Planning the move to Taiwan for Mandarin intensive study

[bennymcl]

Hi everyone!

 

First time posting and being on the forum, so I apologise if I got it in the wrong topic.

 

My name is Benny. 26 year old Canadian. I spent the last 7 years living in Europe (Mostly Scotland) and Asia (South Korea). I'm now back in Canada and I am beginning to feel more foreign here than in my last 7 years away! My plan was never to stay here long, but it's time to put those new plans into gear!

 

I speak English and Korean(intermediate). I would love to now learn Chinese as well, but I have a problem. I have been researching and looking online, but there doesn't seem to be much advice for people who have 0 Chinese experience doing intensive courses in Taiwan. They are all targeted for people who have at least some command of the language. I have, obviously, found a few, but I have nothing to compare them with and there is no reliable feedback for most of the sites and programmes I have looked at.

 

Stumbling upon this forum has given me hope that you guys(and gals) may have some beads of wisdom for me. I have no definite moving date. I work from home as a freelance website developer and have no commitments or responsibilities to anything here making me wait. I can go whenever. I would, however, like to learn as much about the different establishments I could go to in Taiwan and which path is the right one for me to take considering I am a blank slate.

 

I chose Taiwan because I prefer the dialect and the fact that they use traditional characters over the simplified ones(I'm not putting simplified down. I would just rather learn traditional). I have friends living in and from both places, but everyone tells me I would prefer Taiwan, so I will try there first. I digress.

 

What I would love for you guys to be able to tell me, are tips on how to go about a brand spanking new beginner should go about studying in Taiwan. I will obviously study before I go, but I don't plan on having a firm grasp of anything by the time I get there. My language skills in Korean were 100% self taught with a couple of tutoring sessions. It was mainly all learn - practice. I have a conversational level of Korean with very good pronunciation and reading abilities, but I cannot read a newspaper yet. My dedication to Mandarin will be much stronger. I want to do an intensive course for a year as a start with no other distractions (like work - I worked in Korea the whole time).

 

Sorry if my post is a little all over the place. I am just not sure where to start!

 

Thanks SO much for all the help and advice you guys can provide me with! Many thanks!

 

Benny

[OneEye]

Check out this thread. I wouldn't recommend going to a place like ICLP (which is more intensive, but much more expensive) as a beginner, because they cover the same material as places like the MTC. ICLP is a good place to go if you decide you want to really ramp up your Chinese after a year or two at the MTC (and if you can afford it).

[Meng Lelan]

The website for Taiwan's Ministry of Education has a sort of "walk-through" guide to how to get started. There's also a list of schools to consider for Chinese language learning. Click on "Study in Taiwan" on the menu bar posted on the left hand side of the screen. http://www.moetwdc.org/English/

[anonymoose]

I chose Taiwan because I prefer the dialect

 

So what dialect are you planning to learn? Taiwanese? You should be clear about what you want to learn first.

[OneEye]

Given the title of the thread, I don't think the OP is planning to learn Taiwanese.

[bennymcl]

I'm pretty sure I said I am learning Mandarin.. and I chose Taiwan because of the dialect.. 1 + 1 =... lol jk, mate ;)

 

Thanks for the other comments, guys! I will be sure to check them out! Many thanks!

 

Benny

[anonymoose]

OK, well just to let you know, they speak mandarin on the mainland also.

[OneEye]

What makes you think the OP isn't aware of that? 

[Olle Linge]

I wouldn't recommend going to a place like ICLP (which is more intensive, but much more expensive) as a beginner, because they cover the same material as places like the MTC. ICLP is a good place to go if you decide you want to really ramp up your Chinese after a year or two at the MTC (and if you can afford it).

Also, the price difference is REALLY big. you can basically go to another school and hire a private tutor for several hours a day and still get it cheaper elsewhere. Thus, I would say that ICLP is only good if:

 

...you're really busy and need to get the most out of every second

...you lack discipline and need someone to force you to get things done

...you have enough money not to care about the price difference

[ChTTay]

Maybe the OP meant the "accent" rather than the dialect... Maybe

[OneEye]

Or maybe he meant dialect. 

[bennymcl]

yes... lol guys, I meant  dialect. The dialect that the Taiwanese people have when they speak Mandarin. Also, yes, I am not a simpleton, I'm more than well aware of where they speak Mandarin in the world, but thanks for reminding me they speak Chinese in China

 

Thanks, Olle for your advice!

[anonymoose]

What makes you think the OP isn't aware of that?

 

Many newcomers to these forums aren't clear about the differences between mandarin and other dialects. The OP's phrasing made it very suspect that he was one of them. Now that he's clarified that he wants to learn Taiwan-style Mandarin, then no problem.

[OneEye]

So you assumed he didn't know simply because he's new to the forum and didn't explicitly say that he knew? 

 

I thought he phrased it clearly. "Planning the move to Taiwan for Mandarin intensive study." "I chose Taiwan because I prefer the dialect..." I don't think there's any need to say "I know they speak Mandarin in China, but I want to learn Taiwanese Mandarin." He doesn't seem confused at all. I think the confusion is being manufactured by others.

[Guest realmayo]

Presumably he'll be taught one version of mandarin in school, and then learn the dialect outside of the classroom. Or maybe he doesn't even want to learn the dialect, just to be exposed to it. To be honest there must be some decent overlap between what constitues accent and what consitutes dialect, in regards to Mandarin in Taiwan.

 

Anyway, OP, OneEye knows his stuff about MTC.

 

For intensiveness, if you're reasonably self-disciplined and motivated, personally I'd prefer to risk having my course going slightly too slowly rather than too quickly, because if it's too slow you can hire additional tutors for not a huge amount of money to speed you along; obviously if it's too quick, well, you can't buy extra hours in the day.

[Ruben von Zwack]

A prankster must have edited that Wikipedia article linked by Oneeye:
 

In 18th and 19th century Germany, several thousand local languages of the continental west Germanic dialect continuum were reclassified as dialects of modern New High German although the vast majority of them were (and still are) mutually incomprehensible,

 

So after the phase when linguists tried to prove that German and Korean, Japanese and Hungarian are related, now they* are being funny to the other extreme.

(*some)

[roddy]

Benny, let us know how your plans are going - and you'll want to check out this topic about independent study in Taiwan.