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  • [iMaculate iMages presents]

  • Hi, I'm Tina from Taiwan.

  • And I'm Leroy Anthony Johnson from Saint Kitts and Nevis.

  • Today, we're going to talk about the education in Taiwan. Where both government

  • and Taiwan universities seem to be equally competing for the stage.

  • But, let's take a look at what international students are saying.

  • Hi, my name is Gloria Morales. I'm from the Marshall Islands.

  • My name is Kay Khumalo from Swaziland.

  • [Greeting in Nauran] My name is Darrius Detenamo, and I'm from the Republic of Nauru

  • Island.

  • [Translation] My name is Thitipa Metawareeruck, and I'm from Thailand.

  • [Translation] My name is Chu Wei Hung, and you can call me 'Da Hei.' I am a...

  • Taiwanese.

  • TITLE: INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE: Why did you choose to have an International College experience?

  • I chose IC because I heard it from another student here, that I will actually

  • learn a lot from other international students. And it's going to be different from other

  • schools.

  • I came to Taiwan only to find out that this was the only option I had because it

  • was the only school that taught fully in English.

  • Because I like creativity so much and thinking outside the box.

  • As a Taiwanese, we...the way that we enrolled into IC is totally different from

  • you guys. We have to pass the...entrance exam and then we transfer into IC. So, the main

  • reason why I came to IC is probably to...I wanted to improve my English.

  • I just wanted to learn Chinese and English at the same time to earn some more experience

  • that's not just in my country but I would like to know and learn from other people from

  • different countries.

  • Speaking of reasons, I remember my reason for coming to IC.

  • What is it?

  • I was in Taiwan and I am very interested in media. So, I looked for a course in Journalism

  • and Mass Communication but the only one provided English was IC.

  • International?

  • Yep, so that's why I'm here.

  • Did you have any challenges after this?

  • Not really, have you?

  • I have a lot. It's a big challenge for us...for a Taiwanese. Because English

  • is not your native language, you'll get nervous about this. And the biggest fear is when you

  • want to make friends. You'll really want to talk to foreigners but then you have a

  • big obstacle with that.

  • That's true.

  • Remember the first time that you met me?

  • Oh yeah [laughs], that was funny but that's enough about our fears. Let's

  • hear what the other IC students have to say about their fears.

  • TITLE: FEAR FACTOR: What was your biggest fear in entering International College?

  • When I was a freshman, I was really afraid and scared because...

  • The expectation of meeting different people from different cultures and not knowing

  • how to interact with them. As much as I knew other people from other cultures, it was something

  • that was totally new to me.

  • I've never been our of my island before, so I felt out of place mainly because the

  • students are different and the teaches are different.

  • I studied abroad before so I had no problems with blending in. But stepping

  • into that tertiary level of education was very overwhelming for me, so I think that

  • was probably the biggest fear for me.

  • I guess my biggest fear might be identical to most of the Taiwanese students.

  • Foreign students...

  • to communicate with them I was even sweating under the air conditioning

  • of 16ºC because I didn't know how to make that move to communicate with you guys.

  • English is not my language. And I never...even though I have learned it before in Thailand,

  • we only speak in Thai to Thai people. We don't speak English. That's why I was really afraid

  • of that, and I was afraid of foreigners.

  • Speaking about fear, speaking about is my biggest fear was my first impression. Oh wait, impressions.

  • Talking about that, what was your first impression of me?

  • You? You looked different and you spoke English very quick. I didn't get it when you

  • introduced yourself.

  • Well, I guess everyone has different impressions and that's what we're going to

  • speak of next.

  • TITLE: FIRST IMPRESSIONS: What was your first impression of your International College classmates?

  • My first impression of Taiwanese students was uh...

  • They were really shy.

  • Kenny: Most of them, not all, most of them were really curious about all the wrong things...

  • and then yet, at the same time they were shy.

  • They were really nice and friendly.

  • My first impression...[hand gesture]

  • I thought...I thought wrong, because you're in an international college so...

  • It wasn't really offensive, but it was a bit little bit surprising the things that

  • they were curious about. Being at school, the things you expect someone to ask you being

  • at school. Since I come from Africa, I would get questions such as, "So have you ever seen

  • a lion? Do you have lions in your city?" Or something like that. Sometimes they will ask

  • about the clothes that you wear, "Did you get it in Taiwan?" It's as if to them we get

  • the clothes when we get off at the airport. In their heads from what I figured they assume

  • we didn't have stuff that normal people would have in this time and age.

  • Talkative you know, in class.

  • Very passive bunch of fellows.

  • The first impression...foreign students are really expressive... in any way.

  • Those ideas are their first impressions at international college but after four years

  • there must be some changes. So for you new students in IC, our advice would be - open

  • your mind to everyone. Don't think, "He's a foreigner, he's Taiwanese." No. There's

  • no gap between foreigners and Taiwanese. We are all in this together in this class.

  • TITLE: FRIENDS = BENEFITS: What was the most beneficial aspect of your International College

  • experience?

  • Yes, a lot of benefits.

