Learning without borders to build an international environment for students to study in Taiwan: Training of International Students for the 2nd semester of 2016 academic
year by Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology

Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology held a training session for international freshman students coming to study for degrees and exchange. These students came from 16 countries, including Germany, France, Estonia, Iraq, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Swaziland, Egypt, Honduras, and Colombia. Among the 52 students, five French students came from our sister school—the 12th University of Paris—to study here for a double degree. This year, as the new students came to join the students already here, more than 500 international students are currently studying in Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology. Given these international students from more than 30 countries, some international styles have been brought into Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, so that the campus is now filled with learning atmosphere of international diversity.

【Japanese dessert godfather—Araki Takao (middle) came to study in the graduate program of Applied Japanese Department】

Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology has a reputation for its friendly campus environment, which has attracted many international students to come. Among them, the most eye-catching one is Japanese dessert godfather— Araki Takao—who came to study in the graduate program of Applied Japanese Department. Mr. Araki is the developer of Hokkaido white lovers and Tokyo banana cakes. To show his gratitude for Taiwan's help to Japan at the 311 earthquake in Japan, Mr. Araki has had a lot of Taiwanese students work for their internship in his company in Taiwan. This time he came not only to learn management principles from Taiwan, but also to seize the opportunity to learn Chinese well.

【International students were being concentrated on a variety of items in the freshman training.】

In the opening ceremony, Director Yong-Peng of International Office at Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology not only showed his welcome to the international students, but also expect them to study hard and have more exchanges with teachers here to enrich their professional knowledge. In addition to their efforts to obtain a degree, they were encouraged to learn Chinese and visit places all over Taiwan to broaden the knowledge and experience the customs and culture of Taiwan. He hoped that after their studies here, they could bring back home what they see here and thus promote the development of international cooperation. Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology offers an All-English program, which is greatly welcomed by international students outside STUST. There are the master and doctoral programs for mechanic engineering, GMBA master program, master and doctoral programs for business and management, as well as the rarely seen international business and international finance bachelor degree programs. Judging from the steady growth of these eight English programs, it can be seen that Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology has full capacity to offer great teachers for both theory and practice in the curriculum, which has been affirmed by international students.

【International fresh students enjoy the simple meal and friendship with their local study mates after the training.】

In addition, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology has been seeking to improve supporting measures to allow international students to feel at ease with their learning here and acquire a real understanding of Taiwan. STUST has a Chinese center, planning a wide range of Chinese courses for international students and teaching international students basic communication skills in Chinese to adapt to their lives in Taiwan. In addition to the school system to help them in a short period of time to adapt to life in Taiwan, the reception of family planning activities further bring them into the Taiwan family to have an in-depth understanding of Taiwanese education, culture background, and social outlook. In order to serve the new students each year, international student-related associations (such as the Malaysian Association, the International Students Association, the Indonesian Student Association, etc.) assist the students from their hometowns and help solve problems they meet before and after they come to Taiwan. To keep the international students from homesickness, the dormitory offers simple kitchens for them to cook their home foods. The dormitory's prayer room also facilitates the daily prayer of Muslim students for five times, which shows the school's respect for the diversity of religious beliefs. These intimate arrangements allow international students to come to study in a stable and friendly environment. In order to make the students go to the international community, teachers actively counsel their international students and encourage them to go to Taiwan businesses and overseas businesses for internship. Since a lot of international students here not only understand Chinese but also have in-depth understanding of Taiwan and identification with Taiwan, they are greatly accepted by businesses here.

【All the international students in the freshman training for the 2nd semester of 2016 academic year by Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology】