Sigur Center for Asian Studies
At the Elliott School of International Affairs
Hello everyone!
This is my final video blog for my summer study program. I will be finishing my last class on Sunday and will conclude my 8 weeks study program.
In this blog, I am going to discuss some interesting places that have been talked about in my textbook that I think are fun places to visit when getting out of Taipei, and also I will provide some closing thoughts on my study program.
To watch the video please go to this link!
Hello everyone, I hope your summer is closing on a high note. My summer studies have been progressing well and I hope you all enjoyed my video on cooking dumplings.
Currently in my lesson we are talking about a lot of places that you can take a day trip to if you are already in Taipei. This blog I wanted to touch on some really cool areas that my lessons have recommended but also some areas which I have visited in the past while in Taiwan. It’s disappointing that I was unable to take part in language studies in Taiwan this summer, but having this language opportunity has really helped me improve my language ability and I am excited for the next opportunity where I will be able to go to Taiwan.
This area is very famous as a tourist destination where you can walk the winding streets of Jiufen and eat many kinds of street food in addition to eating at many great restaurants. Since Jiufen is in the mountains you are bound to find many hikes in the area that are of interest. My personal favourite hike is at Teapot Mountain. This is a fantastic hike that I think everyone who plans to head to the famous Jiufen area should take the time to make the short trip from Jiufen to Teapot Mountain. The views on a clear day are absolutely spectacular, as your view will be mountain summits against a backdrop of the open ocean. An easy place to start this hike will be from the Gold Mining Museum at the base of the mountain, from there you can take the trail about 35 minutes to the top. Alternately, you can drive up to just below the summit and walk the 5 minutes to the top to enjoy a great view. The best way to travel to this area will be by taking a train to the Ruifang train station and then taking a taxi to your intended destination.
This location from March to May has very beautiful views of the green vegetation that grows on the reef along the shore. The Laomei Green Reef is located north of Taipei along the north coast of Taiwan. It is best to visit Laomei Green Reef during low tide so that you will be able to see the vastness of the green reef and the view it has to offer tourists. The reef is a well known geological site due to the geological forces that have formed the unique landscape. Nearby this area, there is also a lighthouse that you can walk to and further enjoy the scenery and view. The Laomei Green Reef is not the most convenient location to get to. While there are busses that can be used to get there, the most convenient way to visit is by using a car or using a rideshare company; otherwise it might take too much time.
This tea house is not much of a day trip but rather a place to visit while you are busy exploring Taipei. I wanted to add this since I have really enjoyed my time while visiting. Wistaria Tea House is located near National Taiwan Normal University and Shida Night Market and is just a short walk from either. At the tea house, you have the option to have dinner or you can just relax in the tea room and enjoy the variety of tea and small snacks. One very fun part of visiting the Wistaria Tea House is how you will be educated on the proper preparation of the teapots and cups prior to enjoying the tea to ensure you are practicing the proper methods that enhance the flavor of the tea. The tea house is a fun educational experience and you will be able to enjoy the teas that are natively grown in Taiwan.
This excursion is south of Taipei and is actually in New Taipei City. The best route to take to arrive here is to take the MRT Green Line to Xindian Station and to take the bus or a rideshare company to the trailhead. The walk is not long and the scenery is very worth the time spent getting there. Once there you will see the buildings pressed up against the rock face and the beautiful waterfall overhead. Most places in Taiwan when hiking actually have a lot of stairs due to the frequent rain that often causes erosion. Therefore, the trails are usually nice and well maintained
This blog post is an instructional video on how to make dumplings. I used a recipe that was in my textbook and part of one of the lessons I completed. The process was fun and it was a nice way to get to cook new foods and practice my Chinese language skills by going to the local Asian market to find ingredients. I also used other Chinese language cooking resources to practice my dumpling wrapping skills (I still need some improvement).
The video is so large I was unable to upload it so I have shared the link where you can find it on YouTube.
Enjoy!
(Featured image was taken during the last time I was in Taiwan. The picture is of Mt. Jilong and the photo was taken at Teapot Mountain).
Hi everyone, I am Matt Geason and I am a graduate student in the MA Asian Studies program at George Washington University. Currently, I am taking part in the Sigur Center Asian Language Study Grant. I sought out this opportunity to further improve my Mandarin Chinese ability to help prepare me for a potential career path at the Department of State. Because of COVID-19, I decided to take part in a language study program online through National Taiwan Normal University’s Mandarin Training Center (MTC). I have previously studied at MTC when I was studying Chinese in 2016 and had a positive experience in class and with the teaching staff.
For my current course of study, I am working 1-on-1 with a Chinese language instructor where I am focusing on speaking, listening, and I have a significant focus on reading. Additionally, this type of program has a customized syllabus where before the start of classes my teacher and I discussed the learning objectives, and proper material was allocated for the course of study. These customized learning objectives have greatly helped improve on areas of Chinese where I may have struggled more in the past but see significant improvement now. This is my first experience working intensively in a 1-on-1 environment and I think that there are considerable benefits to this, for example, my teacher and I have established a repour with one another and I think that this type of working relationship goes far to support my language studies. I believe that this is true because my teacher has been able to easily identify certain grammatical structures or vocabulary usage that is inconsistent and can target them and relate them with others I am stronger with to help me improve further.
Since classes started just a few weeks ago I feel my Chinese ability has steadily increased. The homework assignments involving news articles and short stories have challenged me to learn more characters and phrases at a much faster rate. Plus, at the start of each class, I give a short presentation regarding a recent news article. This is a new type of regular assignment that I am not used to from other Chinese courses that I have taken. This type of assignment requires researching an article, time spent understanding the article, and preparation for the in-class presentation and has helped me master new vocabulary and helped build my confidence in discussing new material. Additionally, outside of class, my teacher has assigned me Chinese Language TV shows to watch that I access through Netflix to also practice my listening ability and also learn more about how the language is used outside of the classroom.
In all the first few weeks of my course of study have been a lot of work but it has been very enjoyable being able to dedicate so much time to further my Chinese language ability. I am looking forward to the weeks ahead in my course of study and the further language advancement that I will be able to make.