The official language spoken in Taiwan is Mandarin Chinese. The language has two dialects, the Taiwanese Mandarin (Hokkien) and standard Mandarin. Chinese Mandarin language uses its unique alphabetical order, unlike other languages. It consists of Chinese characters called logogram. The official language is used in schools and spoken widely on the island. Other languages spoken on the island are Hokkien, Hakka, English, Taiwanese sign language, Japanese, and other different local dialects.
Taiwanese Mandarin is spoken by 70% of the population and is widely used across the island. The official language, on the other hand, is spoken by around 20% of the population. It is mainly spoken in Taipei and other cities. The other minority languages make up the remaining 10% of the population. English is also becoming more common on the island. It is a compulsory subject in elementary schools.
Some of the interesting common phrases in the Mandarin language used in Taiwan include terms such as “Nĭ hăo/ Nĭn hăo” which is a greeting term for hello, “Xièxie” means thank you, “Bù hǎo yì si” means excuse me or pardon me, “Duō-shǎo-qián” means how much, Bú yòng means no need, “Méi yŏu wèntí / Méi wèntí,” which means no problem among others.
The minority languages spoken in Taiwan include English, which is taught in elementary schools. Other languages spoken in Taiwan include Japanese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Indonesian, Javanese, Hakka, and Dutch.
This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018
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