Frequently Asked Questions Q&A
If you have a question that is not listed here, please feel free to contact our support team.
How to take lessons
What will I need to take lessons?
To take a lesson, you will need a computer, smartphone, tablet or other device and Skype software (free download). The teacher will use a webcam during the lesson, but a webcam for the student is not required. However, we recommend the use of a webcam because it allows the teacher to see the student's mouth movements and provide more detailed instruction.
I am new to learning Chinese, but will I be able to speak it by taking lessons?
Our teachers and support staff are here to help you learn Chinese, even if you are a beginner, so that you can learn the basics. Please don't worry.
At first, you may not be able to hear what your teacher is saying in Chinese. As you take lessons, the number of words and phrases you can hear and understand will gradually increase, and you will be able to speak Chinese in your own language little by little. If you rely too much on English or other languages, it will be difficult to improve your listening and speaking skills.
Can I change teachers?
You may change teachers or continue to take lessons with the same teacher. Even if you change the teacher, we have prepared a lesson record for each student so that the content and learning progress of the previous lesson can be shared among the teachers. If you have any requests or wishes regarding the lessons, please feel free to contact your teacher.
Can you teach in Simplified Chinese or Pinyin?
All teachers at Taiwan Chinese Education Center are trained in Chinese language teaching. Therefore, we can teach not only in traditional Chinese characters, but also in pinyin and simplified characters used in China and other countries. If you have any requests, please feel free to contact our teachers.
Do I need to have an advance Chinese text?
On the first day of the lesson, your teacher will directly inform you of the textbooks to be used, based on your level and preferences. Therefore, if you are taking a lesson at Taiwan Chinese Education Center for the first time and do not have any special requests, there is no need for you to prepare a textbook in advance.
Can I tell the teacher what I want to learn and which textbooks to use?
If you need to let the teacher know in advance about the textbooks to be used or the content of the lesson, please let us know in the "contact notes" field when you reserve a lesson through the reservation system.
I would like to use my current Chinese textbook in my lessons.
The textbooks available for Taiwan Chinese Education Center lessons are listed on our website. If you would like to use a text other than those listed on the website, we can accommodate your request as long as you can provide us with the text data you would like to use.
If you wish to use a text other than the designated texts listed on the website, we can accommodate your request as long as you can prepare the text data you wish to use yourself.
Please prepare a data file of the part of the text to be used.
We can accept text data as long as it is in the form of a photo or Word document that can be exchanged via Skype.
Please prepare the amount of text data to be used in each lesson and hand it directly to your teacher.
Please use the file sending function of Skype to send the text data to the teacher around 10 minutes before the lesson starts.
In principle, we will only exchange textbooks with your teacher via Skype. Please understand this.
How do I share files, photos, and emoticons in Skype?
I would like to ask my teacher to correct my writing.
Please feel free to ask your teacher if you wish to have your writing corrected. Please note that corrections will be made during the lesson time. Requests for corrections that exceed the lesson time or requests for corrections outside of the lesson time will not be accepted.
May I contact the teacher outside of lesson times?
We apologize for the inconvenience.
As stated in our Terms of Use, any contact with the instructor outside of lesson time is strictly prohibited. It is also forbidden for students to give contact or personal information to tutors.
If for any reason you contact the tutor directly outside of lesson time (via Skype, e-mail, phone, facebook, etc.) or take a lesson without going through Taiwan Chinese Education Center, we will take action in accordance with the Terms of Use.If you have any problems with teachers asking for your contact information, please contact our support center without giving out your contact information.
I would like my family to take lessons as well. Can we take lessons together?
Yes, your family members can use one account and take lessons together as a family member.
In this case, you will need to register as a family member and create a lesson record for each member.
Even in this case, only one person can take one lesson. Children under 12 years old may take one lesson together for 25 minutes each.
Please contact support for details.
About Skype
I don't have a Skype account. Can I use other communication software to take the course?
