Fail

Remember I mentioned something about fantasy basketball draft? Yeah… so I uh, overslept today and couldn’t make it to class. Ugh. Might as well be productive and catch up on blogging.

I haven’t written about class in a while and what better time to do it than when I’ve skipped it, hm? After being at MTC for about a month, here’s my thoughts on it:

The quality of the teacher you get is of course of huge significance. Just as important, however, are the classmates you get. Both are pretty much crapshoots but having a strong mix of both will really reinforce your learning. If you have doubts about either early on, make the effort to switch classes. Easier said than done- there’s a lot of BS to go through in order to switch classes, but you don’t want to get stuck for 3 months in a shitty situation either.

I rolled the dice and stayed with my class, and it’s been going well for the most part. Sometimes I do wish I would have taken the intensive course; given my limited time here, I want to learn as much as possible. 老實說, 跟一些同學來比, 我們的中文程度差得很多. 有時候我覺得我們學得太慢.

It’s not like I’m not learning, however. There are lots of vocab and phrases I wouldn’t have known how to use if I weren’t taking the class. Also, it’s helped me correct my grammar tremendously, which might not have been the case by simply speaking to people. When I got here my grammar level was probably that of an elementary school child’s. Therefore people can understand me, but I wouldn’t necessarily be saying it properly. Also, my writing has lots of room for improvement. It too much resembles spoken dialog at times.

But ultimately, the class is what you make of it. Take advantage of the facilities while you are here. For example, the computer lab contains all the textbooks being used, in .pdf format. You can also watch Chinese movies and TV dramas there and it will count towards your supplemental class hours.

One last thing: there is a singing contest being held at school. Chinese songs only. I think I’m gonna do it. I’ve already been secretly practicing. Keep you posted =)

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MTC Orientation

Yesterday was orientation at MTC!

There are two sessions: morning and afternoon. I chose the morning slot (10:30 AM) during registration day, which turned out to be a wise decision because I now have to teach in the afternoon. Hopped on the bus to 師大. I couldn’t remember on which campus the center was, but I noticed a couple of Asian girls talking to each other in English. They got off at the same stop so I asked them if they were going to orientation. Turned out to be a good guess.

Found out they were from Cali. Thumbs up in my book. We walked to the Mandarin Training Center’s building and there were volunteers ushering us to the 5th floor. We entered a packed auditorium, full of foreigners.

The director of the program introduced to the school.

He welcomed everyone and wished us luck on our studies, the usual drill. We learned there are a shit ton of activities and extracurriculars at NTNU. But of course, he reminded us that our primary reason here is to learn Chinese so we should attend all our classes, study hard, and get a good grade. Fine with me- I’m paying for this shit. But for foreigners, their visa renewal chances depend on it. It would be utterly dumb of them to skip out on classes without a good reason.

Afterwards, a woman named Jenny gave a PowerPoint presentation in English and Chinese about the finer details such as visa issues, changing classes, attendance rules, etc. I was able to get a hold of the PowerPoint, and I’ve posted it. Dunno if it matters but all of it is NTNU’s property so don’t do anything illegal with it, whatever that would be.

Orientation_2010_Autumn 0830

When the presentations were over we went up to the 7th floor to get our class schedules and purchase books. It was also a good time to mingle.

Look at all dem foos

When I received at my class schedule, I interested to learn what class I was placed in. From what I gather, I think my class is going to be more writing-intensive, which makes sense because I totally botched that section during the placement exam. It’s a somewhat more advanced class, made for students who already have some Mandarin-ability and just needs to improve on it. Hopefully the class’ll mesh well when we meet each other for first day of classes on Monday (9/6).

Class sched

Many students will stress the importance of class chemistry. In the ideal situation, the teacher is in tune with the students’ needs and the students develop some camaraderie with each other. I’ve heard of classes where the teachers take the students out drinking. I’d sign up for that. The class sizes are small (regular classes hold 10 students while intensive classes have 8), so I’m really crossing my fingers it’ll all work out. I just don’t want to deal with the hassle of requesting class change; it seems like such a troublesome process.

Students enrolled in the regular course also have to take 5 hours of supplementary courses on top of the 10 hours a week they spend in the core class. I was very happy to see the availability of these classes: Learning Taiwanese, cooking Taiwanese dishes, and singing Taiwanese songs. For Mandarin beginners, they have to spend some of their hours at the audio/visual lab. I think I’m spared from that, thank goodness.

I copped my books (even had the presence of mind to try haggling down the price, but failed) and took a look at pictures of the club activities. There are so many activities like basketball and dragon-boat racing that I’m glad I didn’t sign up for intensive courses. I’m sure I’d be doing homework all day, which is not how I plan on learning. Will I be able to pack all these things in my schedule and still be able to travel? We’ll see.

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MTC at NTNU

Part II of the summary sheets I made on Google Docs when I was researching programs. Sorry if it looks cut off. I just published it straight from Google Docs.

