“I feel extremely proud of my language level improvement”

Student of East Asian Cultures and Languages// VMU Bilateral Exchange studies in Taiwan, Tamkang University

Describe how you value your experience abroad.

It’s definitely a unique experience I would recommend to anyone. The way my perspective on the world and its people changed in a few months is indescribable, especially having to live in a country that’s completely different from my home country. Regarding courses offered, I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few courses that I could easily use to substitute for required courses at home. The number of student organisations here is incredible. When feeling like there isn’t much to do in Tamsui, loads of activities are waiting in Taipei, just 40 min. away by metro train. When feeling lost, there are lots of people who are willing to help.

As for personal achievements, I feel extremely proud of my language level improvement. Learning a language surrounded by it is a completely different experience and is the best way to learn it.

What surprised you the most in the beginning?

The very first seconds when I stepped out of the airport already surprised me: the extremely humid and hot weather. The second thing that surprised me the most was the amount of convenience stores and the variety of things one can possibly buy or do in one.

I would also like to mention the sweetness of Taiwanese people when I tell them that I’m from Lithuania. I’m so used to people not even knowing this small country exists, I was extremely surprised to see so many people not only know this place but also be very happy about it. “Wow, Lithuania! Good friends with Taiwan!”

Describe study quality abroad and its differences from Vytautas Magnus University.

The first big difference that comes into my mind is that final exams were not mandatory in this university, only midterms. But even midterms are being avoided. For example, for one class the professor gave us an interview assignment instead of a midterm, and for another class we had to write a paper instead of a midterm test. Another difference I noticed is that Taiwanese professors, as well as Taiwanese students are not prone to get into discussions. I was lucky to have mostly foreign professors, but I could really see the difference of Taiwanese students and Lithuanian students. Taiwanese students are so not used to answering questions in class they try to avoid it at all costs. This makes me value VMU’s study quality much more.

How well did you feel integrated abroad?

I felt pretty well integrated because there are lots of foreign students here and it’s easy to connect about the same difficulties.