Skype is designed for one-on-one chats, with good sound and picture quality and stable communication. For this reason, Taiwan Chinese Education Center uses Skype to conduct lessons. No other communication software is available.
The teacher can record vocabulary and lesson content in the chat box for later review, so there is no need to take notes during the lesson and you can concentrate on practicing your conversation. Other features necessary for online lessons, such as passing on teaching materials and screen sharing, are also available.
If you do not have a Skype account, you will not be able to take lessons, so please be sure to get a Skype account before enrolling.
I do not know the Skype name of the teacher in charge.
The alphanumeric characters that appear with the teacher's name in the reservation system are the Skype Name. It varies from teacher to teacher, but it is [apiataiwanxxxx], [live:apiataiwanxxxx], etc.Please find the Skype Name of the teacher in the Skype search window and add it to your Skype contacts.
Who do I contact if I change my Skype Name?
If you have changed your Skype Name, please contact Support with your new Skype Name. Your teacher will send you a message to add the new Skype Name to your contact list.
For administrative reasons, only one Skype Name can be registered per person. Please understand this.
Reservation and Cancellation of Lessons
How can I make a reservation for a lesson?
To reserve a lesson, please log in to the reservation system with your student-specific membership number and password.
Please make a lesson reservation with your desired date, time, and teacher. You can make a reservation with your desired date, time (Japan time), and desired teacher, which will be displayed on the reservation system from 2 days to 2 months in advance. It is not possible to reserve a lesson for a date and time (including the day of the lesson and the day before) and a tutor that are not displayed in the reservation system.
(e.g.) If today is May 3, you can make a reservation for May 5 or later. (Reservations cannot be made for May 3 and May 4.)
Please note that we do not accept reservations for lessons (including cancellations and changes) by e-mail, telephone, skype, etc. to avoid confusion. Please understand this in advance.
Can I cancel a reserved lesson?
Free cancellation of a reserved lesson is available up to 12 hours prior to the scheduled lesson start time. Please cancel your lesson reservation on the reservation system. After that time, lesson reservations cannot be cancelled. If you miss a lesson due to your own reason, it will be counted as one ticket as well as your attendance.
To avoid confusion, we do not accept reservations for lessons (including cancellations and changes) by e-mail, telephone, or skype. Please understand this in advance.
Can I change the date and time of a reserved lesson?
The system does not allow direct date and time changes. If you wish to change the date and time, please cancel the lesson in the reservation system and make a new reservation. New reservations will be accepted for dates between 2 days and 2 months in the future.
You cannot change the date and time of the lesson except through the reservation system. Reservations cannot be changed more than 12 hours before the lesson is scheduled to start.
I want to cancel a lesson after the free cancellation deadline has passed.
We apologize for the inconvenience. You will not be able to cancel a lesson once the free cancellation deadline has passed (12 hours after the start time). If you are unable to attend the lesson, one lesson ticket will be deducted per lesson as if you had missed the lesson.
Can I make a reservation for a lesson directly with the teacher without going through the reservation system?
We are unable to accept reservations that are not made through the reservation system.
Please be sure to use the reservation system and confirm that your lesson reservation has been reflected in the reservation system by yourself.
I would like to reserve a lesson, but I can't seem to reserve it on the date I want.
It is not possible to reserve a lesson for a date, time, or teacher that does not appear in the reservation system. Please make a reservation for the date, time, and teacher that is displayed on the reservation system. In order to allow sufficient time for lesson preparation, Taiwan Chinese Education Center and the teacher have an agreement that we cannot accept reservations for lessons on the day of the lesson or the day before the lesson. We ask for your understanding in this matter.
When I cancel a lesson, I would like to explain to the teacher the reason for the cancellation.
There is currently no plan to provide a service that allows students to send a message to the teacher when cancelling a lesson.
We understand that there is a possibility that a student may cancel a lesson due to unavoidable circumstances up to 12 hours before the scheduled lesson time.
If you have any message regarding the lesson cancellation, please write it in the "contact memo" when you make a reservation for the next lesson, or talk to the teacher directly at the next lesson.
