Dare to Dream !!!

Hi Chia-Chen,

Sorry for my late reply. I wasn't able to get back to you soon since I have been working on my paper and trying to submit it to my professor within these days. It is very understandable that new students usually have lots of questions to ask (so did I).

Since I am still busy right now, I am only able to answer a couple of questions whenever I have time, which means I will answer your questions in separate e-mails. Hope it is okay for you. Please see my answers below for the first two questions.

1. How are the TESOL program??? 偏向實物還是理論呢??上課方式??Are teacher strict ot the students ??

And how to select the courses ??

(Or school will tell me what I should choose in the first semester??)

I can't be sure about the courses that are now offered at the SJSU TESOL program becoz it was nearly10 years ago when I entered the program. The TESOL program at that time offered a variety of courses focused both on theories and practical teaching. That's the reason why I really liked this program because I learned about teaching and learning theories as well as how to apply them in teaching (there used to be a course named "practicum" where we students observed and practiced ESL teaching in actual ESL classrooms.) To be honest, most of the classes are composed of both teachers' lectures and presentations by students (I remember I had to do a presentation every one or two weeks). So it is very important for you to know how to present yourself in class.

You'd better consult with your advisor (each graduate student is supposed to be assigned to a professor in the program, and you can ask your advisor any kind of questions related to the course work. If you have no idea about who your advisor is, you should contact the program coordinator via e-mail or phone) about what course you have to take in the first and the following semester (pls also be aware if there is any prerequisite course you have to take before taking any of the courses in the program.)

Most of the teachers in my classes were pretty nice, but it didn't mean they were not strict. They were probably strict in a different way from the teachers in Taiwan. The teacher here pretty much respect students, but they can still be strict such as in the quality of students writing (if a student doesn't do well on the writing, the teacher may ask him/her to rewrite). Basically, as long as you follow the guideline in the syllabus, you will be just fine.

2. If I choose to study in SJSU, I don't know what's the next step to do .... School just mailed me the I-20 so far. They haven't tell me what should I do now...

(Maybe I should ask you those details after I make up my mind to study there)

If I were you, I will find out what courses to take and then enroll on line (almost every school has the online enrollment system). Then you will know how much to pay and how to pay the tuition. You should be able to order textbooks from SJSU website (you can get new/used textbooks from the website, e.g. Amazon.com in the U.S. But you need to have an address in order to place your order from these websites. So probably the best choice for the first semester is to order books through SJSU bookstore, and you can go pick it up at the bookstore).

Also, the next step you need to do is to get your F-1 Visa (if you are not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident who has a green card). You should visit the AIT website (美國在台協會) and check what documentation to prepare for the application of the F-1 Visa. You probably should also do a basic health checkup in the hospital in Taiwan and bring the record along with your immunization record to the U.S. (every record must be in English version).

If I think of something else, I will let you know. I will continue to respond to the rest of your questions when I find a time to type.

Best,

Jennie

最近好多學校都已經陸續回覆我，給我admissions

錄取的學校:

1. Indian State University
2. University of Texas at San Antonio
3. Concordia University, portland
4. San Jose State University
5. California State University, Northridge
6. California State University, San Bernardino

還未回覆我的學校:

1. Washington State University
2. Central Washington University

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Indiana State University 好遠
而且在五大湖區的旁邊
冬天會冷到零下十幾度
不過聽Josie Chen 學姐說那裏都有暖氣不用擔心
平常也有公車載學生去shopping mall 買東西
住學校的國際宿舍一個月要五百多，還算是便宜!!!!

至於program 部分，很嚴，常要上台報告
理論和實務其實一半一半，她們的TESOL有名喔!!!!
印地安納州立水準不錯，而且以前是中等師資培育學校!!!!
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University of Texas at San Antonio
到後來我不是這麼想要去
因為到那一定要買車
而且學費和生活費沒有比較便宜
San Sntonio 分校算是新學校，所以我對師資和名聲不是很有信心
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Concordia University, portland
缺點:
算是一個有規模的系統學校
但是(康考迪亞大學)協和大學在台灣不是很有名
說很少人聽過= =
再加上他j完全沒有排名...

