Dominican Republic has maintained diplomatic relations with Taiwan for 63 years.

The Rotary International Youth Program allows thousands of teenagers worldwide to attend a year long exchange program in the country of their choice.

Mads Meoller, the Danish student, made some interesting comments regarding the,

written agreement between the exchange students and the organizers of the program that discouraged them from learning about Taiwanese politics, and matters concerning the weaker or stronger sex, which limited their interaction with their Taiwanese counterparts. “It was a fight to learn about culture,” he observed.

I can understand discouraging learning about politics in China for example, as it may get you in trouble, but in a free society like Taiwan it seems overly paternal. Would an exchange student going to Australia be obliged to follow similar guidelines?

And this, “discouraged…from learning about…matters concerning the weaker or stronger sex”. What does this mean exactly? Male exchange students can not have female friends and female exchange students can not have male friends? That’s what it sounds like.

The net result for our Danish friend, “It was a fight to learn about culture,”.

Having participated in four different exchange programs, I feel that my exposure to different political systems and building friendships with both sexes made the experiences life changing. Of course just attending the institutions was valuable but having restrictions like these does seem to be a contradiction in terms.

Note: The article has not yet been put on the China Post’s website.

Quote from the article, thanks for being honest Patty:

“I was worried at first!” said Patty, 16, who recalled her yearlong experience with foreign students at her senior high school in downtown Taipei. She believed that all foreign teenagers liked smoking or hanging out in bars, the opposite of how “normal” Taiwanese students behave. Patty was in for a pleasant surprise when Aude Gery joined her class in August 2007.

MANDARIN COURSES: The education ministry is working with several US colleges to attract US students to take part in its three learning programs.

The Ministry of Education has set up new scholarship and study programs to attract more US students to study Chinese in Taiwan, the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington announced yesterday.

Taiwan’s deputy representative to the US, Tung Kuo-yu (董國猷), told a press conference that the ministry, in cooperation with several US colleges and universities, has launched three projects to facilitate and attract American students to participate in short-term and year-long language programs in Taiwan.

Local universities

Tung said that National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Normal University and Ming Chuan University have invited 180 students from 10 US colleges to study Mandarin here.

Each of the US colleges would send a group of students to study at a Taiwanese college of their choice, and each group would receive US$5,000 in grants. The University of North Carolina has already formed a group.

Sisterhood ties

A second program would allow US college students from states that have sisterhood ties with Taiwan to spend a summer studying in Taiwan.

Under the terms of the program, 20 US university students from 12 states will take part in a two-month Chinese-language course at National Pingtung University of Education.

Students under this program will each receive a monthly stipend of NT$25,000 while they are in Taiwan, Tung said.

Full-year courses

A third project sponsored by the ministry involves scholarships for select US students to participate in three-months to full-year courses to learn Mandarin.

TECRO has to date chosen 10 students from the University of North Carolina, Georgetown University and University of Maryland to take part in the specially designed Mandarin programs.

Web site

For more information on scholarship programs for American and other foreign students, see TECRO’s Cultural Division Web site at www.tecro.org.

]]> http://mandarinscholarship.com/2008/06/01/ministry-offering-new-scholarships-to-foreign-students/feed/ 64 http://mandarinscholarship.com/2008/05/26/results-in-test-of-proficiency-huayu-mandarin/ http://mandarinscholarship.com/2008/05/26/results-in-test-of-proficiency-huayu-mandarin/#comments Mon, 26 May 2008 09:34:51 +0000 kang-wei http://mandarinscholarship.wordpress.com/?p=40 Mandarin scholarship students across Taiwan will be receiving their results for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu (TOP) today. The tests were held on Saturday the 3rd of May 2008. I completed the beginner level.

I wrote about the Mandarin proficiency test a few months ago…. and here.

I picked up my certificate at the post office today. I got 76.25% (61 out of 80). Unfortunately, to pass 77.75% is required (62 out of 80)! Yes, that’s right one mark!

I think I did pretty well considering I only started learning to read Chinese eight weeks before the test. My listening was already quite developed but my reading comprehension needs much more work.

A few months ago, I wrote a letter to the Taipei Times complaining about the lack of resources available for the test. I still think it is a factor. The Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu should provide, at the very least, some targeted word lists. (If you complain perhaps it’s better to do it anonymously….)

According to this, from the government run StudyinTaiwan.org, Mandarin scholarship students who fail will be financially penalized:

A one-month-stipend suspension will be imposed if a recipient fails to submit to his/her individual Mandarin training center, a photocopy of a TOP (Test of Proficiency—Huayu) certificate with results rated at the basic level or above, by July 31st, one month before his/her LEP award period is due. Registration fees for this TOP test are the full responsibility of the recipient.

However, if the recipient succeeds in this TOP test during his/her next-stage award period for a degree program, the suspended one-month stipends as stated above will be reimbursed, by his/her application with the university/college that he/she will be attending.

I’m not sure how up to date this information is but I was told that it is still applicable. What the information above does not specify, is weather or not those who attempted the beginner level will be penalized. The beginner level only started last year. Personally, I don’t think they will. But if you get penalized tell me. I’ll be sympathetic I promise.

The period for rescoring is from now until July 3 2008.

While providing study opportunities for Mandarin language and Taiwan’s culture at university- or college-affiliated Mandarin training centers, the scholarship program also aims to:

a. Contribute to a better command of the Mandarin language, and hence a greater understanding and appreciation of Taiwan’s culture.

b. Promote friendship between Taiwan and countries around the world.

c. Explore opportunities to increase exchange with international education institutions.

The scholarship program is quite flexible and award periods of 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 1 year are available. So yes, summer scholarships are possible!

A monthly stipend of NT$25,000 (approximately US$820) is offered to recipients.

Applicants must meet all of the following criteria:

a. Possess prior excellent academic performance and be of good moral character.

b. Does not hold the Republic of China (Taiwan) nationality.

c. Does not have the status of an overseas Chinese student.

d. Is not a current student either at a Mandarin training center, or at a university/college in Taiwan.

e. Is not an exchange student in accordance with a cooperation agreement between an international university/college and an educational institute in Taiwan, at the time of receiving a HES scholarship.

f. Has not previously received an award either under this scholarship program or the Scholarship Program of Taiwan.

g. Is not a current recipient of a scholarship or subsidy being offered by any one of government or educational institutions in Taiwan.

Introduction MOE Mandarin Enrichment Scholarship (PDF 60kb) (Note:This PDF says 2006 but the info is still relevant)

See here for more information.

More information is available here (unfortunately the MOE’s English website is quite unreliable):

http://www.tw.org/scholarship/scholarship_awards.htm

http://www.tw.org/grant/Mandarin%20Enrichment%20Scholarship%20Guideline.pdf

http://www.studyintaiwan.org/

Contact the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, or Taiwanese Embassy in your country for more information.

If there isn’t an office in your country contact the one nearest to you…and you can learn Chinese for free!!!