Program Reviews

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!

Jordan is a beautiful country with extremely hospitable people. During my time there, I was able to see events and places ranging from a family birthday party, Petra, Wadi Rum, the Dead Sea, and the Roman Ampitheatre. To be able to understand the cultural and historical context made understanding the language easier. My favorite memory is staying the night in Wadi Rum but really not sleeping at all because everyone is looking at the stars. It's a surreal experience because you are totally disconnected from the outside world - no phones, no light pollution. CET Jordan impacted my life in such a way that I returned to the States with a new understanding and appreciation for the things we have in America and also for the way other cultures function and operate. To totally immerse yourself in another person's culture is, in my opinion, the sign of respect. One of the hardest things during my time in Jordan was the language pledge. It is incredibly difficult at times and truly, truly pushes you out of your comfort zone. However, because I upheld the language pledge, my Arabic language skills have improved tremendously. CET pushes students out of their comfort zones while simultaneously providing them with an extremely wonderful support system for when things get tough. Every single CET professor is kind and encouraging but also driven to ensure that students learn something new every day. The teaching assistants in the classroom are there for extra support, to help explain something again or go over a worksheet with someone individually if needed. Their goal, just as much as the students, is for the students to learn. Students are paired with a language partner that you meet with weekly, and through them you get to see firsthand what it is like to live in Jordan. In addition to a language partner, students also have a Jordanian roommate. Through them, you are able to speak within your home with a native speaker and get a glimpse of what it is like to live with someone from a different culture. Not only is CET extremely academically driven, it is extremely culturaly driven as well.

If you choose to undertake this program, prepare to have your life changed forever. My two months of language study in Kunming shattered my preconceived notions about Chinese life and culture, and gave me an opportunity to truly assimilate into local life (as much as a foreigner could, at least!). By the end of the program, I was actually reluctant to return home! The language instruction is indeed rigorous, but all means doable, and within a few weeks of arrival, speaking Chinese became more natural than speaking English for me. I found the campus of Yunnan University and the surrounding area to be an incredibly warm and welcoming environment for international travelers and students. To top it off, the rich ethnic diversity, history, culture, and comfortable climate of Kunming, in my opinion, made it the ideal city in China to study. I will forever consider Yunnan in general, and Kunming in particular, to be a second home to me thanks to this experience.

Don't get me wrong, I love America, but CET may have forced me to give China a first-place rank. I started my time in China with the CET Spring Beijing Intensive Term and then I opted to continue into CET Summer Beijing Intensive. CET is incredible because firstly, my Chinese level catapulted from absolutely 0 speaking ability to being able to whole full-blown and fluid conversations with locals. In addition, I will be taking an Advanced Modern Chinese course when I start at university this fall. Secondly, through my 6 glorious months based in Beijing, I was able not only to explore a world-famous city, but also to branch out into China: Xi'an, Tianjin, Shanghai, to name a few. CET and its language pledge (which I would not change for the world) gave me the foundation of language skill confidence to be able to reach far beyond my comfort zone and venture into other Chinese cities. I am so grateful to CET for gifting me with advanced Chinese language skill and a plethora of new cultural experiences. I often question why I came home...

Overall, I think that the program was very spiffy.

As an absolute beginner to the language, I was nervous about the program and how it would be especially since there was the internship component; however, after touching down in China and meeting everyone, it was not as bad as I thought it would have been. The staff of CET, the teachers, the staff of CNU, and everyone in the program were all nice and very helpful. Without their help, I would have been lost and confused in my first couple of weeks in China but because everyone was so willing and kind to help a poor soul out, I was able to adjust to being in China quickly.

I do think that having a Chinese roommate for everyone in the program was very beneficial and all of the Chinese roommates were great people. Having them there was great as they would help us with getting around China as well as becoming our long lasting friends.

The trips planned by the program were very nice and we did have weekends free for the most part so we would go out and see different places on our own. The classes themselves in addition to the internship were definitely challenging and homework was daily. I would confidently say that the program was similar to a work-study in the States. Though, the daily Chinese language class did help a lot and I was able to learn a great deal of Chinese and improve what I learned as well.

The program did require a lot of work and somewhat little sleep at times but in the end, it was definitely worth it. The experience of both studying abroad in China as well as the internship component were very valuable in terms of academics as well as making new friends.

The program is very solid. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to develop their Arabic or just get out of their University. The program director and employees are very understanding and help you through all of your problems. For example, I got sick the second week and Ahmed(CET employee) drove me to the hospital and walked me through the entire process. Before I knew it, I was out of the hospital with medications in less than 40 minutes.
Through the program you get to see Petra, the Dead Sea and Wadi Rum in the long trip and Um Qais, Jaresh and Ajlun in the short trip. This was a much needed breath of fresh air, as classes were starting to pick and much of the day was spent in the books. Petra was my favorite location from the trip. Pictures don’t do the city justice. Being face to face with the treasury really makes you wonder how a primitive human can accomplish so much in the desert. The Dead Sea was a close number 2 but was very painful(don’t get the salt water in your eyes). If I had studied abroad on my own I would have not been able to assess there locations. I am very happy the program sets these trips up.
Participating in the language pledge for two months undoubtedly strengthened my Arabic. Being in the thick of course work and college student life, I didn’t realize how far I had come. Arriving in Amman, I could introduce myself in Arabic and talk about where I was from and what I studied; after the program, I could maintain a conversation with my uber driver for 30 minutes on the way to the airport. We talked about our favorite music, why I was in Jordan, what I wanted to do, what he wanted to do and companies he worked for. I didn’t realize how far I had come until he dropped me off and I headed back to the states. Overall, I am very happy with my decision to study and I have gained so much from my experience.

All in all the program was good. The environment was truly immersive. We were given many opportunities to use our Chinese, and in many cases there was no other option than to use Chinese. The majority of local places did not have a way to communicate in English, so Chinese was the only option. The teachers at CET were absolutely fantastic. They were probably the best part of the program. The Academics were very helpful and rigorous, but without the excellent teachers we had, we definitely would not have learned as much as we did. As far as what was the best part about the experience, I would say the city of Beijing in itself. Beijing is a very large and interesting city with many interesting places, so get out and explore. The homework is a lot, but you generally will have plenty of time to check out the city. So explore! When speaking Chinese, the most rewarding times were always when I was alone, exploring the city and engaging with locals in a natural way.