優點:
不過portland 是一個很安全漂亮的小鎮，在Oregon State
聽說TESOL也不錯，可以一年半完成碩士
那裏和我聯繫的Lindsay人也很nice，提共我很多幫助!!!!還幫我waived the application fee XD
他們學校很積極，而且我覺得對國際學生很友善XD
其實有點動心= =

以下是詢問的mail紀錄:

Now, to answer your questions:

For graduate students, we do not offer housing on campus. We have a few options of nearby locations that are Concordia approved housing. You can learn more by following this link: http://www.cu-portland.edu/international/experience/housing.cfm. If you rent a room in a house, you should expect to pay between $400-$600 each month. Usually you can find a place to live with some other students, which is very affordable. Once you deposit, our International Advisors will assist you with housing options.

If you live close to campus, you will also be within walking distance of a grocery store, restaurants, movie theatre and an arts district. Portland has very good public transportation, so there is really no reason to get a car.

The TESL program does not offer the teaching license upon graduation. The licensure program is the Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree. For that program you must pass entrance exams to be admitted. If you are interested in becoming a licensed teacher in the US, I would almost recommend you do the TESL program first, while continuing to improve your English skills and then you could do the MAT program after.

For the internship, the schools can assist you and has partnered with many locations, however it depends where you would like to do your internship. We can definitely help with the search and make sure it will be a beneficial experience for you.

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San Jose State University
是我一開始最想去的!!!

優點:
華人多，又有加州矽谷靈糧堂在那，做禮拜方便
到舊金山也只要一個小時，假日可到周圍景點
在台灣算是蠻有名的，而且睿巧也在那裏
理工很強，雖然不關我的事，可是老媽說可以遇到科技男XDDD(老實說..我不會很care= = )

缺點:
窩在自己的華人小圈圈，因為太多華人了= =
都不會練到英文，朋友應該也都是華人.......這樣我不是白出國了??
住宿費貴，如果要住較高級地段，要700 up ~ 1000多
生活花費也很貴!!!!!!
睿巧說我可以住她家XD費用不是問題XD
(我真的超感謝她，一路上都一直關切我，和我聯繫，還願意讓我去她家盧她們>/////<
我真的好感恩有這麼棒的朋友>/////<)
可是住華人家，可能比較少機會練英文，而且沒有真正留學租房的感覺，少了很多體驗(租房阿...等等)

可是差三分，又聽老媽的朋友說聖荷西很嚴一分都不差才可進去!!!
(她兒子在美國讀一年語言學校，後來進聖荷西)
連教育展來的老師也這麼說....= =
所以後來只是隨便投投看
而且更扯的是
學校某人拆了我的成績單之後，把我信封亂丟
後來另一位職員查了之後竟然說我成績單沒彌封
而且要由學校(TKU)寄出!!!(也就是要以學校名義寄出)>怎麼跟哈佛文件顧問說的不一樣??= =
又說沒收到我的TOEFL成績= =

我只好再去學校把我的中英文成績單和畢業證書由學校名義寄出
(我每一文件都用一個信彌封，所以總共四個，看你要怎麼賴!!!哼哼!!!)

TOEFL 又再跟ETS complained說聖荷西沒收到....= =
ETS 很有良心的說再幫我寄一次for free XDDD

最後學校的職員，終於把我的資料全搞好了....
資料都有收到了，成績也找到了= = (為我的first name 和 last name 寫相反)
交給系所來評鑑...

出乎意料之外的.......他們居然給我ADMISSION耶!!!!!!!!!這是我遇過最扯的事情了= =

這下可煩惱了....因為我覺得聖荷西會 turns me down.
所以我後來移情別戀變成最想去Central Washington University

這下該....怎麼選呢???
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California State University, San Bernardino

這一家我不是很熟，而且洛杉磯聽說交通很亂，一定要開車Q Q
我問了哈佛的Nini Lee老師(因為她也是這所TESOL畢業的XDDD)
她真的超好，願意給我信箱來問她>/////<

以下是email的紀錄:
(1)
Dear Linda,

我不熟悉其他學校所以無法給予最好的建議，但就加州生活及SB的學校教學可以給你一點建議。和Northridge和SB比較的話，San Jose的生活費和學費是最貴的但也是California State體系裡排名最前面的，因為很多矽谷的人在裡面進修，所以教授請得都不錯。但他們學校的TESOL我就不清楚了，畢竟學校排名是整體排名，唸書還是要看個別科系。

