Languages of Taiwan

Mandarin has been the official language of Taiwan since the late 1940s. However, there are many different ethnic groups in Taiwan which are still using their own language on a daily basis. For example, Hokkien, usually known as Taiwanese is spoken by Hoklo and many other people. On the other hand, Hakka people speak the Hakka language. Also, the Formosan languages are the native languages of the aboriginal tribes of Taiwan.

The Language Introduction

In China, people use Hanyupinyin to learn Mandarin. Unlike China, Taiwanese use Zhuyin Fuhao that is known as "Symbols for Annotating Sounds" to learn Mandarin. The Zhuyin Fuhao is the national phonetic system in Taiwan. The system is very useful for people to learn, read, and write in Mandarin.

Bopomofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) is the first four letters of this Chinese phonemic alphabet (bo po mo fo) of the national phonetic system. This system uses 37 special symbols to represent the Mandarin sounds: 21 consonants and 16 vowels. Each symbol represents a group of sounds without much ambiguity. The phonenic symbol is a pronunciation guide for each Chinese character and an index system in dictionary. Students learn Mandarin by using ruby characters annotation provided next to the Chinese characters, from times to times, the annotation is reduced until remaining the character itself. Therefore, students can learn the new characters by using this method.


Useful Expression for Tourist

Yes = shr 是

No = bu shr 不是

Thank you = shie shie 謝謝

Thank you very much = fei chang gan shie / hen gan shie 非常感謝 / 很感謝

You're welcome = bu yung shie 不客氣

Please = ching 請

Excuse me = duei bu chi 對不起

Hello = ni hau 你好

Goodbye = tzai jian 再見

Good morning = tzau an 早安

Good afternoon = wu an 午安

Good evening = wan shang hau 晚上好

Good night = wan an 晚安

Do you speak ... = ni huei jiang ... ma? 你會講...嗎？

English = ying yu 英語

I = wo 我

We = wo men 我們

You (singular, familiar) = ni 你

You (singular, formal) = nin 您

You (plural) = ni men 你們

He/She = ta 他 / 她

They = ta men 他們

Where is the bath room? = shi shou jian tzai na li? 洗手間在哪裡?

How are you? = ni hau ma? 你好嗎？

Bread = mian bau 麵包

Coffee = ka fei 咖啡

Tea = cha 茶

Juice = guo jr 果汁

Water = shuei 水

Beer = pi jiou 啤酒

Wine = jiou 紅酒

Meat = rou 肉

Beef = niou rou 牛肉

Pork = ju rou 豬肉

Fish = yu 魚

Vegetable = shu tsai 蔬菜

Fruit = shuei guo 水果

Salad = sha la 沙拉

Dessert = dian shin 點心


Chinese Characters Pinyin Comparative Table (click to enlarge image)