Any advice for someone who has never been to Taiwan?
I am currently a student at USC and have been studying Chinese (Mandarin) since high school. I have an opportunity to study abroad for a semester in Taiwan. I am just a little nervous about living there for 4 months without really knowing much about the country. If you can offer an advice please do so. I greatly appreciate it. Fight on!
Taiwan - 11 Answers
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1 :
I lived there for 5 years. It's great. You have the most important item covered and that is an ability to speak Chinese. At first you will be overwhelmed by the Chinese street signs and want to stay close to home until you learn your way around. Many of them do have pinyin but that was my initial reaction when I got there. Enjoy the night markets and stay away from the clubs.
2 :
Hi, Dont worry, It's only 4 months and the experience is something you wont forget. You might just come back at a later date for a longer stay. Taiwan is Great and you would always regret if you miss this opportunity. Food is no problem and most signs here is bilingual-English/Mandarin so you wont get lost. The City transport system is great and easy to navigate. Taiwan is Youth Friendly: http://www.youthtravel.tw/youthtravel/indexMain.jsp
3 :
I highly recommend to buy a lonely planet book just to familiar yourself with a little bit. Taiwan (especially Taipei and Koushieng) has a great public transportation. I can say that it's one of the best. Many young people have decent english. People are very friendly and the city is as safe as any city. It's clean and people respect the rule. Visiting Taiwan is one of the most relax trip for me because The city is structure well and well organized. Enjoy.
4 :
You already have the language skills. Taiwan is a very safe country. The Taiwanese welcome foreigners. If you get frustrated here just try to smile and relax. Here is a link to a website that you can look at so you will know what to expect. http://www.tealit.com/ Have fun. Regards,
5 :
ive been there but only a stopover it was taiwan to philippines i wish i could go there someday good luck in taiwan if you are going there
6 :
It's really humid there. When you walk outside, you'll be drenched in sweat in less than ten minutes.
7 :
Don't worry! Taiwan is a great place to visit! You shouldn't be afraid to speak Mandarin with the taiwanese as they will be more than happy that you took the time to learn their language and don't worry about making mistakes, the taiwanese know how hard mandarin is and they love when visitors take the time to learn chinese! Def. try the food It's amazing! Go to the night markets, And if you have time go to the beaches in the south and the mountains in central taiwan they are worth it! Taiwan is subtropical in the north and tropical in the south, so keep that in mind when you pack although northern taiwan(taipei) can be chilly in Jan and Feb, Southern Taiwan (Kaoshuing, Kenting) is still warm enough to go out to the beach! Taiwan is a mountainous island and the basic geography is mountains in the central with valleys and plains and a beautiful coastline! Hope you have a great time!
8 :
hi~~welcome to taiwan taiwan is a safe and friendly country don`t worry and relax I to vouch for that you will love here sorry my english isn`t enough good But hope you happy in taiwan
9 :
My entire family is from Taiwan, and one of the biggest things to remember in Taiwan is politeness. Never point with one finger, that is considered a deadly insult, always point with your entire hand. Since you can speak the language, on the way there make sure you have the pronunciation right, some words sound the same but have different accents. I assume you're going to Taipei, so many signs are in english, when traveling use busses or the subway as much as possible, they're much cleaner than taxies, have everything in English, Chinese, and Japanese. Don't think that the subway is dirty, they have cleaners there a lot, and it's under 5 years old. If you're staying for that long, buy a Taipei Smart Card, in chinese it's called a yo-yo card. They cost more at first, but then you don't have to buy tickets, and you get 20% off for every purchase. Enjoy you're time there, there's a lot of fun things to do there, my top suggestions, Taipei 101, Maokung, and High Speed Rail, to go to Candin, Alishan, or Hualin. Candin is a beach place, make sure to go the the Beach Resort, it's awesome. Alishan and Hualin are mountains with amazing views, if you go to Alishan make sure to do the sunset tour, bring a lot of jackets for that, i'm from Maine and Alishan was FREEZING. But for most of the time, bring t-shirts and shorts. Make sure to try the different foods, they're delicious, i suggest bubble tea, there's this frozen ice/milk/bean thing that i can't remember the name of, but it's great, and be adventurous, in Taipei, the Brother Hotel has a great Japanese resturant and a lot of chinese. Try anything, there's food from all over asia, if your not OK with that, then they still have McDonalds. Have Fun!!
