A lot of people travel to places where they can’t speak the language. Given that Chinese is one of the most difficult languages to learn, even the locals don’t expect travelers to know any Chinese. But because a lot of the most “authentic” experiences will take you to places where people know no English, here’s a survival language starter pack.
A few things to note:
The main language in Taiwan, known as “guo yü” (literally “national language”), is Mandarin. It’s the same as Mandarin spoken in China, but with a different accent and slightly different vocabulary (similar to American vs British English). When it comes to the written language, Taiwan uses traditional Chinese rather than simplified. A lot of people also speak Taiwanese, which is a dialect that usually isn’t written (but uses the same characters when it is). If you travel to more rural places, you’ll hear more Taiwanese. But even in Taipei, some words or phrases are just more commonly said in Taiwanese.
HOW TO USE THE GUIDE
10ish words and phrases, 9 situational categories. There’s the Chinese characters, followed by pinyin and the English translation. The pinyin does not include the tones (most people who didn’t grow up as a tonal language speaker can’t really differentiate anyways, and Taiwanese people are good at guessing what you mean, so it doesn’t REALLLYY matter – this is hopefully a survival guide that requires little studying!). If you are not familiar with pinyin, check out this guide to figure out pronunciation, etc. It’s a flawed system and a lot of the letters are not pronounced in the way you’d think they’d be pronounced unfortunately.
Keep scrolling to get to the language sections, or click on a category below to jump to that section.
FOR GREETING & MEETING
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| 你好(嗎?) | ni hao (ma) | Hello / How are you? |
| 早安／早 | zhao an / zhao | Good morning |
| 晚安 | wan an | Good night |
| 謝謝 | xie xie | Thank you |
| 不客氣 | bu ke qi | You’re welcome |
| 再見 | zhai jian | Goodbye |
| 歡迎 | huan yin | Welcome |
| 恭喜 | gong xi | Congratulations |
| 祝你好運 | zhu ni hao yun | Good luck |
| 生日快樂 | sheng ri kuai le | Happy birthday |
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FOR ASKING & ANSWERING
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| 你會說英文嗎？ | Ni huei shuo ying wen ma | Do you speak English? |
| (我)聽不懂(中文/國語/台語) | (wo) ting bu dong (zhong wen / guo yu / tai yu) | (I) don’t understand (Chinese/Chinese/Taiwanese) |
| 還好嗎？ | hai hao ma? | Are you ok? / All good? |
| 沒事 | mei shi | Nothing’s wrong / nothing / all good |
| 不好意思 | bu hao yi shi | Pardon me / excuse me / sorry |
| 請問。。。 | ching wen | Use when asking a question, like “may I ask” |
| (在)哪裡？在(這/那)裡 | (zhai) na li / (zhai) zhe li | Where (is it)? (It is) here |
| 對不起 | dui bu qi | Sorry |
| 沒關係 | mei guan xi | It’s ok / that’s ok |
| (不)可以／行 | (bu) ke yi/xing | Can / May (used like yes or no when talking about if something is acceptable or doable or allowed) |
| (不)好 | (bu) hao | Good / not good (used like yes or no when talking about if something is ok) |
| (不)知道 | (bu) zhi dao | (don’t) know |
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JUST THE NECESSITIES
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| 你/我/他 | ni/wo/ta | you/me (or I)/him or her (or he or she) |
| 一點/多/少 | yi dian/duo/shao | a little/a lot (or more)/less |
| 大/中/小 | da/zhong/xiao | big (or large)/medium (or middle)/small (or little) |
| 上/下 | shang/xia | up (or top)/down (or bottom) |
| 前/後 | qian/hou | front (or before)/back (or after) |
| 很/太 | hen/tai | very/too |
| 人 | ren | person/human |
| (沒)有 | (mei) you | (don’t) have |
| (不)要 | (bu) yao | (don’t) want |
| (不)是 | (bu) shi | is (not) |
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TALKING WEATHER
