2010_04_Larry Robinson

* Full Name: Larry Robinson 
* University/ Institute: UCLA
* Nationality: U.S. 

            During my junior and senior year of undergraduate studies in the US, I wanted to enroll in Chinese language courses at my college, but scheduling conflicts prevented me from attending formal classes. By listening to popular Taiwanese artists like Jay Chou and Rainie Yang, and watching Taiwanese television shows with English subtitles, I did my best to enjoy Taiwanese culture without understanding much Chinese. After being accepted into the M.A./Ph.D. Program in the Department of Ethnomusicology at UCLA where I study Chinese music, I was granted a scholarship to study abroad before starting graduate studies. With this scholarship, I attended NCCU during the 2010 summer and I enjoyed a summer of learning Mandarin and about culture, politics, and economics in Taiwan. Once more ridden with scheduling conflicts at my new university during the regular academic semester, I had to postpone my formal study of Chinese.

Larry in Taipei 101

During the 2011 summer I attended UCLA's summer intensive Chinese program, and I was subsequently able to continuously study Chinese throughout the following academic year. I look forward to applying to NCCU's summer Chinese Language program for 2012 and visiting Taiwan for a third time because I found that the intensity and quality of the education offered at NCCU was very comparable to my home university. In addition, because of NCCU's great program, I was able to see Taiwan's countryside, and visit Taipei's Museum of Religions and the Lin Liu-hsin Puppet Theater Museum on class excursions provided by ISS. With the help of NCCU student ambassadors, I was able to visit Danshui in New Taipei to discuss and experience how Taiwanese people spend their leisure time, which all made for a most pleasant stay in Taiwan.

Larry & Fellow NCCU Int'l Summer School Students (2010)