10 :
As someone who was born and raised in Taiwan, my words to you are: Please do NOT worry a thing! Just relax and enjoy your study abroad experience. Imagine a trip to another major US city for 4 months, and pack what you think you need during the trip. You will be good. By the way, do not drive if you don't have to in Taiwan. They have very adequate public transportation system. I bet you have some friends or classmates who are Taiwanese or their families are from Taiwan. Talk to them please. I promise it will be very helpful!
11 :
Nothing to worry about... I lived in Taipei for 6 years and loved it. One thing I have to point out is that you probably have a mainland accent and some people will think that is strange. I don't know where you are planning to study. If you have a choice, Taipei is the best place to live as it has all the facilities. (And my 200 words of Chinese won't get me anywhere ☺)
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Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
I need to make food from Taiwan for my english class. Have any easy suggestions?
I need to make food from Taiwan for my english class. Have any easy suggestions?
I am a middle school student and for a research project I have to do a project on Taiwan and bring in food on my country. My country is Taiwan, but I have absolutly no clue what to make which is easy and cheap.
Ethnic Cuisine - 3 Answers
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Bean Paste Beef Noodles 150g ground beef 1 portion basic flat fine noodles Chopped scallions as needed 1 tablespoon cooking wine Seasonings: 1 tablespoon sweet bean paste 2 tablespoons bean paste 1 tablespoon soy sauce ½ teaspoon sugar 5 tablespoons water Pepper as needed Method: Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in wok, stir-fry ground beef over high heat and drizzle with cooking wine to taste, then remove from wok. Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to stir-fry well-mixed seasonings ingredients until fragrant. Paste condiments go through fermentation, stir-frying with oil first removes its sour flavor and makes the dish taste better. Return ground beef, mix and remove from heat. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook noodles until done, remove to a bowl and drizzle with bean paste ground beef. Sprinkle with a few chopped scallions and serve. Make extra bean paste ground beef once you make it and save it for later. Whenever you cook the noodles, just drizzle it over that noodles. It is quite convenient. Beef Rolls 1 cup all-purpose flour ¼ cup boiling water ¼ cup cold water ½ teaspoon salt B 1 small piece stewed beef shank 2 white part scallions Seasonings: 2 tablespoons sweet bean paste ½ tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon water Method: Mix ingredient A into flour dough and cover with a damp cloth, then let sit for 20 minutes until done. Divide the dough into three equal portions, roll each portion into a thin round crepe, then fry with a little oil in frying pan until done and remove. Cut stewed beef shank into thin slices. Rinse the white part of scallions and cut into two sections. Heat 2 tablespoons cooking oil to stir-fry sweet bean paste for a minute, add sugar and water, stir until evenly done, and remove. Spread each crepe with a layer of cooked seasonings, then line stewed beef shank and scallion sections in center. Roll up into cylinders and cut diagonally into two sections if desired. Serve. Chicken Rolls with Egg Yolk 2 whole chicken legs 2 roasted nori sheets 8 salted egg yolks 4 cloves garlic 2 pieces white cheese cloth 4 cotton threads 4 tablespoons salt 1 tablespoon cooking wine Method: Remove bones from chicken legs, score horizontally on surface of the meat. Slice the thickest part into pieces and tenderize with a tenderizer; crush garlic and mix well with salt and cooking wine, marinate chicken slices in mixture for 20 minutes. Wet a piece of cheese cloth, spread out, place chicken meat on the lower corner, then top with a sheet of laver, then squeeze 4 salted egg yolks into a long strip and place over laver, roll tightly into a cylinder, wrap well with cheese cloth, tie with cotton thread or linen string and remove to a steaming plate. Steam in rice cooker or steamer for 30 minutes on high heat, remove and cool first, unwrap and cut into slices. Serve. Use half free range chicken which has better texture, have the vendor bone the chicken. Discarded bones can be used to cook soup broth. If white cheese cloth is not available, use any coarse white fabric, wash to remove wax or soak until soft first before using, roll chicken rolls tightly or there will be holes in the chicken roll slices after slicing open. hope that helps! :D
2 :
Meat/fish ball soup. Go to China town or T&T supermarket and get some fish/meat balls, gourmet powder and ginger. At home, cut the ginger in thin, long pieces, and boil them with the fish/meat balls. Add gourmet powder until it tastes good. It is very easy.
3 :
Here is a link of some recipes for Taiwanese foods: http://www.wokme.com/recipes/taiwanese/index.html Hope it helps :) Good Luck!
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Thursday, July 7, 2011
Where to find a college student being my 14 year-old son's tutor. What is the cost range?
