Fiona Ross(Wangfujing branch school)

On arriving at TLI-Roosevelt Center in Taipei for my first day of class, my immediate impression was how busy the school is! Classes were taking place in every possible corner of the building.  I took this to be a good sign - that the school¡¯s long-standing reputation attracted so many students from all parts of the world.

Before going to Taiwan, my experience of studying Chinese was limited ¨C a few evening classes in my home country of Scotland. While I enjoyed these lessons, the focus was on learning to say simple sentences and on recognising and writing characters. The materials used placed little emphasis on teaching the structure of the Chinese language.

My course at TLI has been very different. TLI¡¯s excellent in-house materials and teaching methodology allow students to gain a real understanding of how the language works, thus building students¡¯ confidence to start using the language for themselves. TLI¡¯s textbooks provide very clear explanations of grammatical structures.  I have found this to be invaluable.

When I first started at the school, I had frequent changes of teacher.  However, with the school Director¡¯s intervention, this settled down with the start of a new term. The Director of the TLI-Roosevelt school is quite a tough task-master!  She pushed me a lot to study hard both in and out of the classroom, encouraging me to make the most of my time there. I did my best to stick to the challenging regime she recommended.  I found that my commitment to my studies was matched by the professionalism of the teachers and staff at the school and I am grateful for that.

Following my time at TLI in Taipei, I returned to Scotland for a few weeks and then one week ago, arrived for a further course of study at TLI-Wanfujing in Beijing.  This is a smaller school, which for me ¨C arriving as a stranger to a city as large and busy as Beijing - is a real bonus.  When I first walked into the school, I was immediately met by the kind smiles and greetings of the Director and her colleagues.  All of the staff in TLI-Wanfujing are very friendly.  If you require any assistance, the Director is always willing to help; it seems that nothing is too much trouble. The atmosphere in the school is relaxed, yet in terms of study ¨C highly professional and serious. If you are even 30 seconds late for class after a break, your teacher will come looking for you!

I have found all of my teachers at TLI, both in Taipei and in Beijing, to be very good (indeed, some have been truly excellent).  They are all obviously well experienced in teaching Chinese and are able to handle confidently any queries I have about the material being studied. Above all, they are very flexible and will adapt the syllabus to suit my specific needs and requests.

Having studied a number of languages, including Spanish, German, Portuguese and Russian, I have to say that Chinese is difficult to learn!  I think it will be a lifetime¡¯s work for me...I just wish I had started 20 years ago or more!!! Nevertheless, I am really pleased with the progress I have made. I think that progress is not just because of my own efforts, but largely due to the years of Chinese-teaching expertise I have been able to benefit from as a student of TLI.

Thank you to Dr. Ho and all the TLI teachers and staff who have given me such a good start on my journey as a Chinese-language learner. I still have a long way to go, but so far you have made my journey always challenging...sometimes exhausting...and never boring!