Chinese or Taiwanese? by Gesges 9. Sept 2011
Hi you all!!
I am new here (I've just registered). I've already scrolled through some of the posts and haven't found a similar question, so I hope I am not double-posting anything.
I was wondering whether this site was for learning Chinese only, or if the pronounciation is Taiwanese (since most of the creators of this site seem to be Taiwanese). I have heard that there is a considerable difference between the two up to the point that Chinese is not understood well (if at all) in Taiwan (and vice versa). I will be visiting Taiwan in a few weeks and want to be able to say at least some basic sentences (such as "Hello", "Where is...?", "Thank you" etc). From what I gather here, some of you seem to be in Taiwan and study Chinese to be able to communicate with the Taiwanese. So now I am confused about which language to learn.
Or is it that, in Taiwan, Chinese is sort of the "official language" that is understood everywhere, whereas Taiwanese is the language that is actually used? Is the relation more like a dialect, with some different words (like, for example, with UK and US English), or is the difference really huge?
Thanks to all for your help :-D (Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to get my point across -.- )
Gesges | Pingfa 14. Sept 2011
From what I've read, a lot of people say the difference is negligible, comparable to American and British English.
Yet, from other things I've read, I think the difference is a bit more than that. Nonetheless, you'll be understood fine by all fluent Mandarin speakers most of the time (provided your pronunciation is correct, of course).
Although, Standard Taiwanese Mandarin and local Taiwanese Mandarin is quite different. Like proper English and the English you usually hear in most places in Britain.
Worthy of note: Taiwanese people often use the second tone where first tone would be used in the Mainland. | oliver  14. Sept 2011
We don't teach the dialect spoken in the south of Taiwan called Taiwanese. It's Standard Mandarin of Taiwan. It has a slightly different accent than Beijing accent. But it's not that different. | Gesges 15. Sept 2011
Thank you for your answers! So then, I'll "just" learn Mandarin ;-) | NedM  20. Jan 2012
When I travel from Taiwan to China, I have no problem understanding or being understood - as long as I know the vocabulary being used, of course. |
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