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I have been studying Mandarin for a while on my own. I am a linguist and love to study grammars of foreign languages.
I want to go to Taipei for about 3 months.
Why now? Because it is time.
Just to let you know, going to Taiwan to learn Mandarin is kind of like going to Australia to learn English. You'll end up with a distinctive accent that's not necessarily the most popular among native speakers. That's probably not an issue however as most people won't get to a point where they need to work on the accent only three months into learning a new language.
Just to let you know, going to Taiwan to learn Mandarin is kind of like going to Australia to learn English. You'll end up with a distinctive accent that's not necessarily the most popular among native speakers. That's probably not an issue however as most people won't get to a point where they need to work on the accent only three months into learning a new language.
Thank you for your post.
I did a lot of research to know that very standard Mandarin is spoken in Taipei. Yes, they have their own words/slang as well as accent, but it is indeed very standardized.
I'm American and never had trouble conversing with Australians while in Australia. The accent posed no problem, and the few words I didn't know were easily learned in context.
Just to let you know, going to Taiwan to learn Mandarin is kind of like going to Australia to learn English. You'll end up with a distinctive accent that's not necessarily the most popular among native speakers. That's probably not an issue however as most people won't get to a point where they need to work on the accent only three months into learning a new language.
Australian accent is the best English accent. Taiwanese accent is also the best Mandarin accent.
I did a lot of research to know that very standard Mandarin is spoken in Taipei. Yes, they have their own words/slang as well as accent, but it is indeed very standardized.
The "textbook standard" in Taiwan is very similar to that in mainland China, but in reality, it is more different.
For example, most (not all) Taiwanese do not distinguish s- and sh-, -in and -ing when they speak Mandarin. However people in North China do, and professional broadcasters in south China do as well. (Broadcasters in China must pass a pronunciation test to get the license.)
In short, the prescribed rules are not the same as what you see in reality. Generally speaking, I do not think accent is an issue anyway, unless you want to go very advanced and have a preference. Chinese speakers are very tolerant of different accents.
I have been studying Mandarin for a while on my own. I am a linguist and love to study grammars of foreign languages.
I want to go to Taipei for about 3 months.
Why now? Because it is time.
Haha, I completely understand! In school, my favorite day in English/literature class, was grammar day! I enjoyed grammar so much, I took all the languages my school offered, and always enjoyed the once/week grammar lesson! I continued learning languages in university, and beyond.
You'll love the food in Taipei! Check out the vegetarian restaurants, for an interesting change of pace, now and then. They have specialties, that are imitation meat dishes. They use tofu cooked to taste like chicken, and they use taro root, to imitate fish or beef. Taiwan has a fascinating cuisine! The street vendors also have good food; fried meat buns, which are part of traditional breakfast fare.
I don't know how much the public health situation has improved since I was there, long ago, but Hepatitis A and B used to be endemic. Check with your doctor about getting an inoculation for Hep B.
Haha, I completely understand! In school, my favorite day in English/literature class, was grammar day! I enjoyed grammar so much, I took all the languages my school offered, and always enjoyed the once/week grammar lesson! I continued learning languages in university, and beyond.
You'll love the food in Taipei! Check out the vegetarian restaurants, for an interesting change of pace, now and then. They have specialties, that are imitation meat dishes. They use tofu cooked to taste like chicken, and they use taro root, to imitate fish or beef. Taiwan has a fascinating cuisine! The street vendors also have good food; fried meat buns, which are part of traditional breakfast fare.
I don't know how much the public health situation has improved since I was there, long ago, but Hepatitis A and B used to be endemic. Check with your doctor about getting an inoculation for Hep B.
I can spend hours learning the grammars of foreign languages. A lot of people do not understand this.
I hear the food is delicious in general. They supposedly have a lot of good, cheap vegetarian restaurants because of the Buddhist tradition, I believe.
Are you learning traditional or simplified Chinese characters ?
And also, can Chinese learners tell which one is more popular in your country?
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