National Taiwan Normal University

MTC- Mandarin Training Program

1. Address
2. Tuition
3. Application Deadlines
4. Class Timetable
5. Courses

Address

Mandarin Training Center
National Taiwan Normal University
162 Hoping East Road, Sec. 1, Taipei, Taiwan 106
Map

Tuition

General Language Class	Hours/Per Week	Three-month Program	Two-month Summer Session	Single-month Program
Intensive (6-10 students)	15	32,400 = ~$1000	21,600	—
Regular(6-10 students)*	10	25,200 = ~$800	16,800	—
Individual(1 student)*	10	84,000	56,000	28,000
	6	50,400	33,600	16,800
	4	33,600	22,400	11,200
	2	16,800	11,200	5,600

Elective Class	Hours/Per Week	Three-month Program	Two-month Summer Session	Single-month Program
Culture Class	6	—	10,080	—
	4	—	6,720	—
	2	—	3,360	—
Language Class	6	—	10,080	—
	4	—	6,720	—
	2	—	3,360	—
Pronunciation	First Week 2 hours/a day	free	—	—
Chinese Characters	Second Week 2 hours/a day	free	—	—
Supplementary (Large Language Class)	Third week until the end of term 2 hours/per session	free	—	—

Application Deadlines

2009.09~2010.8 Class Dates and Application Deadlines

Term	Class Dates	Application Deadline From Abroad	Application Deadline* In Taiwan
Fall Quarter	Sep. 03 – Nov. 20	2009/Jul./31	2009/Aug./24
Winter Quarter	Dec. 02 – Feb. 25	2009/Oct./30	2009/Nov./20
Spring Quarter	Mar. 04 – May 25	2010/Jan./29	2010/Feb./11
Summer Quarter	Jun. 03 – Aug. 23	2010/Apr./30	2010/May/21
Summer Session	Jul. 01-  Aug. 23	2010/ May/31	2010/Jun./18

*’Application Deadline in Taiwan’ only applies to applicants who already hold a valid visa(or a residence document) covering the period of their study. Applicants must submit their applications in person and present their passports and visas to the admission staff.

Class Timetable

Class Timetable

General language class students attend classes for 15 hours a week.—
（1）Regular class：small language class for 10 hours a week and supplementary language class for 5 hours a week
（2）Intensive class：small language class for 15 hours

Class Type	Small Language Class Timetable (Mon.~Fri.)	Class Size
Regular Class*	8:10~10:00 10:20~12:10 12:20~14:10 14:20~16:10 16:20~18:10 18:30~20:20	6~10
Intensive Class	10:20~13:10 14:20~17:10	5~8
Individual Tutorial(or 2-4 students class)	By request(2 hours minimum per meeting)	1~4

* The class schedule of supplementary class is posted after each academic term begins. * Class schedules and information of elective classes are posted in the end of the first month of each term.

Courses

Level	Class	Content
Basic	Chinese101 ∣ Chinese402	● Pronunciation and basic oral drills ● Introduction to basic Chinese grammar ● Introduction to Chinese characters ● Basic vocabulary building ● Beginning composition writing
Intermediate	Chinese501 ∣ Chinese802	● Business Chinese ● Comparison of cultures ● Introduction to geography, customs and culture of Taiwan and China ● Study of Chinese arts, legends, tales, slang, and idioms, etc.
Advanced	Chinese901 ∣ Chinese909	● Study of ancient Chinese stories ● Introduction to classical Chinese ● Introduction to Chinese fiction, prose, poetry, magazines and newspapers, and contemporary Taiwanese short stories, etc. ● Study of TV news broadcast ● History of Chinese literature ● Introduction to Chinese thought and society

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MTC Registration

The day I flew in (Aug 26) was also the last day to register for classes at the Mandarin Training Center. I didn’t even get to drop off my luggage; my aunt and I took a cab from Taipei Bus Station straight to NTNU. Dragging two huge suitcases under the Taiwan heat is not fun. It was even less fun finding out that MTC was on the campus on the other side of the street.

We finally found the right building and went up to the 5th floor. I showed them my enrollment letter, signed in, and was ushered into the auditorium where they happily collected my tuition fee. I was debating whether to take the regular courses (which I originally signed up for) or shell out a few extra bucks to take the intensive course. It’s 10 hours of regular class with 5 hours of supplemental classes versus 15 hours of intensive class and optional supplemental courses too. 25,200 NT vs 32,400 NT (~$800 vs ~$1000 USD). I chose to stay with regular for now and see how it goes. I figured I would boost my conversational skills by being out in the city rather than be stuck doing homework all day.

Get in line so they can take yo money faster. Registering for classes at NTNU.

Afterwards I was brought to a room and interviewed to assess my Chinese fluency. It felt a lot like the oral exams back in Chinese class at Bing. I was able to talk about myself and explain my goals there, so at least they knew I wasn’t a complete noob. Then the woman who interviewed me gave me two passages to read to hone in on my reading level. I was pretty glad I still remembered a lot of the words from before.

The next step was to take a written exam in a computer room. I had about 45 minutes to tackle the test, consisting of fill-in-the-blanks, multiple choice, and a writing exercise. Pretty standard fare. My swag was immediately when I found I could not bring myself to write out words I would normally have no trouble reading. Sigh, it’s been too long. My handwriting looked like shit as well. Although to be fair, I haven’t needed to use a pen or pencil extensively since college.

Finally, I went to update my contact info and get my student ID. A volunteer student named Michelle helped me through the process. She’s Taiwanese but she is from Australia. Right then I was thinking what a cool world this was. She told me orientation is next Friday and signed up for the morning session. Looking forward to it. Until then, I think I’m gonna pass out for a bit.

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