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| 太陽 | tai yang | sun |
| (下）雨 | (xia) yu | rain (raining) |
| 冷 | leng | cold |
| 熱 | re | hot |
| 風 | feng | wind |
| 陰天 | ying tian | overcast/cloudy |
| 天氣 | tian qi | weather |
| 氣象 | qi xiang | weather forecast |
| (溫)度 | (wen) du | degree (temperature) |
| 颱風 | tai feng | typhoon |
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FOR EXPLORING [PLACES]
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| 旅館／飯店 | lu guan/fan dian | hotel |
| 房子／家／套房 | fang zi/jia/tao fang | house/home/apartment |
| 餐廳 | can ting | restaurant |
| 廟 | miao | temple |
| 店 | dian | store |
| 百貨公司 | bai huo gong si | department store |
| 超市／大賣場／菜市場 | chao si/da mai chang/cai shi chang | grocery store/supermarket/traditional market |
| 夜市 | ye shi | night market |
| 公園 | gong yuan | park |
| 地點 | di dian | location/point of interest |
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FOR BUYING STUFF
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| 多少（錢） | duo shao (qian) | how much (money) |
| 貴／便宜 | gui/pian yi | expensive / cheap |
| 十 百 千 | shi bai qian | ten, hundred, thousand |
| 元 | yuan | dollars/money |
| 可以便宜一點嗎？ | ke yi pian yi yi dian ma? | Can you go any cheaper? |
| 這個 ／ 那個 | zhe ge / na ge | this / that |
| 有沒有 | you mei you | is there/do [you] have |
| 不用 | bu yong | no (or no need) |
| 售信用卡嗎？ | shou xin yong ka ma? | do you take credit card? |
| 現金 | xian jin | cash |
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FOR ORDERING & EATING
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| 這裡什麼最有名？ | zhe le shen me zui you ming? | what’s the most popular/famous? |
| 這是什麼？ | zhe shi shen me? | what is this? |
| 你會餓嗎？ 我餓了／我飽了 | ni hui e ma? wo e le/wo bao le | Are you hungry? I’m hungry/I’m full |
| 我想吃。。。 | wo xiang chi… | I want to eat… |
| 自助餐／產廳／路邊攤／美食街 | zi zhu can / chan ting / lu bian tan / mei shi jie | buffet / restaurant / street vendor / food court |
| 冰, 冷, 熱 / 燙 / 溫 | bing, leng, re / tang / wen | cold, cool, hot, burning hot, warm |
| 杯子／吸管／碗／盤／筷子／叉子／湯匙 | bei zhi/xi guan/wan/pan/kuai zhi/cha zhi/tang chi | cup/straw/bowl/plate/chopsticks/fork/spoon |
| 菜 / 套餐 | cai / tao can | dish / combo |
| 素／（雞，豬，牛，羊）肉／海鮮／魚 | shu / (ji,zhu,niu,yang) rou/hai xian/yu | vegetarian / chicken, pork, beef, lamb / seafood / fish |
| 飯／麵 | fan / mian | rice / noodle |
| 飲料／水／茶／咖啡／酒 | yin liao/shui/cha/ka fei/jiu | beverage/water/tea/coffee/alcohol |
| 味道： 甜／鹹／辣／苦／酸 | wei dao: tian/xian/la/ku/shuan | flavor/taste: sweet/salty (or savory)/spicy/bitter/sour |
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FOR THE ROAD [ORIENTING]
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| 路／迷路 | lu/mi lu | road / lost |
| 東西南北 | dong xi nan bei | east west south north |
| 遠 / 近 | yuan / jin | far / close |
| 車／計程車 | che / ji cheng che | car / taxi |
| 公車(站) | gong che (zhan) | bus (station) |
| 捷運(站) | jie yun (zhan) | metro (station) |
| 火車／高鐵(站) | huo che / gao tie (zhan) | train / high speed rail (station) |
| 飛機／機場 | fei ji / ji chang | plane / airport |
| 停車(場) | ting che (chang) | parking (lot) |
| 快/慢/來不及 | kuai/man/lai bu ji | fast/slow/too late |
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IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
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| 幫幫我 / 救命 | bang bang wo / jiu ming | help me / save me |
| 拜託 | bai tuo | help |
| 警察 | jing cha | police |
| 救護車 | jiu hu che | ambulance |
| 醫院/醫生 | yi yuan / yi sheng | hospital / doctor |
| 受傷 | shou shang | (get) hurt/injured |
| 急 | ji | emergency |
| (生)病 | (sheng) bing | (get) sick |
| 小心(不小心) | xiao xin (bu xiao xin) | careful (accidentally) |
| 痛 | tong | hurt |
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