CET Greater China

I spent the summer of 2019 participating in the CET: Shanghai program and it has been one of my best decisions. It was an incredible experience, allowing me to further my personal and professional goals.

As a Chinese heritage student I wanted to learn more about my own culture and language and CET’s Chinese course delivered. Having the language placement exam at the very beginning allows for students of every level in Chinese to be placed in their appropriate level class. This allows for students to be challenged in their language study but not be too overwhelmed. Having language class everyday may be more than what you’re used to in your home university but everyone leaves the program with significantly better Mandarin skills. Something I’d recommend is that if you don’t think your placement results were accurate to speak with the teachers and the director of the department. I switched my Chinese class two times before finding the right fit.
To build cultural understanding, CET also reimburses up to 70 yuan/day for students to explore Shanghai and participate in different cultural activities. This allowed for my friends and I to watch a lot of Chinese movies and visit museums throughout the program.

In terms of professional development, the internship component of the program is great for gaining international work experience. You can learn a lot about how different industries operate in China and what kind of opportunity exists there. The internship search process is hectic but eventually everyone finds their internship. Speaking from my own experience, I think the quality of the internship placement of the program is its largest weakness. I did not have a great experience working at my first placement because of the lack of professionalism and respect from my supervisor. My second internship placement was better in comparison but I wasn’t given very meaningful work. I would recommend future students to really think about what kind of internships they want and to remain firm. It’s okay to say no to companies that offer you a position.

Despite some challenges, I had an incredible summer in Shanghai. It's such a fun city to live in and there is always something to do! The connections I made with other U.S. and local students continue to carry on and made participating in the program so meaningful.

Although the program's academic standards were high, the program provided all the materials necessary to succeed and even included multiple fun activities for stress relief. I found that the staff was not only responsive to any issues the students encountered, but also went out of their way to help the students if they felt anything was wrong. My experience was amazing; I could see significant improvement in my Chinese and gained more confidence when speaking. The class structure is diverse which allows students to be exposed to multiple methods in order to learn the material. Additionally, the program provided for many excursion trips and recommended local restaurants/shops to visit; we were able to experience various aspects of the local culture. My favorite was being able to visit DaLi because we saw so many gorgeous natural landscapes. Overall, I was very happy with the program and would love to visit the friends I made in the future.

When I was searching for a program to study Chinese, these were the features about CET Taiwan that grabbed my interest: language classes with ICLP, an internship within my areas of interests, and housing with Taiwanese students.

CET partners with ICLP, which is one of the world's premier Chinese language centers located at National Taiwan University. The classes focus intensively on speaking and listening. Normal ICLP students would have four classes, but CET students only have three because of the internship. Don't think the classes are easier because CET students have one less. The workload/preparation is as intense; it may be more challenging because CET students also have their internships. One class is one-on-one; you can ask for help on anything during the 1-1 class. The other two classes have up to four students so there are more opportunities to practice speaking and listening. The students are expected to practice and prepare for the next lesson the night before, and during class time, the teachers will ask questions regarding the lessons. While Traditional Chinese is the preferred writing/reading method, ICLP classes still offer materials in Simplified Chinese; students who know either form will be a great fit in the program.

CET Taiwan internship is tailored to the students' interests. t Since I liked science and medicine, our lovely internship director Chunling connected me with a research internship at Taipei Veterans General Hospital; I had classmates who worked for NGOs, cloud-service company, patient-law firms - just to list a few. The internship is a great way to experience the feeling of working in Taiwan and meeting new people.

Balancing school and internship while finding time to enjoy Taiwan was challenging, but I had the unwavering support from the dynamic duo Andrew and Chunling. This is NOT an exaggeration when I say they are fantastic people. They were more like friends, and students could come and talk to them about anything. They were very understanding and showed unwavering support for us. Every week, they would bring snacks for everyone to share, and a different student would bring fruits every Friday. In addition, we had "Lunch Box Tuesday" where all the CET Taiwan students would come and have lunch with Andrew and Chunling; we would discuss our internships and classes. Doing so strengthened the supportive environment.

