Taiwan Intensive Summer and Semester Language Programs

Taiwan is so lovely and such a wonderful place, but this program is the complete opposite. The teacher was horrendous; she was so cruel, misogynistic, and unprofessional to so many students that the university had to step in to stop her, the resident director refused to call and ambulance for a girl going into anaphylactic shock and instead made her pay for her own uber to the hospital, the host families were not informed of what their roles were at all, the dorms were full of mold, and that's only some of the issues. I would strongly recommend to find another program to go to Taiwan with unless you want a miserable experience that makes you give up studying Chinese.

Although my study abroad experience was virtual, American Councils adjusted its online language program to create a great and effective language learning experience. I was hesitant at first because I didn't know how they could create an "intensive language learning" experience with students all around the country, but through daily group meetings, one-on-one instruction, challenging homework assignments and weekly meetings with our language learning partners, I felt that my Chinese speaking skills have improved immensely. I communicated in Chinese everyday within the 8 weeks of the program and I felt that I’ve gained a lot of communication skills by speaking to my instructors, classmates and language partner throughout TISLP. Due to COVID-19 I was unable to travel to Taiwan for the program; however, I still felt like I witnessed some of Taiwanese culture and language through my language learning partner. I also got to see various night markets and national parks through my language partner as she showed me around Taiwan on LINE, a popular Taiwan communication app. TISLP, overall, has been a great experience.

I had my doubts that an 8-week online program would enable me to advance an entire year in my language studies, but it did! I worked hard, though I still had time to relax and pursue some other interests over the summer. The program was extremely well organized and implemented, and our classes were small—only 5 students, plus we had one-on-one sessions with a teacher daily. The teachers and my language partner worked as hard as I did to help me improve. Even though I wasn’t able to travel to Taiwan, my language partner showed me around Taiwan via video chat. Being stuck at home was not how I anticipated spending the summer, so the chance to virtually experience some aspects of life in Taiwan made a huge difference.