CET Greater China

My journey in Taipei, Taiwan has been nothing short of extraordinary. From the moment I arrived, I felt embraced by the warmth and hospitality of both the local community and the CET staff who supported me throughout my stay. The transition to life as a student in Taiwan was a little difficult at first, but thanks to the guidance and assistance provided every step of the way I acclimated just fine. One of the most remarkable aspects of my time in Taipei has been the genuine welcome extended to me by the Taiwanese people. Despite the occasional curious glance, I've been met with nothing but kindness and generosity.
Enjoying Taiwanese cuisine has been a highlight of my experience. From mouthwatering street food to exquisite traditional dishes, the diverse and affordable options never cease to amaze me. Exploring the countless drink stores and sampling various teas and bubble milk drinks has been a delightful adventure in itself.
Navigating Taipei's public transportation system, particularly the MRT, has been a breeze. Despite being new to relying on public transportation, I found the MRT to be incredibly efficient and easy to navigate, allowing me to explore the city and beyond with ease.
In just short three months, I've had the opportunity to immerse myself in Taiwanese culture, both in Taipei and beyond. Exploring historic landmarks, savoring local delicacies, and venturing outside the city to experience the breathtaking landscapes have left me with memories that will last a lifetime.
Overall, my study abroad experience in Taipei, Taiwan has been extremely transformative. It has not only broadened my understanding of the Chinese language, but has also enriched my cultural understanding and personal growth in ways I never imagined possible. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to have lived and learned in this captivating city. I would whole-heartedly recommend the program to anyone seeking an unforgettable adventure abroad.

During my time abroad in Taiwan, I experienced significant personal growth, learning to live independently and become more self-sufficient. I studied at National Taiwan University where my Chinese classes were rigorous but rewarding. Although the classes were relatively fast paced, my teacher was patient and understanding so I managed to keep up with the curriculum effectively. Additionally, CET was amazing and provided so many on campus resources as well as opportunities for off campus activities. I was particularly impressed with the reimbursement system that allowed students to be reimbursed for cultural activities and language partner meetings. I also appreciated how secure I felt in Taiwan, thanks to its navigable cityscape and extensive public transportation options. Overall, my time in Taiwan was enriching, marked by fulfilling language classes and newfound independence.

I have to say that I overall I had a great experience. I have never before felt more like a University Student in my life. My courses has been challenging, but has been helpful in improving my Mandarin Chinese. Living and Getting Around the city of Taipei has been extremely convenient with the recommendations to purchase the T-Pass etc. What I like especially is how easy it is really to find things to do that are free or relatively low price as well. I am never bored here, but able to appreciate moments of relaxations as well.

TLDR: CET is difficult but overall a great experience

Taipei is an amazing city with so much to do from food to sightseeing to nightlife. It felt a little overwhelming at times, but it was mostly fun. Take advantage of the weekends to take trips to other parts of Taiwan with friends, like Jiufen, Hualien, Penghu, Beitou, and Tainan--those weekend trips were the highlights of my CET experience, but Taipei itself is great too. I came to CET with almost no Chinese language skills, and I improved rapidly with the language course through NTU. The electives I took were not my favorite--the 3-hour classes, even though they were only once a week felt really long.

The biggest piece of advice I have for anyone considering traveling to Taiwan in the future is consider what kind of study abroad experience you want to have. If you are really invested in improving your Chinese language skills or experiencing a different culture, I'd highly recommend CET Taiwan. But if you want a more laid-back, fun experience, CET might not be the right program for you (CET was fun but not in the traditional sense you imagine for a program in say, Italy). Again, I'd highly recommend CET Taiwan and just Taiwan as a place to visit in your life. It just depends what you are trying to get out of your experience.

CET Taiwan overall was a great experience for me. I was able to improve my Chinese, experience Taipei and other cities, and make meaningful connections with locals. I thoroughly enjoyed and felt challenged in my Chinese course that was taught by the Chinese Language Division at NTU. However, I didn't like the CET elective that I took. The format of the class and the professor were disengaging, and it felt like I just wanted to get it over with every time I went to class. One thing I enjoyed about the CET program was living with a local Taiwanese roommate and having language partners. This allowed me to make friends easily and practice conversational Chinese often. Taipei is such a great location. There is always something fun to do in the city and the transportation makes it easy to explore. The people are also very friendly! I definitely want to visit Taiwan again in the future.