  • The first thing for me is friends. I have a lot of friends, and they're really,

  • really good friends for me.

  • The benefit for me of being an IC student is being able to actually be in the same place

  • and interact with students from various countries.

  • St. Vincent [and the Grenadines]. St. Kitts [and Nevis]. St. Lucia. Haiti. Taiwan.

  • Swaziland. Of course the people from the Pacific states. Kiribati. Marshall Islands. Solomon

  • Islands. Fiji. Also people from Central America. El Salvador. Panama. It's overwhelming how

  • international we are.

  • When you apply for a job and you know how to speak English? I'll have no fear

  • to compare myself to students who graduated from a national university because I'll know

  • I can talk to someone in English with confidence. So that's the benefit I see.

  • What would you change if you could do something differently?

  • TITLE: THINK DIFFERENT: How could you have improved your International College experience?

  • Taiwanese students, from what I've noticed they seem to go with the same trend and nobody

  • wants to think out of the box and dare to differ. I've seen a whole lot of changes with

  • some people and with some people, they were almost the same as when we first came in as

  • freshmen. So, those that dared to differ, actually they learned a lot and it changed

  • them a lot for the best.

  • Making friends with other foreigners would be a good thing before they even start

  • International College and when they're in an International College they should try to

  • mingle more with other foreigners.

  • Be active. Don't be passive. Get out there and socialize more. It's just going

  • to be very rewarding to learning in the long term because you'll say, "I'm glad I did that

  • because I learned something from that." I can teach them what I've come to experience

  • and they can teach me what they've come to experience in their lifetime.

  • Four years is a long time for somebody to stay in one country and not learn the language.

  • I know it's a little bit embarrassing but that's one thing that I could do different

  • if I could go back. I would learn the language because as much as you can try to understand

  • certain cultures, you will never understand it as much as the person who knows the language.

  • They are certain limitations to that if you do not know the language.

  • Be more tolerant to Taiwanese students because, culturally speaking, we're not encouraged

  • to talk. Back in either high school, junior high school, senior high school or elementary

  • school, we are asked to listen most of the time. When the teacher asks you to do anything,

  • all we have to do is...no complain, no feedback. Just do it. So, when it comes to university,

  • when it comes to class, whenever the professors asks any questions we will always put our

  • heads down and pretend we don't have any questions.

  • Some Taiwanese, they're not really...they don't really seem to be joined...we don't seem

  • to be together like IC. It's supposed to be we're all in this together but they seem to

  • think they're Chinese, then they keep chatting and sharing only with some of their friends

  • together. But [towards] foreigners, they're totally separated. So I think they should

  • maybe open their minds a little bit and come and join with us.

  • I remember the first time we came to IC. Remember how close we all were together?

  • We had lunch together. We chilled together. We played bowling together. Those were some

  • fun times. But then, we kind of grew apart didn't we?

  • Yes. People make mistakes. Me too. So, for you new students in IC, our advice will

  • be - I'm a student, he's a student. I want to learn, he wants to learn too. Don't just

  • talk with Taiwanese friends. Open your mind to all of the students here in your class.

  • Exactly! Since we did things differently, and we're hoping to change it. Maybe some

  • advice from IC students will help you from making the same mistakes that we did.

  • TITLE: FRIENDLY ADVICE: What advice would you offer to enhance an International College

  • experience?

  • Just basically respect. You just have to treat another person as well as you'll

  • treat yourself.

  • If you want to be approached, approach them first. It's got to start somewhere so

  • you have to start it.

  • We all come from different cultures and we're all proud of where we come from to a

  • certain extent. Just because they're different from you doesn't mean you're different from

  • them or you're better than them. Nobody's better when it comes to this whole situation.

  • Just as much with everything else, try to learn more, and try to socialize with them

  • as much as you'd like people to.

  • Communication is about the language. When you want to communicate with somebody

  • you need to use language, so I think language is really important. Even though you're a

  • foreigner, for me, I think Chinese is really important too because you cannot only use

  • English everywhere you want to go and to everyone that you want to talk to. When you come here

  • to Taiwan, you need to learn about the culture and understand it as well. It's supposed to be

  • two, both of them, foreigners and Taiwanese that communicate together.

  • My advice to Taiwanese students? Come on! Guys, speak up, for yourself! I know,

  • you know you can do better than what you're doing now. The language barrier is not a problem.

  • It's never a problem. You might not be really good at talking in English but I know you

  • have ideas. So just speak up. Your classmates wouldn't judge you based on how good you speak

  • English but what you have in your mind. So just speak up. You can do it!

  • Now you are a part of IC, so what you'll need to learn is to take our advice and learn

  • more. Do you want to learn English better? Do you want to make friends and learn about

  • new cultures? What you can change can be totally different to us. You can make more changes

  • and make more challenges for yourself.

  • Indeed! So, don't look at this as just a challenge. Look at everything as an

  • adventure. From eating food, to having personal and inter-personal relationships. Both with

  • local and international students. And it's for you to make this experience an international

  • experience!

  • [CREDIT ROLL]

[iMaculate iMages presents]

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