, 663 total words
  

There are two more levels (4 and 5) that I didn't bother testing myself on, in part because those levels have a 1000s of words a piece, and I don't feel like slogging through a test that long. Some thoughts:

• Having taken the TOCFL twice now (you have to take it and achieve a minimum score in order to continue onwards at MTC, at least when taking the intensive class), I feel that PAVC Books 1, 2, and 3 cover all of the materials likely to be found on TOCFL level 1 and 2, and a good portion of that found in TOCFL level 3.
  
• It would take only a small amount of effort to bring my word scores on TOCFL level 2 and 3 into the 90%+ range.
  

TOCFL, like the HSK, is more than just a vocabulary test, but I don't have an easy way to quantify the other aspects of the test as a reflection of my progress in learning Chinese. (One last note: I tested myself against an older version of the TOCFL word list; it was recently revised this past March. I have not had an opportunity to review the new list, but I'm assuming it's roughly the same (in terms of degree of difficulty, etc.) as the old one.)

Measuring Proficiency: Everyday Tasks

I don't have any quantifiable metrics to provide, so here are some qualitative (and somewhat random) examples from real life:

• Of course, I attend class at MTC everyday, and the all instruction is in Chinese. I generally have no problems understanding the teacher, although admittedly the classroom environment is highly structured (i.e., discussing specific topics, etc.), and the teacher is likely to enunciate well and/or speak at a tempo suitable to the students' level.
  
• I'm happy to say that I can usually order food and drink without too much trouble (I couldn't do this at *all* when I first arrived). I would say that, on average, even if I am not familiar with a specific item on a menu, I'll have a good sense of what it is and/or how it is prepared/served.
  
• I've had to visit the immigration agency three times thus far in order to renew my visa and/or get an ARC card (which included a visit to the hospital for a mandatory health check). I was able to conduct these transactions reasonably well, conducting most of it in Chinese, although sometimes reverting to English if needed (the immigration agents aren't necessarily fluent in English, but they know enough).
  
• Recently I had to speak with a police officer over the phone and provide some basic information (don't worry, I wasn't in trouble). I was able to understand the (admittedly) basic questions the officer asked me and provide the answers entirely in Chinese.
  
• A few weeks ago I went shopping with my roommates for a used refrigerator and washing machine. My Taiwanese roommate conducted the bulk of the discussions with the various stores. I usually had a good sense of what was being discussed, but I can't say I always had a clear idea of everything that was said. I definitely could have done this shopping by myself, but the discussions with the shop owners would have been much more directly and basic.
  
• A couple of nights ago I got together with classmates from my first quater at MTC and had dinner and drinks. The entire night's conversation was conducted in Chinese (even though all of us could speak English to varying degres). One of my classmates brought her Taiwanese husband, and he noted that our Chinese was noticeably improved from the last time he saw us (about 4 months ago).
  
• I'm currently reading a book of children's fairy tales, which is well within my reading level (it's an enjoyable read because on any given page I know 80% or more of the words).
  

Obviously the above is anecdotal, but hopefully it gives you a sense of the progress I've made thus far. I can handle a range of basic daily transactions, and while I may not understand everything that is being said to me, I usually understand the gist of it.

Measuring Proficiency: Reading and Writing

I'm much better reading and writing Chinese than I am speaking and listening to it. To that end, the best way I can demonstrate my current level of proficiency is simply to provide samples of things that I've read and/or written lately.

Sample 1: Facebook Post from a Taiwanese Friend

This was posted a 1-2 months ago. I was able to read it without difficulty and did not have to lookup any words. It's pretty basic and direct Chinese.

我有個客人住樓上的周小姐,每天早上準備早餐,帶女兒走來走去,打掃家裡,幫狗[長毛臘腸]洗澡冬天還會幫狗泡湯...老公是個警察,就只是一個普通的家庭主婦,之前周小姐跟我說;他還沒遇到這老公前,也30幾歲[快40歲的年紀],他也沒打算要嫁出去了,還自己存了一筆養老金,後來碰到這老公,沒多久就決定結婚了~前幾天周小姐帶女兒來剪頭髮,走的時候拿了好多小餅乾巧克力請我吃,她常跟我說:沒事的話,我下午就在家吃點零食,喝杯咖啡[旁邊可能還有一隻在泡湯的狗] 人生苦短,就圖個開心,不是嘛!!