There are a lot of reasons that my semester with CET in Taipei was an awesome experience. CET does a really good job of encouraging you to immerse as much as possible in the local community (like the language partner program, local roommates cultural reimbursements, travel reimbursements, organized programs, etc) while also providing a lot of support and planning for you (housing, orientation, metro pass, programs, etc). While being in a language study program does mean you spend a lot of your time in class with other study abroad students and not locals, having local roommates and built in language partner program was a really unique chance to make connections and friendships with local students, and definitely helps to balance out the bubble of only hanging out with other Americans that can be an easy routine to fall into. In terms of location, Taipei is such a great city to live in and there are endless things to do for whatever you love; amazing hiking and nature, BIKING!!, history and museums, night life and night markets, sports culture, etc, all easily reachable by the safe and accessible public transit systems. The food I ate during my semester abroad is by far the best food I've ever eaten, and also the cheapest.
The academic culture of this program and Taiwan in general should definitely be considered before coming. There is a heavy focus on academics and you will be spending a lot of time in class and studying outside of class. While it is an adjustment to make, I think it is overall a good opportunity to learn how to prioritize time management, because you will have to put in effort to make time for all of the things you want to do/explore.
Looking back, my favorite things about Taipei became the routines I created for myself. The riverside bike path that runs all around the city is extremely lively all afternoon and night, and realizing that going on nighttime runs was something that was safe to do in Taiwan was a game changer for me: this little routine became one of my favorite things to do after my busy days of class and interning, and is one of the places I'll miss the most. Finding a nearby food alley in the neighborhood my apartment was in also became a part of the daily routine, and becoming friendly with the owners of my go-to breakfast street cart or braised pork restaurant really contributed to the sense of home in the corner of Taipei that I lived in.
Traveling all over Taiwan was undoubtably a huge highlight of this semester as well. The HSR and train systems make going virtually anywhere in Taiwan really easy as well as affordable. My favorite part of traveling in Taiwan is that Taiwan is not a major international tourist hub, and so traveling within the country was a really cool way to get a sense of the different local indigenous and regional culture. One of my favorite trips was over Mid-Autumn Festival, when my roommates and myself visited family of one of my roommates in Chang-hua (a small rural city). We were able to stay with her Taiwanese cousins and celebrate moon festival and barbecue with them.
These are just a few of my biggest takeaways from my semester abroad. I am so grateful for the three months I got to spend in Taipei, and know that it is a place I want to be a part of my life in the future.

Classes: I took Mandarin classes at National Taiwan University's CLD during the weekdays. The courses are pretty difficult, we went through units quickly and were tested very regularly, but the professors are understanding and are happy to work with students. The test taken to determine your level before the program begins is pretty holistic, and I felt comfortable at the level I was placed in.

Housing: Most housing was around 30 minutes away from NTU's campus. Some were further, which meant other students had a long commute. My apartment was in a very nice neighborhood and was a clean environment. Cleaners came bi-weekly to clean the apartment, but daily chores were done by myself and my roommates. We created a schedule to clean and take out trash and kept our living areas clean. If anything in the apartment broke or went wrong, such as AC units or getting locked out, CET was always on call to help us out.

Programming: CET admin planned a lot of events that were very engaging and well attended by students. We visited museums, attended theatre shows, did local tours, and even went to a Guardians baseball game. Sometimes, events seemed a little disorganized, but they were always fun to attend.

Internships: The summer program gives you the option to intern as well as take CLD classes. We had weekly meetings with the CET admin to check in about our roles and expectations at our different placement sites, and they were helpful. My internship was amazing, and I got really close with the other interns and my supervisor.

My Phillips Summer abroad in Taiwan program was excellent. The program was cultural immersion so I had no Chinese prior to attending, and survival Chinese gave me just enough to make my way through Taiwan. The program allows for travel across Taiwan to places like Hualien and Toroko, up to Jiufen. The building we studied in at NTU was fantastic along with our professor Ken. Our program leader Greta was fantastic along with our culture buddies. Within our program housing was hit or miss with one group getting far superior living conditions. The program could be improved by spreading out more of the activities beyond the first week and allowing for more interaction between other CET programs in the country, but really the program was fantastic.