VLOG #4: Final Remarks

Hello! My little tripod stand broke during traveling so the set up of this blog is very close to my face. Hope you don't mind the close up.
Thanks again the the Sigur Center for allowing me to experience a wonderful three months in Taiwan. My time here will be unforgettable.

Tracie M. Yang M.A Asian Studies, Class of 2018

Sigur Center 2017, Asian Language Fellow

National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan (ROC)

President, Organization of Asian Studies (OAS)

VLOG #3 Taiwanese Cuisine

Tracie M. Yang M.A Asian Studies, Class of 2018

Sigur Center 2017, Asian Language Fellow

National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan (ROC)

President, Organization of Asian Studies (OAS)

National Taiwan Normal University's Mandarin Training Center

My experience at the Mandarin Training Center.

National Taiwan Normal University’s Mandarin Training Center (MTC) is one of the oldest language learning institutions in Taiwan. Founded in 1956, it’s program has attracted students from all around the world to study. In my two and half months studying at MTC, I can honestly say that I have been very satisfied with my experience. Not only have I greatly accelerated my language skills, but I have also connected with students from all around the world.

Personally there were two main reasons as to why I made my decision to apply to the Mandarin Training Center at National Taiwan Normal University. One, the array of courses the program offers to it’s students and the diversity of the students. After doing some extensive research, I had been struggling between the Mandarin Training Center and National Taiwan University’s International Chinese Language Program (ICLP). After learning that students MTC comprised of students from all over Asia, Europe and Africa I was instantly sold. More importantly, as a heritage speaker the program at NTNU offers courses that are specifically geared towards students whose listening and speaking skills are advanced but reading skills are at the intermediate or beginner level. Naturally, upon enrolling in MTC I was placed into such a particular course. 

Currently I am in the intensive level program, a three month, three hour course that meets Monday through Friday. Although the work load can be a bit daunting the intensive course is well worth your time and money. The curriculum is fundamental and practical. Initially I was a bit daunted at the prospect of learning traditional Chinese characters. However, I have found that learning the historical context of each character and the radicals are really beneficial to memorizing the characters. Learning simplified Chinese may seem easier, but since the characters have been simplified to it’s base components the true context and meaning of the text is hard to remember and understand. Although it learning traditional Chinese writing seems arduous and daunting I think it is definitely worth it! 

Not only have I seen a great level of improvement in my reading and writing skills, but I have also made great connections with my classmates. Although we are all heritage speakers our class comes from an array countries with unique backgrounds. Within my class we have students from Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and South Africa. It has been quite fascinating to hear the perspectives of my classmates who all have similar but unique stories on how and why their families immigrated to different parts of the world. 

Overall, I have really enjoyed my time at the Mandarin Training Center. If you are a perspective student I would highly recommend the intensive program as the course that yields the best results! 

Tracie M. Yang M.A Asian Studies, Class of 2018

Sigur Center 2017, Asian Language Fellow

National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan (ROC)

President, Organization of Asian Studies (OAS)

Studying Mandarin in Taiwan: A lesson in cultural and historical perspective.

Having a neighbor like China (The People's Republic of China) it is easy to overlook the thriving island state of Taiwan (The Republic of China). It is only recently, after living abroad in China, that I have come to understand the subtle yet significant differences between political and cultural identities between Taiwan and China. Oddly enough, this epiphany was brought about from attempting to understand my father’s fixation on the Civil War. Yeah, I am not talking about the civil war that took place in China...

Since I was little, I can remember my father’s fascination with the American Civil War. Given the opportunity, my dad would drag me to as many reenactments as he could. While there, my father would tell me about the gallantry of the Confederate soldier and take countless pictures with them. My father’s interest in the Confederates and the American Civil War was always a bit curious and bizarre. Not only because we lived in Southern California, far from any meaningful Civil War history, but also because my father is Chinese.

I grew up associating the Confederate South with ignorance and racial intolerance. So why was my father, a first generation Chinese immigrant, romanticizing their cause and defeat? I finally understood why when my father told me the story of his family’s arduous escape from Mainland China to Taiwan in 1949. He told me about his grandfather’s attempt to relocate his entire university student body from China, and of the number of casualties they endured during their journey. From then on, I had a better understanding of why my father held such an interest in the Confederate South. During my years of berating my father about his “Southern sympathies,” I had failed to consider how identity could play a part in my father’s historical perspective. I had failed to consider that my father’s romanticized views of a defeated group of people were a product of being a boy born into a family of refugees who had supported the losing side of a bloody civil war.  Since this revelation, I have endeavored to understand and experience the different cultural, historical and political perspective of China and Taiwan.

Most notably, I have found that language has been a great way of analyzing these differences.

In my second year living and working in the China I had naively thought that my understanding of Chinese culture and Mandarin would equally translate while traveling to Taiwan for a short Lunar New Year excursion. However, upon arriving in Taipei and meeting my distant family members, I had quickly realized that the language, the culture, and the people were far different from what I have seen and experienced in China. It was then that I came to the understanding that despite having a grasp of the language that both nations shared, I was naive to the fact that simply knowing Chinese Mandarin did not make me fluent in Taiwanese Mandarin, or the linguistic system shared by the Taiwanese people. After my short time in Taiwan, I had become fascinated by how the people’s use of traditional Chinese characters, their colloquialisms, the culinary culture, popular media and film, and their politics were all characteristics that helped encompass a unique Taiwanese identity.

So far my time here in Taipei, Taiwan has allowed me to really immerse myself in the lifestyle and history of the island. In my next posts, I hope to highlight the main aspects of Taiwan's distinctive political, historical and cultural perspective!

Tracie M. Yang M.A Asian Studies, Class of 2018

Sigur Center 2017, Asian Language Fellow

National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan (ROC)

President, Organization of Asian Studies (OAS)