我收到餅乾的當下,也可以感受到那份小幸福~~我好喜歡這位媽媽[周小姐]

錢再賺就有,快樂是錢買不到的~感受每個快樂的時光

Sample 2: Random Douban Blog Post

I read this a few weeks ago, again mostly without difficulty. Just slightly more advanced than Sample 1 above, so I did have to lookup words such as:

比如，

提到，

隱含，僅僅，甚至，拒絕，

邀請.

中国人的英语以Chinglish或Chenglish闻名于世。中国人最大的英语发音问题就是没有连读，但这都不是最主要的语言问题。老外们时常议论，很多中国人在说英语时，听起来没有礼貌；并不是这些中国人本身没礼貌，而是他们还没有习惯英语的礼貌表达方式。

比如，中国人在餐厅或咖啡厅，会说：“我想要一个汉堡包”或者“我想要一杯咖啡”。但是，如果直接把这些话翻译成英语“I want to have a hamburger.”或“I want to have a coffee.”老外们会觉得这样说话很没有礼貌，当然他们也不会直接告诉你。而在西方国家，老外们一般会说：“Could I have a hamburger, please?”或“Can I have a coffee, please?”在这里

joy

同学又提到一个需要注意的问题，“打工的孩子最容易不注意的是see you.See u应该是客人说的，隐含了他觉得不错他会再来的意思，而店员最好用低调一点的bye，用see u太强势了。另外人家说谢谢，你也不用说you are welcome, 这实在是太正式了，有点真把自己当回事觉得帮了人家的味道。回答cheers或no worries就好，如果仅仅是对方爱说谢，你甚至可以不回应他的谢，直接说你要说的就好，如果是买了他的东西他谢你，更不能说you r welcome了，最好也谢对方”

再比如，中国人在拒绝别人邀请的午宴或晚宴时，会说：“抱歉，我不能去，我还有别的安排。”翻译成英文就是“Sorry，I can’t. I have another appointment.”如果这样说，那别人第二次也许不会再邀请你了。老外们一般会这样说：“That is a good idea! I would like to join in but I have another appointment today.”

(Note: I use a browser plug-in to convert simplified characters to traditional characters. This blog post is available in its entirety

here

.)

Sample 3: Short Essay “成功的國家領導人”

Here's a short essay I wrote a few days ago, the topic being to write about a successful leader from our home countries. The following is the uncorrected version of the essay.

1961年八月四號在夏威夷，奧巴馬總統出生了。他母親是美國人，他父親是肯亞人。他出生後不久，他母親帶他到華盛頓是為了她唸大學。他父親繼續住在夏威夷直到1962年六月，然後他搬到波士頓是為了唸書在哈佛大學。1964年他父母親離婚；他父親回到肯亞在那裡他再次結婚。他回到肯亞以後，他只走訪一次他兒子。1982年他在一次車禍去世。

1965年奧巴馬總統的母親嫁給了一個印尼人。從1967年到1971年奧巴馬總統住在印尼，然後回到了夏威夷住跟他的外公外婆才他的高中畢業。他唸大學，先在洛杉磯，然後他轉學到哥倫比亞大學，從那裡1983年他畢業了。

大學畢業以後，奧巴馬總統工作了五年左右，然後他唸書在哈佛法學院。哈佛的法學院畢業以後，他在芝加哥大學法學院教書，教了十二年的書。

1997年奧巴馬總統當選伊利諾州參議院。從1997年到2004年他擔任在伊利諾州參議院。1993年他決定競選美國參議院。他勝選了，從2005年到2008年他擔任伊利諾的參議員在美國參議院。