至於我們SB的TESOL，我們的主要教授很有名，叫做Dr. Lynne。她在CATESOL會議裡有著舉足輕重的地位，她也有出書，修她的課會用她的教材，但要有心理準備她非常的嚴格，有點情緒化，她也很愛異國文化，會講一點中文，很酷。我們學校的TESOL實習時數是史上最多的，很少聽到其他學校比我們多的，我那時修課要作80小時，有永遠作不完的感覺，但真的很有幫助，SB的TESOL特色就是重實務經驗，學術研究倒是其次，但還是要寫小論文。Dr. Lynne改lesson plans改很嚴，但很感謝她當初這麼嚴格，才能帶出很多好老師。

另外交通的部份，學校附近很荒涼（Northridge只有好一點點而已），最近的大學城在Riverside，開車大約15mins不塞車。在加州不管你念哪間學校都一定要開車，連買菜也是。不然會死人的，哈哈哈。但LA整體交通很差，塞車時間很長（早上6-10往西塞，因為大家都要往downtown工作，下午3-7往東塞，大家都要回家，很少有人住downtown，那邊治安很差），要有心裡準備，到哪裡一定都要開高速公路這是一定的。SB在很東邊，離最近的華人區Rowland Heights開車大概40mins不塞車的話。我在LA那些年都沒住過宿舍，我都自己住外面，然後通勤去學校上課（一週約兩三次），因為朋友駐華人區所以我租房子在華人區。住宿的話還是要先看你有沒有開車，在決定要住宿舍還是在學校附近租房子。價格分下來都差不多，宿舍也不一定比較便宜。

學校海外實習的部份記得是沒有，要自己找，而且要經過Dr. Lynne的同意，才能算學分，但你可以自己設定自己的target level，請Dr. Lynne幫你安排。基本上實習都要Dr. Lynne幫你寫推薦函，打電話去學校幫你安排才能去實習。

至於中文老師的部份，和你想像中的不一樣。想在加州教中文，一定要考他們當地的考試，CBEST裡的中文檢定考，然後他們用的是簡體字和拼音。公立學校裡的都是after school program，你想進公立學校還要考CSET考試，但問題是職缺很少，幾乎很多年都沒有招考老師。如果是私人中文學校，都是大陸人開的，pay很差，都是part time，也不會幫你辦工作簽證。你要考慮一下。

大概是這樣，希望對你有幫助喔～基本上LA生活都很貴啦，我住三年，花了三百五十萬，有買車，含學費，但我畢業之後學分費都調漲了60%，所以現在去美國唸書可能又會更貴。

Let me know if you have any other questions :)

Best,

Nini

(2)
Dear Linda,

I'm glad to help :) You are very welcome! 關於美國研究所上課，你要先有心裡準備就是Dr. Lynne什麼都不會教你喔～課本要自己讀，課堂都是直接作討論，和同學一起切磋教學方法，作很多presentation，lesson plans被退作業，教授是不會告訴你哪裡有錯的，要自己去研究。因為Dr. Lynne的教學理念是如果她告訴我們哪裡有問題，會限制住我們的思考邏輯，應該要自己獨立找到方向和答案，所以我剛去前兩個quarters都是很痛苦的，每個星期都被退作業，然後都一直搞不清楚怎麼回事。一直到後來開始作實習時，一邊跟著resident teacher觀摩，才慢慢知道原來自己之前寫的lesson plans有哪些問題。所以總之，美國研究所的教學方式真的跟台灣大學差很多，尤其你是要去學怎麼作教育，你必須要先自己定位自己，對自己的target students有所期望，才能知道方向要如何隨時調整自己的教學方式。至於Dr. Lynne你不用對她有太多期望，哈哈哈，她是大魔王。我跟我同學都深深覺得，當年我們從Dr. Lynne那裡survive過來了，已經沒有任何事情能打倒我們了，從此超樂觀的！哈哈哈～出國唸書真的要靠自己摸索研究，不然怎麼稱作研究生呢，對吧^^

