Learning Mandarin part 1

I knew in advance of moving to Taiwan that life here would be difficult without knowing Mandarin, but wasn't expecting it to be as difficult as it really is. I should really thank my Taiwanese friend for going everywhere with me to get everything done. On my own I am really not sure what I would have been able to get accomplished. Really don't want this point to be lost on anyone. Now for my Mandarin learning experiences so far. This post will cover everything up to me signing up with NTNU, and part 2 will focus on everything following this and my experiences at NTNU.

I have tried all of the following:

• Language exchange meet up groups - a few of them are:
• Multilingual Cafe Language Exchange
• Taiwan Travelling & Language Exchange
• Language Exchange Taipei

• Language exchange Facebook groups - a few of them are:
• 台北語言交換 Taipei Language Exchange
• Taipei Language exchange｜台北語言交換
• 語言交換在台北Language Exchange in Taipei

• Finding an online Mandarin teacher/tutor - a few of them are:
• italki
• preply.com

• Enrolling in classes - a few of them are:
• NTNU - https://mtc.ntnu.edu.tw/eng/
• TMC - https://www.taipeitmc.com/
• LTL - https://ltl-taiwan.com/
• TCA - https://www.tcamandarin.com/
• NTU - http://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/

So far I have failed miserably at all of the above. The language exchange groups have by far proven to be more of a waste of time than yielding actual results. It is really difficult finding someone that truly wants to teach while truly learning in return. For the most part I have found that for those learning English in Taiwan they are much more focused on their ability to pass exams than actually learning English.

As for finding online teachers, it has also proven to be a challenge, matching up availability on both sides, and getting a true commitment.

Onto the schools. There are quite a few options in terms of schools that teach Mandarin as a foreign language but they are mostly designed as full time University courses, meaning you have to enrol with the actual school, and essentially attend five days a week for a certain period of time. One is also forced to start based on semester start dates. Due to Covid certain courses have been cancelled. The true challenge in learning Mandarin in Taiwan, is that in Taiwan they still use traditional characters for writing whereas in the mainland they have moved to simplified characters. Mainland China Mandarin is also different than the Mandarin used in Taiwan, so while there are more options when it comes to learning Mandarin in China there are far fewer in Taiwan for obvious reasons. It is also one of the things that in my opinion makes it difficult for foreigners to assimilate. Mandarin isn't a language that can be picked up from just being around it, due to different pronunciations and tone usage. 

I currently registered with NTNU, with classes starting June 2nd and may be able to offer more details on the experience at a later date, but here are some first impressions:

• Can register for admission at NTNU online, but to be admitted they want to see previous degrees, and you have to send them your bank account balances to show you have sufficient funds to pay for tuition. This is the first time I have been asked for proof of available funds in my entire academic career.
• As part of the registration, need to pick between different programs offered and list prefered schedule in order
• As part of my registration I listed that I knew very few Mandarin words and that I couldn't write or read, but was sent a placement test for speaking and writing ability which I obviously did very poorly on.
• For first time students with NTNU need to register in person on the registration date, and need to bring the admission letter, proof of funds, proof of payment, and test results, even though all of these things are done online. You are also required to pay before knowing which course will actually be available and the time slot.

So far I have found that the NTNU process is extremely awkward and off putting, but being close to having no other options I decided to proceed and see how it goes. Hope to be able to provide positive feedback on the program itself.

The follow up post covering my experience at NTNU can be found here