Taiwan has always been an attractive place to study and work. In fact, long before Mainland China became an option for Westerners, Taiwan was the place to study Chinese and work in a Mandarin Chinese speaking environment. As the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.) gained economic and political strength in the world, Westerners naturally gravitated toward this new market. Language programs and jobs for Westerners flourished. In the past decade there has been a renewed interest in Taiwan. This is undoubtedly due to a dramatic increase in cost of living in the P.R.C., increasing government regulation and scrutiny of foreigners, the increased political tension between China and the West, and generally the increasing difficulty doing business and studying in China in a free and fair way.
In recent years Taiwan has once again emerged as an attractive place to study, work, and live. Taiwan offers a free, open, and safe environment that is welcoming to outsiders. While the cost of living in Taiwan’s big cities is about the same as the big cities in Mainland China, it is much easier for a foreigner to navigate than in China.
This book provides a practical, up-to-date, hands-on guide to navigating life in Taiwan. It is not a travel guidebook, but rather provides detailed information for the foreign resident in Taiwan, whether they be studying or working. It provides a wealth of information covering everything from renting apartments, taking care of your daily needs, what and where to eat, to Taiwanese work ethic and business culture, how to make the most of your study of Chinese, how to get around, and so on. The book is illustrated with relevant photos that contextualize the text, and enhance reader’s understanding of the information.
Matthew B. Christensen is Professor of Chinese at Brigham Young University, where he has been teaching for the past 26 years. He is also the director of the BYU Chinese Flagship Center and has been working with that program since 2002. He has directed and managed Flagship and Study Abroad programs at Nanjing University since the late 90’s. His research interests include the relationship between language and culture, Chinese culinary culture, Chinese language pedagogy, Chinese linguistics, and Cantonese language and culture. Some recent publications and related research includes:
Henrietta S. Yang is Associate Professor of Chinese and Linguistics and former Co-Director of the Chinese Language Flagship Program at the University of Mississippi (UM) from 2013 to 2021. Before joining the University of Mississippi, Yang served as a teaching team leader for an Intensive Foreign Area Officer Program (FOA) at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California before she joined the faculty at Morehouse College where Yang was Associate Professor of Chinese Studies. Yang has directed and managed study abroad programs at Shanghai University in China and National Chung Cheng University and Tamkang University in Taiwan for more than 10 years. Her research interests include Chinese language pedagogy, Chinese linguistics, the interface between instructional technology and language teaching, and formal syntactic theory.
