National Taiwan Normal University Mandarin Training Center - Heping E Rd

Studied here last year on scholarship and the experience is really hit-or-miss. A rare few teachers are absolutely amazing with modern student-centered teaching methods, but the majority are pretty traditional. The good thing is that none of the teachers are absolutely horrible, so chances are, you’ll end up with an average teacher. The best part is that you get to take courses with the NTNU degree-seeking students during the Fall/Spring. Definitely check out the NTNU Master’s level interpretation classes if you’re a native English speaker.

Admin team 1 star ? Admin team demonstrate very little compassion and flexibility with regard to changing personal circumstances. Teachers 5 stars ? Teachers are very professional and always go the extra mile to support their students.

I took three courses at the MTC between 2018-2019. Over all I would say they offer decent courses when I compare it to my experiences from other language schools here in Taiwan but it heavily depends on the teacher you get. My first teacher was awesome, explained everything really well and used the time efficiently. My second teacher focused far too much on grammar and gave us too little time to practice. My last teacher was definitely nice but had serious issues with using the given time efficiently so that many of us didn't learn anything during class. Furthermore, most teachers are already pretty old what wouldn't be an issue if they would adapt to a more modern teaching approach. So be careful and make use of the class change period if you think the teacher isn't suitable for your learning needs.

It is famous, lots of people, great organization. But, if you want help, of pace is wrong for you, not much there. Also, library hours have been reduced, cost has been raised a lot. Good for first 6 months then start shopping. The mandatory large classes feel like a waste of time once you have reached a higher level. (Regular program) intensive program tends to have a lot of homework. Overall, not bad, could be better for the price.

I had been learning Chinese for 1 year and a half, and don't recommend this school. I started studying Chinese from 0. Although I can speak Chinese now, I don't think it's the right place to learn it. First, it's expensive : around 30 000 NTD / term including only 2 hours/day. In China, you can find 5/8 hours /day classes. You can pick the "Intensive" (which is not really intensive, you just add 1 hour per day) for 36 000 NTD. Second, the textbook (當代中文課程) is bad. You learn many outdated vocabulary/expression and It's expensive. The worst thing is that the grammar explanations are very weird and inconsistant. You'll find many strange concepts such as "Vs", "Vst", totally weird even for Taiwanese people. You'll also learn that "冷", “好", "熱" are not adjectives but "Vs" (sort of verbs states). These suspects grammatical concepts may interfering with your learning in the future. Third, good teachers are very rare. Most of them have crazy class schedules. My first and last teacher (周韋伶老師) was my worst experience there : she refused to correct our essays because she was too "lazy", she was unable to explain grammar properly and get the adverbs, verbs and adjectives mixed up... I would rather recommend another place to learn Chinese.

The staff in their Chinese course is rude and not helpful at all. When we asked her about the information she talks while walking and do another stuff. She only gives us brochures to read and not explaining anything. Bad experience.

I am currently taking a class in business Chinese. So far I think the classes here are pretty good. The cost is pretty reasonable considering that during the pandemic it is not possible to study in the Mainland. I like my teacher and I think she is pretty dedicated to her job. However the "large classes" are not so great, as they cannot really accommodate different levels of students simultaneously. As a result most of the advanced speakers tend to skip these sessions, as they probably feel they can learn more efficiently on their own or in smaller classes. The business Chinese textbook I think is pretty practical minded and modern. I plan to continue taking classes with MTC in the future, hopefully my experience continues to be positive. At the end of the day I think MTC is still the best choice in Taiwan, there may be better options in the Mainland but I would prefer living in Taipei for personal reasons.

The administration’s employees haven’t smiled probably in a million years, the book is outdated/wrong and you constantly find yourself wondering if Taiwanese people actually use what you’re learning or not; the school still believes in the myth that learning how to handwrite helps you remember characters (several studies have proved them wrong)—simply way too much focus on handwriting; before you know how to say many basic every day things they already test you on very specific grammar stuff… If your intent is to be a Chinese interpreter, then maybe this is for you. But for anyone who simply wants to learn Chinese, use it quickly and be able to get by, this is probably not for you. (Not to mention that it’s only 2 hours per class--any language school I’ve heard of offers much longer classes for the same price, so that you have time to immerse yourself by playing games, etc). The only good thing is that (most) of the teachers are very nice and very helpful (thus earning the school a second star).