Where to find a college student being my 14 year-old son's tutor. What is the cost range?
I come from Taiwan and live in Stanmore. I am looking for a university student as the English tutor for my 14 years old son and help him to prepare the home work.
Teaching - 2 Answers
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1 :
Try out Craigslist.com from under one of the links of cities near you. Put out a free ad for an English tutor and ask your own price. If you just want a college student, or recent college grad, you should probably charge $10-15 and hour. Good luck.
2 :
Call the Education department at your closest university. They should be able to recruit a student. I would also say $10-$15 is a good rate, but a lot of college students would probably work for $8-9 an hour (depending what part of the US you are in)
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Friday, July 1, 2011
Do any of you college students in Taiwan think your college needs to hire more foreign English teachers?
Do any of you college students in Taiwan think your college needs to hire more foreign English teachers?
I'm credentialed, have a masters in English, and am moving to Taiwan this year. Any suggestions? Thanks for all your thoughtful responses. I appreciate the insights you provided.
Taiwan - 4 Answers
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GOOD.
2 :
I'm not a college student, but rather an EFL teacher over here (in Taiwan). Most universities are always looking for lecturers with graduate degrees, but be forewarned that the politics can be... intimidating. Not necessarily more so than at any other university anyplace else in the world, but you'll be at a political disadvantage if you don't speak Chinese. They will probably pay you well and give you a generous allowance (by local standards), but this also tends to cause discontent among locals with the same credentials (albeit without your inherent first-language ability) who will be paid a fraction of your salary. I'm not trying to discourage you, just to prepare you. Taiwan is a great place to be, if you find a place you like. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't be in my sixth year here! Also be warned that I don't teach in a post-secondary environment, so my information is predominantly secondhand. I found the following website invaluable: http://users2.ev1.net/~turton/teach_index.html
3 :
Even though you're credentialed, you won't be able to get a job in a university or college that easily. Even though the universities and colleges have English departments - 99% of their teachers are 'Taiwanese English teachers' who speak Intermediate to upper-intermediate level English. You may want to know why is it, that it would be difficult, for a fully qualified person with a Masters in English and a TEFL certificate (you have got a TEFL right?) to get a job at a college/uni? Well, that's because many Taiwanese English teachers have lost alot of their students and jobs to us lot! It's not our fault it's our 1st language is it? Anyway, enough Taiwanese complained about it to the government and now the only way we can teach here is if we have a special kind of working permission which only private English schools can issue (don't worry - there are hundreds of private English schools - this is where you will make your cash). Colleges/Universities can't issue working permission; however, they do have the odd English teacher. How? Because if you're married then you don't need working permission and then you can get work in the universities/colleges as long as you have a TEFL or some other kind of teaching certificate. In Taiwan, the government even developed a special 'kind' of English that can only really be taught by Taiwanese English teachers - it's called GPT - all of the text books have Chinese instructions so the foreign English teachers can't teach it. GPT English is really awful, it's littered with grammatical errors and seems very much like Chinglish - Chinese-English - for instance, they will often put the time at the beginning of a sentence as apposed to the end. This is really silly, they developed GPT to help Taiwanese English teachers but it's having a really bad effect on the poor people who learn it. Oops, sorry - I've gone on a bit too long! Rounding up - lots of work in private schools, it's going to be very difficult getting work at a college!
4 :
I taught at several different universities in Taiwan. There are some real advantages to the job. For example, you get 3-4 months off with pay, you're given a lot of freedom to teach your own way, and the students in general are pretty nice, a real step up from teaching at language schools. However there are some real problems, too. The pay is not too great, about $55,000 NT ($1679 U.S) a month. (Some, such as Dong Hua University in Hualien county pay even less, about $45,000 NT a month.) Most university English departments are quite chaotic. Decisions seem to be made at whim. Communication about basic things such as your work visa and the status of your job can be aggravatingly awful. Also, it's common that you will have to wait about 3 or 4 months to get your work visa, and you might end up riding your scooter all over town to get all the paperwork finished. At the universities I've worked at (5 different ones!), foreigners are seen as stupid and totally useless. They're usually not asked to participate in staff meetings or do anything more than just teach basic English classes. If you are dead set on teaching at a Taiwanese university, I would definitely recommend checking the place out before you sign a contract. Talk to one or more of their foreign teachers, and ask a lot of questions. I would not recommend working at a school that has no foreign teachers, or a school that tries to prevent you from speaking to its foreign teachers. Finally, read over some of the articles on the blog linked below. Good luck!
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