Any idea about homestays in Taiwan? (or general lang study there)

July 11, 2017 12:04 AM

Or if not a homestay, at least any recommendations on a living situation that would be conducive to language learning? I'm soon going to quit my job and move to China in order to focus on getting fluent in mandarin (I'm solidly upper intermediate, want to get there). I have money saved up, and can be abroad for a year or two in pursuit of this goal. More details within!

I'm in my early 30s, not a hardcore partier, and am a serious language student. I'm more interested in hanging out Taiwan longer term, but the mainland has more interesting language schools...at least, that I've found. If you know of a good one in Taiwan that isn't extremely expensive, let me know! I'm avoiding colleges in general because I find them to be expensive and inefficient. So my thought is to first go to the mainland, do formal learning, do some homestays, bone up, and then move to Taiwan and self-study with the aid of 1:1 tutors (this is what I've been doing not living in China, so I'm comfortable with that, but I've hit some plateaus I think more intense instruction experience can hopefully help me overcome).

I think a homestay would be a great way to continue building my fluency as well as connect with Taiwanese culture (I'm planning on doing some on the mainland), but they can be hard to find... if you google "taiwan homestay," you get a bunch of weird sites. Maybe some are good! I don't know. I'd much rather have a recommendation though.

Beyond that, there are other things I'd love thoughts on if you don't know of a homestay... good teachers in taiwan, interesting language schools, also: where to live! A homestay would answer that for me, but...should I just hang out in Taipei? I see the benefit that it is a big, fun city... but I could imagine there are cheaper parts of Taiwan that might have fewer people who speak English. Might be good to spend some time in both! I dunno! That's why I'm here!

Thanks in advance!

posted by anonymous to Travel & Transportation (4 answers total)

THis doesn't answer your question at all, but do you know about the Confucius Institute's year-long or two-year-long language scholarship programs? They're university-based, yes, and can be hit or miss depending on the school and the international student body makeup/vibe, but they're also a funded way to study in China for several years.
posted by tapir-whorf at 12:45 AM on July 11, 2017

I would try doing a search on "language exchange taiwan" and start making some connections. I've lived in Taiwan since 1987, at first teaching English and that evolved into other things. I suggest just coming over (Taipei for starters) and things will tend to work out especially if you're gregarious.
posted by rmmcclay at 3:08 AM on July 11, 2017

uh do you want to learn simplified characters or traditional characters? Because Taiwan (along with Hong Kong) uses traditional characters, and China (and Singapore, Malaysia) use simplified characters. Which do you want to learn? There are similarities between the 2 systems of writing, but it might be quite confusing to someone who's trying to learn Mandarin.
posted by aielen at 4:44 AM on July 11, 2017

Adding that the language variety spoken in mainland China versus Taiwan would be slightly different in vocabulary and style of speaking, so if your goal is Taiwan, it might be more worthwhile just heading there directly.

You could consider staying at hostels in a work-for-board arrangement. I stayed at Kaohsiung's BravoRelax hotel 2 years back, and the owner provided board to 2 helpers to assist with laundry and general housekeeping.
posted by appleses at 8:00 AM on July 11, 2017