Program Reviews

Before I left for Shanghai, CET promises the stars, they promised a summer study program at a rigorous university, Chinese language and elective classes taught by highly skilled proffesors, as well as a job internship in the heart of finincial capital of China. As the old saying goes, if something sound too good to be true, it probably is. But just 2 months after the experience, I can safely say that, if anything, CET was underselling the experience. This trip was a tranformative experience for me, as not only did my language skills improve , but I also gained the confidence and affirmation that I could actually use them to live, work , and in China, as well as gaining a global perspective on how a vastly different culture views and engages Work and education related mores and traditions. Studying abroad, and this program in particular, is something I cannot recommend hard enough to anyone/

I had the experience of a lifetime studying in São Paulo, Brazil. The program is designed so that you live off, but near campus with Brazilian students who attend PUC. At PUC, depending on your Portuguese fluency, you will either direct enroll in two courses of your choice or take two courses previously designated by CET. Additionally, at CET's hub, you will take an immersive Portuguese language course and Poverty and Inequality. The CET staff is incredibly involved, fun, and supportive. The staff plan excursions and trips that complement what is being learned in class and fuel the program's fun. Altogether, these elements coalesced into one of the most beautiful and unforgettable experiences of my life. I came from a non-traditional background: my parents are immigrants and I am a first generation student. Study abroad felt like a stretch and leaving what was comfortable was scary, but perhaps more than any other program could have, CET Brazil really touched my soul. I am Afro-Latino and at its heart, Brazil is too. This made adjusting to many of the changes easy because they felt distantly familiar. I immediately connected with my roommate, other Brazilian students, and the CET staff because their hospitality and warmth felt like my family's. From Day 1, the staff was on board to answer all our concerns and questions. My roommates were always willing to take us around and within a week the students on the program had already planned our own excursion. We became a family quickly and I'm still in touch with almost all of the students and staff involved. The professors were similar, particularly the ones for Portuguese and Poverty and Inequality. They were very involved and present and interested in our personal lives. This was instrumental in making the work truly immersive because the coursework was tweaked to fit our experiences in Brazil more meaningful. With these two classes, there were tons of excursions - such as one to an indigenous village and a week-long trip to Bahia, which I really enjoyed, because I got to learn about a unique region of Brazil that is very different from São Paulo. All the courses contextualized what we saw day-to-day, particularly socially (i.e. race, sexuality and gender issue) very well. Finally, there are many fun things to do in São Paulo regarding food and nightlife. Compared to the US, going out is cheap...like $1 Uber cheap. So, I highly recommend this program and actually cannot wait to go back to Brazil and perhaps even pursue a master's degree or job there. Too often we get wrapped up in what America can offer us, but the reality is the whole world is your oyster and you should take advantage of all the traveling you can do because you never know what you'll learn or who you'll meet.

It was a great cross-cultural experience. The students were offered great opportunities to attend awesome excursions with the program.; The staff and the local roommates were definitely supportive of the foreign students for the most part. Although the academics had proven to be rather challenging, it was definitely an effective way of learning a language in a fast pace. One thing that I would recommend on improving is the communication between the local roommates and the foreign roommates. A weekly check-up on both of them could be beneficial.

Studying abroad in Prague was the best decision I have ever made! Originally, I wanted to study abroad in Paris because I am a French major, but changed my mind last minute because I wanted to go somewhere more unique. The culture in Prague is so different, it is hard for me to articulate even now. CET pushed me to do things I never would have on my own. For example, traveling for ten days on the traveling seminar with a large group of people who I had only recently met was one of the most fun and memorable things I have ever done, even though it sounded intimidating at first. I made friends with people I never would have had I gone through a bigger study abroad program, and am still in touch with them now. The love and support I felt from the staff and teachers was also a huge bonus, and not something that students who went elsewhere experienced. CET Prague was the best semester of my life!

The academic rigor of this intensive language program was very high, and there was a lot of interesting and useful content covered in each of our four classes that was supplemented by nightly homework that solidified what we learned each day. All of the teachers were very helpful and approachable whenever I had any questions. And the weekends punctuated each busy week with fun, planned excursions around Harbin, and independently-planned excursions surrounding the region were also encouraged by the staff. All in all, I learned a lot about China and its language this summer.

CET Prague was an outstanding program! Living just outside the center of town enabled us to get to know many different areas of Prague and have a neighborhood that truly felt like home. The public transportation is incredibly easy to use and CET provides you with a pass for the semester, allowing easy access to all of the things the city has to offer. Paddle boating down the Charles, picnicking in Jiriho z Podebrad, and traveling to Poland, Austria, and Budapest on the Traveling Seminar are some of my finest memories from the semester. I would encourage everyone to do CET Prague who loves to learn by experiencing the place where there are living.

