2023/09 – 陳白宇
我來台灣已經三個星期了。在這裡的時間過得很快，我現在已經適應了這裡的新生活。我住在台北，在國立台灣師範大學（NTNU）學習 10 個月。我每天上午有兩個小時的現代漢語課，週一、週二和週四下午還有專業語言課 – 古代漢語、文學和翻譯。我的所有課程都有一個語言誓約，就是老師和學生只能說中文。課程並不輕鬆，因為老師們教得很快，老師也給學生很多作業。每週還有筆試和口試，是為了檢查學生的進步。然而，這些都很有趣，而且我看得出我的中文已經有了明顯的進步。
雖然我必須花很多時間學習，但我也發現課外時間對提高我的語言能力同樣有用。我現在是北師大合唱團的一員，每週一和週五晚上都要排練三小時。雖然這是一項很大的投入，但我每周可以花 6 個小時用中文跟台灣學生聊天兒，讓我練習口語。我發現聽別人說中文是提高發音和語調的最有效方法。
在教室外面，我在台灣最難事情的是天氣。每天的氣溫都30 度以上。再加上潮濕的天氣，讓一切都變得有點累。但是到了十月份，天氣會變得涼爽很多，所以我打算到時候再開始去參觀台北有名的地方
我和一對寄宿夫婦住在一起，他們是Greg和Risa（他們更喜歡用自己的英文名字）。他們非常友好，還養了一隻小狗。
因為來台北的時間不長，所以我沒有更多的消息可以報告，但目前一切都很順利，我很高興能在這裡生活 10 個月！
First Month in Taipei
I’ve been in Taiwan for three weeks now. The time here has gone by very quickly and I’m now well settled into my new life here. I’m living in Taipei and studying at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) for 10 months. I have 2 hours of Mandarin classes every morning and on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, I have extra specialised language classes – Classical Chinese, literature and translation. All of my classes have a language pledge rule whereby teachers and students are only allowed to speak Chinese. The classes aren’t easy as they are fast-paced and the teachers assign a lot of homework. There are also weekly tests to monitor my progress. However, they are fun and I can tell that my Chinese has already improved a lot.
Although I have to spend a lot of time studying, I’ve also found that my time outside the classroom is just as useful for improving my language skills. I’m now part of the NTNU choir and rehearse for 3 hours every Monday and Friday evening. Whilst this is a big commitment it allows me to spend 6 hours a week chatting in Chinese to Taiwanese students and become more familiar with the spoken language. I find that listening to people speaking Chinese is the best way to improve my pronounciation and tones.
The hardest part of my time in Taiwan so far has been the weather. Every day has been at least 30 degrees Celsius. This combined with the humidity has made everything a bit more tiring. However, it’s due to become a lot cooler in October so I’m planning to start some proper sightseeing then.
I’m living with a host couple – Greg and Risa (they prefer to go by their English names). They’re very friendly and have a small dog.
I don’t have much more news to report as I haven’t been in Taipei for long, but so far everything is going well and I’m excited that I can spend 10 months living here!