I have to miss a lesson. Do I need to contact you?
If you miss a lesson, you do not need to contact the Center or your instructor. However, please note that one lesson ticket will be deducted for each absence.
If you wish to contact the instructor regarding your absence, please send a message directly to the instructor via Skype.
According to our terms and conditions, we cannot reply outside of the scheduled lesson time, but during the scheduled lesson time, whether you are present or not, the tutor will be online and will reply to you at that time.
I made a reservation, but the time I reserved is no longer shown in the overall schedule. Will the reserved lesson be offered?
If the teacher's schedule changes, the time of the reserved lesson may no longer appear on the overall schedule, even if the lesson has already been reserved. Please be assured that this will not affect the availability of the reserved lesson. However, please note that once a lesson is cancelled, it may not be possible to make another reservation.
Please check your reservation status on the "Reservation Inquiry" screen of the reservation system. Even if your reservation does not appear on the overall schedule, there is no problem if you have made a reservation on the "Reservation Inquiry" screen.
About problems during lessons
The teacher has not contacted me at lesson time.
First, please check the following
Is Skype offline?
→If Skype is not online, you may not be able to receive a call from your teacher, so please change your Skype status to online and contact your teacher directly.
Is the Skype Name you are using the same as the one you registered with us?
→If you have more than one Skype Name, it is possible that you are using a different Skype Name than the one registered at the Center.
If there is no problem with the student's Skype usage, we are sorry, but the teacher may not be able to contact you due to a computer problem or sudden illness, etc. If you have not heard from the teacher after waiting for about 10 minutes, please contact us using the form below. If you have not heard from the teacher after waiting for 10 minutes, please let us know that the teacher did not show up using the dedicated form. We will return your lesson ticket at a later date.
I lost my Internet connection in the middle of a lesson.
If the Skype call is interrupted during the lesson, please check your Internet settings and contact the teacher again via Skype. Even if the lesson is interrupted, the teacher will be available until the scheduled end time, so please do not hesitate to contact the teacher via Skype and continue the lesson. Please note that we do not extend lessons or refund tickets, except in the case of interruption for the teacher's own reasons. Please understand this.
The image from the teacher's webcam stops.
Webcam images are often affected by the state of your Internet connection, and may be affected by the number of other files and software open on your computer. If you have any open files or software, please close them all.
If the video is still interrupted or the lesson is affected for some other reason, the teacher may decide to turn off the webcam and use only audio and typing for the lesson.
As a general rule, teachers use webcams for lessons, but we do not guarantee the use of webcams. Please understand this beforehand.
Skype on the teacher's side suddenly went offline.
We apologize for the inconvenience. There is a possibility that the teacher is unable to connect to Skype for some reason. Please wait a few minutes while the teacher restarts the computer or checks the Internet connection again. If there is no response from the teacher after waiting, please contact our support team by e-mail or by filling out our exit form. We will check the situation and extend the lesson or return the ticket.
The skype connection is not stable during the lesson, and the lesson is repeatedly interrupted, making it impossible to take a full lesson.
If you experience any problems during the lesson, such as repeated interruptions in the Skype connection or audio distortion, please inform the teacher in charge of the problem first. If the problem is found to be on the teacher's side, we will take measures such as returning the lesson ticket or extending the lesson time, depending on the situation. However, if the problem was caused by the student, or if the student did not report the problem during the lesson and the lesson continued until the end of the lesson, we cannot guarantee that the lesson ticket will be returned or that the lesson time will be extended. Please be aware of this.
About Lesson Tickets
Does the lesson ticket have an expiration date?
Lesson tickets are valid for 30 or 60 days from the date of issue. Unused tickets after the expiration date cannot be used. Please be sure to use your lesson ticket before the expiration date. After the expiration date, you can only take the lesson and cannot cancel or change the date and time.
However, you can extend the period of time you can operate the reservation system by purchasing additional lesson tickets. However, lesson tickets held beyond 30 or 60 days will not be refunded.