我在LA待三年多，研究所唸了兩年，我有一邊去別的學校拿credential，考了CBEST，最後一年有留在美國教書，後來是因為家裏奶奶生病我才辭職搬回台灣。

預算的部份，你可以去申請專發給國際學生的獎學金，只要連續兩個quarters拿straight Aces就符合資格。（不知道現在還有沒有）至於你的TESOL program要多久拿完在一入學時的orientation（只有fall and spring quarter才有舉辦）教授（我當年分到的就是Dr. Lynne）會一個個約談新生問你打算念多久，快的話有同學很拼5個quarters就唸完，超辛苦，但一般還是都會希望我們能花兩年拿完，因為有些東西是需要長時間觀察觀摩，不是只有拿完課就了事的。

至於中文的拼音和簡體，我當初是自己念ㄟ，很簡單阿～跟英文的phonics很像，你可以自己讀一下就好^^

加油囉～ LA的生活費超高的，絕對比德州高，哈哈。（想當年我也申請上UTSA，結果放棄了）我2009年離開後，加州的稅率又調高到10%的樣子，超貴。by the way，聽說SB city government破產了，有影響的就是學校開的課變少了，本來有些課只有暑假才開，一定要拿，結果之前聽學妹說後來沒開，就被迫延畢了。畢業後有些消息就lag behind了，可能要上網看一下課表才會知道唷～

加油阿！有問題可以在寫信問我的^^

其實....我的確是覺得蠻動心的XDDD
可以好好虐待一下自己，強迫自己練英文
而且要修五十幾學分...應該快要爆炸了吧....= =
而且她們的TESOL program 很有名，訓練很好!!!!!
看老師這麼強就知道了!!!!!可以拿到加州教師執照在加州教書真的超強>//////<

可是我真的不是很喜歡洛杉磯那一區域
由其實要每天開車塞車...= = 我會受不了.....
Northridge 和 San Bernardino我就.....先不考慮了....
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Washington State University

這間美國排名一百初
名氣也很大，很多台灣人去讀
比較有名的是大傳和廣告之類的
這間我不是申請TESOL，而是bilibqual teaching
是教母語為英語的小屁孩，只是說可能是雙語教學
所以到時我可以教英文和中文，對我還算是有用XDDD

學校在偏僻的Pullman，比較乾，沒有Ellenaburg漂亮XDDD
在西雅圖的.....東北邊吧?忘了。

優點:
近西雅圖，出去玩方便
離華人圈也很近，學校台灣去的很多，能有伴互相照顧
西雅圖風景很美，生活舒適，but生活費和房租比較貴

缺點:
華人多，練不到英文
要等到明年四月才入學，這等待的時間是浪費，還不如盡快完成回來賺錢 = =
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Central Washington University

在台灣名氣沒這麼大
雖然他也是西部50名
比聖荷西的38名還後面一點而已所以沒差
(San Bernardino還排六十幾耶，可是他的TESOL很有名阿!!所以不能只看排名!!!)
如果我要在國外發展其實學校是沒差
可是如果要回來台灣
我覺得學校名氣也很重要.......哀哀

優點:

風景超美!!!!!是這幾所裡面最棒的!!!就在國家公園旁邊~~~
還有山貓可以玩XDDDD
其實我真的也很希望能住在個舒服的地方
這樣的美景，我每天心情也會超好的!!!!!!
整個小鎮Ellensburg很安全寧靜，外籍生很少，大概只有300人，所以有很多機會練英文
可以去學校周圍的風景區玩
也可以住學校的學生宿舍~~~~~平均每個月差不多300~500
(聽說一年也要90萬???為啥???)
消費低廉~~~~~

缺點:

台灣人比較少，較沒有幫助= =

不知道有沒有教會，或是去哪一間...???

沒有科技男XDDD (老媽似乎覺得很重要...= = )

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講了這麼多的....我也不知道要去哪...

學校教授說我喜歡哪裡就去哪，因為學校差不多

有人說去有名氣的

有人說去聖荷西比較有地方玩

我也想去好朋友那~~~~

中央華盛頓的山貓>>>

哀哀~~~~該怎麼選了????我要去哪呢???

Dare to Dream !!!

2013年6月13日星期四

聖荷西大學Jennie回覆(1)

一路走來到出國

2013年6月9日星期日

學校選擇

2013年6月13日 星期四

聖荷西大學Jennie回覆(1)

一路走來到出國

2013年6月9日 星期日

學校選擇

2013年6月13日星期四

2013年6月9日星期日