As for housing, during my summer semester, we had two apartments - one in the SongShan district and the other in the GongGuan district. In each apartment, there was at least one Taiwanese student and other American students. It was very nice of Andrew and Chunling to find these apartments because I did not want to go through the hassles of finding my own living place. Before CET Taiwan had consolidated living spaces, students from earlier semesters had to find their own apartments; some were close to ICLP while others lived far away and had to ride the MRT for a long time to get to school (e.g. 1-hr). Furthermore, living together was a great way to make new friends.

Overall, the program exceeded my expectations. Taiwan is culturally and historically rich with beautiful sceneries. I was sad that the program had to come to an end; I wished the summer program could have been a week or two longer. While the program is expensive, the friends that I have made and the memories that I have created were worth it.

While I thought participating in a study abroad program that enforced a language pledge would be rather difficult, I am more than happy to say that I am extremely pleased with what I gained. I was placed into 500 level Chinese, and while I believe once you are at a higher language level, language progress becomes more slow and gradual; however, the language pledge positively enhanced all students' outcomes. I had so much fun in and out of class, whether it be prepping for my oral test topic or going to see historical attractions like the Temple of Heaven with my roommate. I met amazing people and the staff was truly amazing, especially our director, Zuo Cui, who was also my director for the CET Beijing: Internship program that I participated in during the summer of 2018. CET really goes above and beyond to ensure that students feel comfortable with their lives abroad and I am truly thankful for that.

My handful of months in Beijing allowed me both depth and breadth of insight into Chinese culture, language, and society. Although my time was limited, the coursework and contact time with small class sizes allowed for me to improve my Chinese at a very expedited pace compared to learning in my American classroom. Classes were taught with student's engagement and participation in mind, ensuring that we were able to improve our language skills as effectively as possible. All of my teachers were very invested in our learning. The curriculum incorporated Chinese culture and interaction with Chinese people with language learning. Outside of the classroom CET also provided weekly activities so that we could explore Beijing together. The program is a great balance of learning inside the classroom and time to experience all that Beijing has to offer.

Living with a Chinese roommate is also a unique trait of the program and is especially beneficial for making close connections to Chinese locals. I became very close with my roommate, which had the added benefit of helping me practice my Chinese with a native speaker all of the time. I loved the program and thought that the lessons, activities, and organization of the program were thoughtful and made our time in Beijing smooth and meaningful.

CET Taiwan is a great program to go abroad with. The intensive Chinese classes allowed my Chinese to improve a lot, and the internship component of the program allowed me to improve professional skills and put into use what I had just learned in the classroom. My favorite aspect of this program was that not only was I able to strengthen my language skills, but I also was able to gain real-world experience and apply everything I learned in the classroom to my internship.

Additionally, CET Taiwan staff were very friendly and supportive; they were always just one message away if any of us had a question. I was also very impressed by the housing offered through the program, as it was very clean and there was plenty of space.

Overall I would definitely recommend this program to other students wanting to study abroad in Taiwan.

I did the CET Summer in Shanghai program at Donghua University, and it's safe to say my experience started out pretty rough. My first connecting flight was delayed, so I was forced to change flights. Rather than arriving on time, a day before the first day of orientation, I arrived at the Shanghai airport at 4 am in the morning on the day of the first day of orientation. To make matters worse, my suitcase - which had literally all of my clothes in it - never arrived. Luckily several people on my flight, who spoke english, experienced the same problem, and we were able to meet each other and find help at the baggage claim help desk. The rest of the first day was just as rough. I completely bombed the placement exam, as I was super jet lagged, and I had no fresh clothes to change into. Anyway, I was able to buy clothes at the mall, and my suitcase was eventually found and shipped to Donghua University 4 days later, and CET was super helpful in getting it to me. Outside of this, my experience with the CET Summer Shanghai program was fantastic. This is a great program, and it is your best chance to test if you are capable of living in a major city in China.