2007年奧巴馬總統宣布競選美國總統。“希拉里·克林頓” (Hillary Clinton) 反對他贏民主黨的總統提名。他們有很多口水戰，可是終於奧巴馬總統贏了民主黨的總統提名。贏了民主黨的總統提名以後，奧巴馬總統反對共和黨的總統提名“米特·羅姆尼”。雖然很多選民投給"約翰·麥凱恩"（John McCain）他們的票，更多選民投給奧巴馬總統他們的票，所以他當選美國總統。

2012年奧巴馬總統又競選美國總統。這個次，“米特·羅姆尼”（Mitt Romney）反對奧巴馬總統。雖然美國的經濟不好，也很多美國人還沒找到工作，更多人不喜歡“米特·羅姆尼”，所以巴馬總統贏了改選。

我欣賞奧巴馬總統，因為他的生活不太輕鬆的。他父母親離婚也他父親離開。他母親是白人，他父親是黑人，當時很多人覺得白人跟黑人不可以結婚。連今天還有人都不要黑人當選美國總統。可是，奧巴馬總統總是知道這些人胡說八道，他也從來沒有失去希望了, 他實現了他的夢想。我覺得大家都可以學習他的榜樣。

Sample Four: Full Length Essay “

我的留學生活”

The intensive classes at MTC require that a mid-term and a final paper be written, along with accompanying presentations which must be delivered in front of the class (or in front of several classes that have been combined into a single audience). Since this post is already a bit long, I've attached to it the final paper that I wrote for my last intensive class, the subject of which is "My Life as a Foreign Exchange Student".

Simply put, seven months ago I could not have read and/or written any of the above. So I'm pretty happy to see such a demonstrable improvement in my Chinese.

Final Thoughts

I wanted to give you a sense of how much progress you can make studying Chinese at MTC. The only way I could think of doing so was to write a post that is, admittedly, very specific to my own experience and that is more qualitative than quantitative. For what it's worth, I consider myself to be an average student, but your mileage may vary, and like anything, you'll get out of MTC what you put into it.

I hoped this helped. 加油！

我的留學生活.pdf

[etm001]

Hi all,

Time for another MTC update. This time I'll keep it brief.

Pace of Regular Class vs. Intensive Class

I found the regular class to be more relaxing than the intensive class. We studied a total of 8 chapters (vs. 14 for intensive). The slower paced allowed more time for the teacher to expound upon vocabulary/grammar and to answer student questions, as well as allowed more in-class opportunities for students to speak and hold group discussions.

My teacher was great: she was kind and patient; taught clearly; provided plenty of supplemental vocabulary and grammar points; and facilitated student/group discussion, both through her own questions and through usage of the textbook-based classroom exercises, which, upon first read seem a little silly, but which were reasonably effective in forcing all of us outside our speaking comfort zones.

I kept in touch with a number of my classmates who continued onwards with the intensive class. Several stated that switching to the regular class might have been a better choice than continuing with the intensive class. All felt that they were constantly scrambling to keep up with the material.

Final conclusion: I, and many of my former intensive class classmates, feel that the "right" pace is somewhere between the regular and the intensive class, about 5-6 days per chapter (again, it's ~4 days per chapter in the intensive class and ~6 days in the regular class).

Chinese Proficiency

There's no radical change in my proficiency today than 3 months ago - for now all improvement is incremental. If anything, I'm probably in a short-term slump, which I'm guessing is typical for students who reach the early- to mid-intermediate phase of language acquisition.

One thing that has helped me a lot was finding a good tutor, with whom I meet each week for two hours, and I use the entire session to practice speaking and listening. Typically we just start talking about a topic and let the conversation naturally progress from there. I highly recommend spending a little money and getting a tutor, which might be a lot more effective in improving your Chinese than a language exchange partner - YMMV. (Luckily for me my tutor is free).

Future Plans

I'm taking the full summer session at MTC, by the end of which I will have completed PAVC Book Four. (Had I stayed in the intensive class this past quarter and for this summer session, then by the end of the summer I would have finished somewhere around PAVC Book Five, chapter eight).

