Course booked

My trip to Taipei is beginning to take shape. My course is booked and, this week, I secured a great studio apartment in town. 

I am quite excited to be living and studying in Taipei. Many have asked me why Taipei? Why not do further study of the Chinese language in Beijing or Shanghai?  My short answer to this question is that I have already had that experience. Taipei is close to Singapore and the course structure is very flexible. To have a one on one tutor tailor a language course to my needs was a key factor in my choice. Furthermore, the cost will be very reasonable. 

I also like the flexibility of arranging my own accommodation and being independent. In the early days when students went to study in China, foreign students in China had no choice but to live in foreign language student dormitories. The main reason for this was security however it did tend to create a separate world, one full of foreign students and their adventures learning Chinese. Whilst I made many friends amongst my fellow students (who then were mostly South Korean or Japanese), now I would prefer to be more independent.

People often talk about the importance of learning 'Modern Standard Chinese'. I believe language is a living thing. As with English, Mandarin Chinese is spoken with a different accents and if one does travel to China, there is some variability. Even if regions do use different words or sayings, I think that is part of the process of learning a language and makes it interesting as well.