Classes:
Whether you are going in with no Mandarin skills, or you are an advanced speaker, you will finish the program impressed with how much you learned or improved. Having language class everyday can be tiring, but the professors are amazing and make class fun. There is also a wide range of interesting electives to take. I took the Chinese cinema course, and it was one of the most interesting classes I've taken. The internship experience is also one of a kind, and is something you could not obtain without going through CET. You will be very busy during the summer program, but it is a great way to test and improve your organizational skills.

Activities:
CET also has several great opportunities almost every weekend to explore famous areas in Shanghai, but you can always do things on your own. My favorite activity was going to the movies every weekend with my roommate and playing basketball. CET also has an overnight trip to the countryside. I had my reservations at first, but it is great way to make friends. You will spend most of the time riding on a bus, but the creek crawl and white water rafting are still fun.

Roommates:
Another thing is that the roommates are all amazing and very helpful. I was nervous at first because my roommate could not understand me at times, but you will get over these language barriers. At the end your roommates English will be better and your Chinese will be better. I can't emphasize how important it is to practice speaking Mandarin with your roommate. I was embarrassed at first, and I regret not trying it more at the beginning of the program.

Weather:
One complaint is the weather is unbearable at times. Highs of 118 and extremely humid, so bring very light and breathable clothes (as much linen stuff as possible). It can also rain for weeks without stopping. There was a typhoon at the end of my program, which prevent everyone from flying home for a few days.

Dorms:
My only other complaint is that Dorm Building 3 is a little rough. The rooms aren't the cleanest and the power in your room can occasionally turn off. I once woke up drenched in sweat at 5 am because I lost power in the night, so my AC stopped working. But there is usually someone at the front desk in the lobby who can help you. Also there is a woman who will do your laundry for you on the first floor of the building. You will have to use a card that CET will give you to use hot water in your shower. It comes with 150 yuan on it, and a 6 minute shower will use about 4 yuan. Some people never had money taken off their card, but I ran out of money by the end of the program. Taking ice cold showers sucks, so conserve your shower money and take fast showers. Also the sink water is not purified, so you should get used to brushing your teeth with bottled water. It is recommended for you, but your roommate will just use the sink water. You can pay to have your sheets and room cleaned as well. Dorm building 2 is much nicer, and you are lucky if you stay in the hotel, but I heard the wifi wasn't very reliable there. I had no problems using wifi or VPN in my room for the most part.

Dining Halls:
The dinning hall food was decent, but there are plenty of restaurants near the school. Cafeteria 1 has two floors, but the best food is on the second floor of Cafeteria 2. I recommend getting breakfast from 1 and eating lunch and dinner at 2. Cafe 1 is much cheaper. Breakfast there is around 1-5 yuan and lunch and dinner will be like 12. Cafe 2 is more expensive. A plate of dumplings is around 15 yuan. I recommend bringing as much money as possible because you likely need 100-200 yuan every week for food on campus and towards the end of the program, you can only add money to your meal card 2 days out of the week from 10:30 to 1. You will also need around another 200 every week for commuting and eating at work. Donghua also has a basketball court and track, but not really a gym. If you want to exercise you'll have to get a membership at a gym nearby .

Overall, I think this program is 100% worth going on. By the end, you won't feel like a tourist, instead, you will feel like an actual citizen of Shanghai.

In high school, I took a year of Chinese as a total beginner. The teacher was a native Chinese who had never left China before coming to the United States for a year. She was very supportive but also very strict. I always wandered why she seemed to be so strict with the students and, whenever scolding a student, she would relate our mistakes to how they could affect our future if they became a habit. I was able to solve my inquiry when I cane to Beijing. The teachers where supportive but strict about getting homework done correctly, arriving to class early, accepting natural consequences for mistakes and upholding the language pledge at all times. Living in such daily environment did not only improve my Chinese drastically, but also allowed me to make lifelong friendships, increase my resilience to cultural shock and improved my understanding of cultural diversity. These skills and abilities are eternal tools to foster personal and academic success.