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sbettinson
Joined: 22 Jul 2004
Posts: 81
Location: Taichung
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 Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:13 pm Post subject: A post for everyone. |
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Hi all,
Something struck me this afternoon about this board:
Everyone seems to be battering on about coming to Taiwan and newbies are asking tons of questions. We all have no problem in answering them but they appear to be regurgitating themselves constantly.
Is it possible to pool together a group of questions that we can have some answers to underneath them and have it as a sticky?
The usual ones are about visas, setup costs, finding jobs, apartments, recruiters and whether to use them or not along with life in Taiwan, dating scenes, which city is best etc.
So, it is with this I wish to pool together a list of questions from newbies and veterans that you see often or wish to have asked if you are a newbie.
Following this response I will gather them together and post the final list of questions. I would then like people to email me with answers/opinions to the questions. In the coming months I want to put together a website containing the responses and a sticky directing people to that site.
So, if you think it's a good idea please fire the questions my way, via replies to this post, PM or email.
Thanks,
Shaun |
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clark.w.griswald
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 2056
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| Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 2:56 am Post subject: Re: A post for everyone. |
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Shaun I think that what you want to do is a good idea and please don't let my opinions below dissuade you - I just have a different perspective on this.
| sbettinson wrote: |
| Everyone seems to be battering on about coming to Taiwan and newbies are asking tons of questions. We all have no problem in answering them but they appear to be regurgitating themselves constantly. |
Agreed. Someone once mentioned that the forum here reminded him of that movie 'Ground Hog Day' where the same things go round and round. I guess that every forum is like that though.
The problem with a sticky is two fold from where I sit:
a) I guarantee that people will still post questions that have already been answered in the sticky. This seems evident to me from the fact that you can find someone asking a question that has already been asked within 15 posts of their own and still visible if they just took the time to scroll down the front page. There is a search function here that I am sure many people use, but the people who post the type of repetitive question that you are referring to are probably going to ignore the sticky just as they ignore the search function.
However: The upside to a sticky is that we can easily refer people to that thread when they do ask questions that have already been answered.
b) Peoples views of answers will vary and hence the Q&A thread will likely be taken in tangents as people argue over various questions and answers contained within that thread. Have a look at my sticky above for Rights in Taiwan. I think that overall some information in that thread is valuable but much of it gets lost within pages and pages of arguments.
However: One way around this may be to have the thread locked by the mod's such that you can send bits and pieces to them to be added to the thread as more information comes in. This was suggested to me by the mods for the Rights thread but I declined - perhaps foolishly.
| sbettinson wrote: |
| Following this response I will gather them together and post the final list of questions. I would then like people to email me with answers/opinions to the questions. In the coming months I want to put together a website containing the responses and a sticky directing people to that site. |
It doesn't hurt to do again, but just for the record this has already been done. Have a look at the Q&A section of the site that I am involved with and I think that you will agree that much of what you are suggesting is already answered there.
Good luck anyway. |
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kuberkat
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Posts: 358
Location: Oman
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| Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:46 pm Post subject: |
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This is a great idea, Shaun. As ccg mentions, many people will continue with the Ground Hog Day scenario, but it will be a HUGE improvement nonetheless.
And the important thing is fulfilling destiny  |
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BigWally
Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Posts: 765
Location: Ottawa, CAN (prev. Kaohsiung "the Dirty South")
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| Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 2:23 am Post subject: |
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This is a good idea for sure! Albeit, there will be differing opinions on the answers given in the "Newbie FAQ Sticky", generalized answers will probably be the best route.
Also, aather than having people sending you posts, you could just take the time to read back thru several pages of posts and edit the good info from the bad, and make your own thread with all the good info via cut & paste. Just politely ask no one to hijack the thread until it has a lock in place by the mods.
Good on you for putting in some effort for the new posters!
Cheers/Ganbei!  |
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Brian B
Joined: 28 Sep 2006
Posts: 9
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| Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2006 7:27 pm Post subject: post to everyone |
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Shaun,
This is a good idea. I really got a lot out of reading this Tapei forum the last few days. I look forward to meeting / working with some of you at some point. I lived and worked in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam for fifteen years doing refugee work and the legal practice. I know the ropes in Muang Thai but I�m a total novice when it comes to Taiwan. You people are the experts. I love T�land but I need some new stimuli. Want a chance to chill and learn some Chinese.
I think we newbies simply want some immediate reassurance that things are as people say they are. I think I understand the process pretty well now but I still want to check. Don't want to irritate anyone. Groundhog Day is rampant in Thailand and, I'm sure, everywhere else. Still, I want to check.
Brian B
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flapjack
Joined: 20 Oct 2006
Posts: 118
Location: "JENNY 2" shrimp boat
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| Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 12:11 pm Post subject: |
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dear Brian,
you will get a chance to learn chinese here but chilling is not one of the strong selling points of living in TW. Taiwan has a very complex society and much of it is based on two things, Pressure and Control.
Also, learning chinese here is not as easy as it would seem. Many people mix Taiwanese with their chinese. It's like going to Barcelona to to learn Spanish, where the people mix Spanish and Catalan.
I don't mean to put you off on TW, I had 15 years of experience in other countries before I came here and thought I could hack it, no problem, but it turned out to be much more difficult than I thought. But maybe thats just me. And although I have been hacking it for 5 years, I often wake up wishing I were in Thailand agian, smile.
There are a lot of beautiful places to see here and I have met some very nice people but it doesnt have the overall charm of southeast asia. In that sense you may find a difference you would rather not be seeking.
Take care,
flapjack |
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lumber Jack
Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 91
Location: UK/ROK
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| Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 1:18 am Post subject: |
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If nothing else, a sticky would put an end to this particular groundhog topic about having a sticky, I should think.
I think no-one knows how. |
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