I'm not sure if I'll continue at MTC for the fall of 2013. Since my speaking/listening skills are still less developed than my writing/reading skills, I may try to find another program that more heavily emphasizes these skills. That said, my understanding is that once you get through PAVC Book Four and/or Book Five, MTC has a number of courses that might be more auditory/oral intensive.

加油！

[roddy]

Round of applause please, folks.

[Meng Lelan]

Excellent write up. When does the summer term begin and end, and what courses do they have over the summer?

[OneEye]

You could take Mini Radio Plays instead of PAVC5 if you wanted to stay at MTC, and then at level 6 the "Recent News" class is conversation-heavy, even though you do read a lot of newspaper articles. Above level 6 I think it's mostly reading-focused apart from the TV news class, but it depends on the teacher. I know some teachers for the newspaper I-III classes try to get people to talk as much as possible, but many don't.

[etm001]

OneEye: thanks, I'll keep that in mind once I finished PAVC Four / Far East III.

Meng Lelan: MTC offers a "summer session" and a "summer term":

• Summer term: June 1st - August 31st
  
• Summer session: July 1 - August 31st
  

The summer term is the same as any other term in regards to term length, course pace (regular vs. intensive), etc. I'm not sure if anything is different in regards to the summer session, other than it being one month shorter than the summer term.

MTC does offer a number of Chinese cultural classes during the summer term. I have yet to take one of these classes, but I am considering taking a couple this summer. Here's what's currently being offered:

• Chinese Classical Instruments
  
• Chinese Painting
  
• Chinese Macrame
  
• Gucheng (Chinese zither)
  
• Folk Arts
  
• Chinese Paper Cutting
  
• Chop Engraving
  
• Chinese Cuisine
  
• Tai-chi Chuan
  
• Chinese Calligraphy
  
• Practical Taiwanese
  
• Advanced Oral Training
  

Each class:

• Meets once per week.
  
• Is two hours in length.
  
• Counts towards supplemental study time (relevant only to those taking non-intensive classes)
  
• Costs NT$4,500. Some classes may have additional material fees.
  

[Meng Lelan]

Thanks for finding the information. Actually I was hoping to take a summer class in something like reading 棋王 or a survey course of modern short stories written by authors in Taiwan.

[OneEye]

Those would be regular classes, not culture classes. The culture classes generally just meet once a week for 2 hours, and they're supplementary to the main classes. I do know that 棋王 is available as a class, but whether they offer it or not depends on whether there are enough students that want to take it. Same deal with the short stories courses, but I think those tend to be offered more often than 棋王.

The Lucky bookstore sells a vocabulary book to accompany 棋王. The definitions are divided by chapter, and most are in Chinese. I'd say it's worth getting if you think you might need it, because it's pretty good. I've only read the first chapter myself, but I might go further later.

[Meng Lelan]

Lucky Bookstore is the supplier to those schools, right? I am reading 棋王 right now on Ch. 5 but could use a vocabulary book like that. Chinese definitions are better than English definitions, at this stage I would say English only definitions tend to derail my trying to think in Chinese. Culture class isn't what I am looking for, I get loads of pipa and wushu right here in Texas.

[OneEye]

Lucky is the 師大 bookstore. Its Chinese name is 師大書苑, and I have no clue why they thought "Lucky Bookstore" was a better English name than something more clear and direct, like "Shida Bookstore" or "NTNU Bookstore."

[Meng Lelan]

Lucky is what I have to be to navigate that site in search of the Shida textbooks and references. Not real user friendly or maybe it's just me.

[OneEye]

Haha, yup. Their website is terrible. Maybe this page has what you're looking for.

[Meng Lelan]

Doesn't seem to be in there. Wow that site is so 亂七八糟 maybe the actual onsite school bookstore is like that too!?!

[OneEye]

The 棋王 vocab book is item 74 on that list. It's called 棋王詞彙.

