LTL Mandarin School Taiwan (Taibei)

[zhouhaochen]

LTL opened a new Chinese language school in Taibei. Our Taiwan Chinese language school works very the same as our schools in mainland China, with a strong focus on immersion with Chinese. We organize Chinese language homestays, small group classes (average 3 students/class), 1on1 classes either as a standard (20h/wk) ord intensive (30h/wk) course. We also organize shared apartments (but homestays are better for immersion!) and social events and activities in Taiwan.

 

We very strongly believe that to learn a language you have to live it (LTL stands for "Live The Language") and being immersed into that language environment and getting out of the expat and English speaking bubble is essential. If you think that too then we are the right school for you.

 

As in Taiwan google works normally, we can have a proper google maps page for our school there https://goo.gl/maps/b3VqWfEfBE3DLqKH9 and are quite proud of our 5 star rating there (lets hope it stays that way).

 

Many students combine a Mandarin course in Taiwan with a course at our Beijing, Shanghai or Beihai schools.

 

Currently we only teach Mandarin Chinese, but for the future I hope we will start offering Taiwanese (Hokkien/Minnanyu/Fujianhua) courses too. Supporting Chinese dialects is something that matters a lot to us, so if you are interested in studying Taiwanese, please get in touch and we will definitely find a way to organize something for you.

 

 

[Flickserve]

That could mean Cantonese in the future...!

[ChTTay]

@zhouhaochen still based in Beijing or you living out of a suitcase these days?  

[zhouhaochen]

@Flickserve Cantonese is planned for Beihai, because its an originally Cantonese speaking city, though there has been a massive influx of NorthEasterners because the climate and environment is so much better than Hebei etc. so Mandarin is the main language now. But we definitely do want to offer Cantonese there too - might be next year only though.

 

@ChTTay Still in Beijing, but traveling a lot these days ⛷️ I hope all going well in the capital!

 

[zhouhaochen]

Just a quick update, LTL Taipei is running normally next week and classes are not affected by the Corona Virus outbreak in mainland China. There are more people wearing face masks on the street but at the moment thats about it. Homestays, Apartments, social activities etc. all continue as normal.

[zhouhaochen]

Maybe, just maybe, it will be possible to travel to Taiwan and study at LTL Taipei again quite soon. 

"During a press conference on Friday afternoon, CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said that as other countries open their borders, it is inevitable that Taiwan will do the same."

He added the CECC will make an announcement about loosened border controls in June,

 

 https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4552756

That would be AMAZING 

LTL Taipei is running normally and open, but currently only with students who are already in Taiwan. Hopefully that will change very soon ?

[zhouhaochen]

Amazing news! Taiwan border is opening for working holiday visas next week (25th July). So if you are between 18 and 30 years old, from any of the countries below and want to come to Taipei and for example study Chinese with us at www.ltl-taiwan.com by next week you can. There is a limited quota of visas per country, and its first come first serve and I am pretty sure they will run out very fast, so best to hurry up.

 

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4600310

 

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Canada
• Czech Republic
• France
• Germany
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Japan
• Korea
• Luxembourg
• New Zealand
• Poland
• Slovakia
• The United Kingdom

[zhouhaochen]

Taiwan plans to open borders in late September

"Wang said the CECC predicts that late September is when border controls can be eased, or early October at the latest."

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4638398

 

Rather fantastic news! ? LTL Taiwan is up and running as normal (just did a video about it last month https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx0I7tiKeEo) and we are starting to get quite a few students signing up for October already.

Small groups, 1on1 classes, homestays, shared apartments etc. everything available.

Cant wait....it has been more than two years.

 

 

[zhouhaochen]

WUHHHUUU??????

 

And now it is official: Taiwan is back open.

From the 12th of September Taiwan is restoring visa free entry (90 days) to US, EU, Canada, Australia and New Zealand again - which is exactly how it worked before Covid.

 

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4648177

 

3 days home quarantine and thats it (which they will probably drop soon too, but for the moment still required).

 

[Guest realmayo]

On 9/5/2022 at 9:59 AM, zhouhaochen said:

EU

Schengen Area plus UK & Ireland, the link says

[zhouhaochen]

On 9/5/2022 at 1:08 PM, realmayo said:

Schengen Area plus UK & Ireland

Yes basically the EU and Europe's Northern islands. It's fantastic ?

[zhouhaochen]

And the good news just keep coming. Taiwan now officially is planning to end quarantine and fully opened its borders on Oct. 13.

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4665221

Homestays in Taipei are available, as are all group and 1on1 Chinese classes.

Plus visa free entry for most countries (same as pre-pandemic)

 

I am definitely going in October!

