Mandarin Chinese Words and Phrases Spoken in Taiwan

Pronunciation Key

Once you begin to realize the difficulty of the Chinese language, you'll learn to be very patient with your English students in Taiwan. Mandarin Chinese (the

main dialect spoken in Taiwan) has four different tonal inflections.

By changing the tone of one word, it takes on a different meaning. On top of this, an alphabet, as we know one, does not exist. Instead, the Chinese written language consists of over 5,000 characters, and almost every word is made up of one or two characters. Luckily, aside from tonal changes, the spoken language isn't any more difficult to learn than any other language. Here are some pronunciation tips to get you started with learning.

a = "o" in pop, copy, stop, top
ai = "i" in pie, high, tie
ao = "ow" in flower, power, shower
e = "e" in heard, fervor
i = "ee" in keep, meet, fleet
o = "o" in store, more, core
ou = "oa" in float, boat, moat
uo = "wo" in wore, "wa" in war
q = "ch" in chin, chief, choose
x = "sh" in shift, shin, shell
z = "ds" in kids, bids, lids

Words and Phrases

English		Chinese

Hello		Ni Hao

Goodbye		Zaijian

Thank you		Xie Xie

You're welcome.		Bukeqi

No		Meiyou

Where is the bus station?		Gongche zhan zai nali?

Where is the train station?		Huoche zhan zai nali?

Where is the bathroom?		Xishoujian za nali?

I don't understand.		Wo ting budong.

Do you understand?		Dong budong?

I'm lost.		Wo mi lu.

What time is it?		Ji dian?