The actual bookstore is fairly organized. It's mostly run by a few old ladies though, so I'm sure they got someone to make the website in 1997 or something, and have hardly touched it since then.

[Meng Lelan]

he actual bookstore is fairly organized. It's mostly run by a few old ladies though, so I'm sure they got someone to make the website in 1997 or something, and have hardly touched it since then

Awesome. Hopefully someday I can come by and have them help me select planeloads of books to take home with me.

[fabs]

Hi all,

First of all, thanks for sharing your insights and taking the time to post your experiences, very much appreciated.

I am considering taking a spontaneous career break and spend some time studying Chinese. My plan at this point would be to enrol for a Regular course at NTNU and do lots of supplementary (self-)study and one-on-one lessons (incl. exchange partnerships) on the side. Based on what I have read this is the way go for the first term. Now my burning questions, based on your experience:

• Would you expect any available spots available at this point? I am planning to enrol for the Fall Term starting 5th September.
  
• What is the usual processing time of an application once documents have been received, and how do I get notified of the outcome?
  
• Does everyone who fulfils the standard eligibility criteria get accepted?
  
• Is it possible to start at a complete beginner level i.e. "I don't speak and understand a single word of Chinese"? Reading this thread I have the impression that all of you had some sort of Chinese lessons prior to enrolment at NTNU.
  

Many thanks for your help in advance.

Fabs

[etm001]

Hi,

Of course, the MTC office can give you the official answers. Having said that...

Would you expect any available spots available at this point? I am planning to enrol for the Fall Term starting 5th September.

The enrollment deadlines are very close to the start of the term, which leads me to believe that spots are probably available right up until the first day of the term.

What is the usual processing time of an application once documents have been received, and how do I get notified of the outcome?

I think I waited ~4 weeks after I mailed my application before sending an email asking whether I had been admitted. I received a reply within 1-2 days stating that I had been, and I received the official letter not too long after that.

Note: according to the MTC website, if you are a national applying from a 90 day visa exempt country, then your acceptance letter will be sent via email. (This was not the case when I applied).

Does everyone who fulfils the standard eligibility criteria get accepted?

I can't think of a reason why someone wouldn't be accepted if they meet all the criteria.

Is it possible to start at a complete beginner level i.e. "I don't speak and understand a single word of Chinese"? Reading this thread I have the impression that all of you had some sort of Chinese lessons prior to enrolment at NTNU.

Sure, you can start as a complete beginner. That said, if you've got the time, it wouldn't hurt to learn a handful of useful words (e.g., "hello", "thank you"), and your first weeks of school might be a little easier if you already know the basics of pinyin (it's not hard to learn).

Lastly, although you can study for 90 days visa free (assuming you qualify), it might be better to come with a student visa, especially if you plan on staying in Taiwan for a year or more. If you come 90 days visa free:

• You will have to leave the country every 90 days (duh). You can renew a student visa without leaving the country.
  
• There are requirements related to how long you must continuously reside in Taiwan before you can qualify for a resident visa and/or national health insurance; leaving the country every 90 days might interfere with these "continuous residency" requirements. Post a reply if you are interested and I'll explain what I know.
  

Lastly, an obligatory disclaimer: the MTC office can give you definitive answers for anything related to the MTC, and the official Taiwanese government websites and/or your local Taiwanese economic development office (if you have one in your town) can give you definitive answers related to visas, etc.

Good luck!

[fabs]

Thanks so much for the quick and comprehensive response. Which Visa I will apply for depends on when I start the course. If I have sufficient lead time, I will follow your advice on apply for a student visa. Otherwise, for example if I decide to go for this Fall Term, I will just have to go for the 90 Day Tourist Visa Thanks for the extra info!

Looking at the Academic Calendar, it looks like there is no Christmas break really. I have 2 weddings to attend and was wondering how students would usually handle instances such as where one needs to leave for a few days / a week? I guess people must face the same issue if they get sick etc.! Is it possible to schedule one-on-ones as subsitute or how would one be able to catch up?

Cheers,

Fab