In addition, if a customer does not actually take a lesson for more than 180 days after the date the lesson ticket was issued and extends the period during which the customer can operate the reservation system by purchasing additional lesson tickets, in order to maintain the normal operation of this service, the customer will not be allowed to purchase additional lesson tickets until the validity period of the lesson tickets held by the customer expires or until all the lesson tickets held by the customer are used.
Please tell me how to purchase lesson tickets.
Lesson tickets can be purchased on the Taiwan Chinese Education Center website. You can choose between credit card payment and PayPal payment service.
I purchased a lesson ticket, but the number of lesson tickets is not updated on the reservation system.
It takes several minutes to 24 hours to reflect the lesson ticket after we confirm the payment. Please note that we are not able to reflect the lesson ticket in a hurry for your convenience.
I would like to request a refund of my lesson ticket as I will not be able to attend the lessons in the future due to circumstances.
【Refund Policy】
Unused (unexpired) lesson tickets will be refunded by PayPal payment service (credit card company) minus a refund fee. (The refund fee is 40% of the unused lesson ticket balance.)
For details, please refer to the Terms of Use (Article 6: Payment Methods and Refunds).
The refund amount will be calculated based on the price and consumption tax at the time of purchase of the lesson ticket.
*Unused lesson tickets that have passed their expiration date (30 or 60 days), or lesson tickets that have already been used for 30 or 60 days from the date of issue and have only been extended due to the addition of a new ticket, are non-refundable.
What happens to lesson tickets that have expired?
Unused lesson tickets expired after the expiration date will expire at that time. No refunds will be made for expired lesson tickets.
Other
I would like to change my registered e-mail address.
We apologize for the inconvenience, but please inform the Center of any changes to your registered e-mail address.
Members can change their e-mail addresses in the reservation system by themselves, but members cannot change their e-mail addresses in the Center's system.
I joined but have not heard from you.
If you have not received any information regarding your enrollment after two days from the support business day, it is possible that the information has not reached your mailbox for some reason. Depending on the e-mail address you are using, there have been cases where the Taiwan Chinese Education Center's e-mail address has either been blocked as spam or has ended up in your spam mail box. Please check your spam mail box settings and provide us with a spare email address that we can use to contact you.
How can I purchase lesson tickets?
Lesson tickets can be purchased on the Taiwan Chinese Education Center
You can purchase your lesson tickets on the website of Taiwan Chinese Education Center. Payment can be made by credit card or Paypal.
When is the Support Center closed?
Support service is available from 10:00 to 19:00 (Japan time) on weekdays. Support service is closed on Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays, and designated holidays. Please note that questions received outside of business hours will be handled during business hours.
In the event of an emergency during a lesson, our full-time staff will monitor and respond at all times.
I have been absent from lessons for a while, but would like to resume.
There is no need to follow the procedure for resuming a lesson because of the lesson ticket system. If you wish to resume lessons, please purchase a lesson ticket and take the lesson.
Please note that Taiwan Chinese Education Center will delete the registration data without notice for those who have not purchased lesson tickets for more than one year. For students who have not used the center for a long period of time, please check the reservation system to see if your membership number is still valid, and if not, please re-apply for membership.
What is the withdrawal policy?
In principle, there is no need to cancel your membership because of the lesson ticket system. If you wish to delete your membership information, please contact our support team by e-mail or inquiry form to let us know that you wish to cancel your membership. （If you wish to cancel your membership, please contact our support team by e-mail or contact form.)
Can you prepare a letter of recommendation, which is required for application for admission to a university in Taiwan?
We accept requests for letters of recommendation for submission to universities.
The conditions for us to accept a recommendation letter are that you have been taking lessons continuously for several months or more and that you have been taking lessons from a specific teacher for a certain period of time.
Please feel free to contact our support for more information about the recommendation writing request fee.
Please note that it takes a little time to receive a request for a recommendation letter, so please contact Support as soon as possible when you are ready to start preparing your application for admission.