My two months that I spent in China changed my life. After studying Mandarin Chinese for around five years in high school and college total, I decided that I wanted to actually study abroad in China and put my Chinese language skills to the test in an environment where there is little to no English. Although there was no language pledge in this specific program, I did my best to speak Chinese with those around me. I was enrolled in a Chinese language class, an elective course pertaining to Chinese history, an internship course, and an actual internship.

All of the CET staff truly cared about the students, especially the director of the program, Zuo Cui. She is an amazing woman who I hope to see again in the future. Whenever I had any issue at all, I would go to her and she would help me to resolve it. My Chinese language teacher was fantastic as well. Although she did not speak much English, I was able to understanding much of what she was saying in Chinese and practice my Chinese as well. Class sizes were small, actually ranging from 1-9 students depending on what level Chinese you have placed in. This is great because it allowed for much active participation and direct teacher and student communication.

Apart from classes, most of us participated in excursions on weekends. CET did an excellent job organizing the trips and I learned so much from each trip. One trip we took was a weekend trip to Qingdao, the beer and seafood capital of China. I absolutely loved the atmosphere in Qingdao. In addition, some of us also went to Shanghai the following weekend without any faculty or staff. It was amazing to see different Chinese cities and notice the difference as you go from city to city. I learned so much from travel within China.

My internship was great. Although I, along with a couple other students, did not have an internship placement until about two to three weeks into the program due to scheduling conflicts and lack of communication between some of us and the internship class teacher, this did not rain on all of our parades. I met some amazing people at my internship and I was able to work in a traditional Chinese courtyard home which is an experience that I will never forget.

The housing at Capital Normal University was absolutely awesome. Every two days, housing workers would come in and take out our trash for us and mop the floors. Every week, they would come and replace our bed sheets. You also get paired with a Chinese roommate. I loved my Chinese roommate so much. He was able to teach me so much Chinese and help me out with my Chinese homework whenever I had questions. CET really does an amazing job when pairing you up with your roommates. There were no problems between anyone in our group and the Chinese roommates. Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend this program to anyone who has any interest in Chinese and China.

The program is structured very well. Class work is intense and the language pledge is exhausting. But everyone's Chinese improved significantly. The dorms are VERY nice (almost like hotels) and the staff are all very devoted to the students. The only complaints would be that work was thrown at us at random occasions unexpectedly. Teachers would expect us to complete work in a short amount of time which did not seem fair, and said work was not on the syllabus. Otherwise, the weekend trips were great fun and the director of the program didn't baby us, but at the same time gave us enough support and help about anything and everything.

All in all, I enjoyed my time in Taiwan. The CET staff on the ground, Andrew and Chunling were extremely welcoming and took care of all their students' needs by providing snacks throughout the week and opening up their office for students to come in and chat.

The price is indeed steep and could have been lower if CET didn't provide for cultural immersion experiences, an opening and closing banquet, and a trip to Hualien. In the end, it is a cost for the small perks that we received.

As for the education, CET partners with ICLP-- one of the world's premier Chinese language learning institutions. Normal ICLP students take 4 hours of class but because of the nature of CET's program, CET students take 3 hours of intensive class. One is one-on-one and the other two are small classroom sized (up to 4 students). The classes are flipped-style, meaning that students must prepare their lessons before class and then during class, they are expected to recite them and use the grammar structures that they just learned to converse with their classmates and teachers.

Even though, the program takes place in Taiwan. You are by no means forced to learn traditional Chinese-- ICLP still offers its courses in simplified. But you might absorb some traditional because of the environment.

This added on top of an internship as well as an internship course (which was a bit unnecessary in my opinion) caused me to be overwhelmed at times, especially in the beginning but I gradually caught onto the rhythm of things and learned to manage my time. Let alone making friends with other Taiwanese locales, I did not have the time or energy to make friends with ICLP students. I mainly hung out with my Borderless housemates, who were welcoming and friendly. My experience with Borderless seemed like an exception--as some students were placed very far from NTU or their internships and did not talk with their roommates. Next semester, I believe housing will be different.

CET Taiwan is, however, a one-of-a-kind experience. You won't have a similar opportunity to hold an internship in Taiwan while learning Chinese at the same time.

That said, Taiwan is a beautiful country! Go visit!

My summer in Jordan was absolutely incredible. Yes, it was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but it was SO worth it. Jordan was nothing that I expected. It was beautiful, chaotic, fun, difficult, and intense. Obviously this is not a study abroad to Europe while taking a course in English so you do not get to party or travel to other countries 24/7. This is an intensive immersion program and you come out speaking Arabic better than you would have ever dreamed of. I literally feel like I barely knew Arabic before coming on this trip (after having taken it for 2 YEARS!). After my courses I felt like a new Arabic speaker. I really believe that if I had lived in Jordan for a whole year or the summer plus a semester, I would be fluent. You will also get to see and experience some amazing things/places and meet so many amazing people. If you are able, do it. Do not let the new country, the language, or the unknown scare you. DO IT!