[zhouhaochen]

Flew straight to Taiwan once they scrapped quarantine. Took 13 minutes from leaving the plane to sitting in a taxi to downtown. No PCR tests, no quarantine, no nothing (they just give you 4 free ART tests you can do yourself during the next week - as long as they are negative, all is good). Super easy It was rather surreal after the borders having been closed for so long.

We did some videos there at LTL Taiwan if anyone wants to have a look

Interview https://youtu.be/X8hVg3g45w4
Learn Chinese: https://youtu.be/A_bR0qZeygU
Spotify Profile: https://open.spotify.com/show/201I51EJCqZZiawXmGObts?si=af9ac4e0fa33407d

[abcdefg]

On 10/27/2022 at 2:53 AM, zhouhaochen said:

Flew straight to Taiwan once they scrapped quarantine. Took 13 minutes from leaving the plane to sitting in a taxi to downtown.

 

That is amazing and wonderful! So glad to hear it. Thanks for letting us know. Encouraging news is always welcome. 

[zhouhaochen]

On 10/28/2022 at 1:06 AM, abcdefg said:

That is amazing and wonderful! So glad to hear it. Thanks for letting us know. Encouraging news is always welcome. 

Yes, was really easy and the airport was completely empty, so no queues for anything, just walked straight through. Its been my easiest arrival experience in Taipei ever. The taxi driver was very nice and polite (as people always are in Taiwan) and didn't care too much about the mask thing either anymore.

[abcdefg]

That's great! And you weren't kidding about the airport being empty. I've never seen it so quiet, day or night. 

[zhouhaochen]

On 10/29/2022 at 9:38 AM, abcdefg said:

That's great! And you weren't kidding about the airport being empty. I've never seen it so quiet, day or night. 

Yes, it was amazing. Just walked straigh through, no queues for anything. Will probably change soon again as people realise that Taiwan truly is fully open now though. The LTL school in Taiwan is pretty much fully booked already. 

Now just waiting for Beijing and Shanghai to follow...

[Jan Finster]

On 11/1/2022 at 12:01 PM, zhouhaochen said:

Now just waiting for Beijing and Shanghai to follow...

As you may be in contact with other schools or businesses, have you heard any rumors when this might happen? 2023? 2024?

[Jan Finster]

On 11/1/2022 at 12:01 PM, zhouhaochen said:

LTL school in Taiwan

 

I saw the accomodation (flatshare and apartments) you offer to your students. This is a sincere question and meant respectfully: why is it so expensive? If I calculate correctly, then this amounts to 50-100€/day. I know Taipei is not cheap, but on booking.com I can find hotel rooms with good reviews for the same price or a bit cheaper and the quality is likely better than the places you suggest. Further,  on 591 (https://www.591.com.tw/) there are plenty of cheaper options. I was hoping that student flat-shares would be significantly cheaper. When you take 1:1 classes that are around 100€/day for 4 hours, then (together with the flat) this is 150-200€/day or 4500-6000€/month.

I earn a decent salary and I am about your age (a bit older), but this would be cost-prohibitive to me (I "could" pay it, but realistically we all know how much you can achieve in 4 weeks, so this does not sound like an appealing investment).

 

 

[zhouhaochen]

@Jan FinsterWhen cost is the main consideration going through a professional school is definitely not the right option, for accommodation, studying, classes or anything and I would not recommend you to book a course with LTL. Anything that is arranged by a professional team will cost a bit more, because well professionals cost money. Do your own research, communicate with landlords, find someone yourself to check out the accommodation for you and in case when you get there and there is a problem, be also responsible to sort it out yourself. That will always be cheaper than having someone else do that for you. 

You dont even need a teacher teaching you Chinese. Anything a teacher will tell you is available for free on the internet too. Any grammar tip, vocab explanation etc. can be found for free on youtube or purchased very cheaply via a book. Or you can book cheap online classes, find some guy in Taipei to teach you yourself, sign up for Duolingo etc. - that will all be much cheaper. 

 

Once you take into account time spent on trying to find a new apartment if it doesnt work out, changing teacher who might have got sick or just re-arranging anything else that wasnt as expected, it of course all might end having been much cheaper to have it organized by a professional school. Or maybe not - that is a choice and risk you need to decide yourself on. 

 

Having said that, shared apartments are not our main focus. We are an immersion school and almost all our students stay in homestays, because to learn a language through immersion in a homestay is by far the best way to get ahead quickly. An apartment just wont give you that.

 

Also, if price is a major consideration, than group classes would be a better option than 1on1 - though sometimes 1on1 can be worth it because you simply get ahead much faster. It depends on each students situation. 

 

 

On 11/3/2022 at 1:40 AM, Jan Finster said:

As you may be in contact with other schools or businesses, have you heard any rumors when this might happen? 2023? 2024?

A million rumours, but no whatsoever reliable information. I dont think there is anyone who actually has any....