In this episode, we’ve talked about eating at “stir-fry places” in Taiwan, asking for recommendations, and also the price. (These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.) SENTENCES AND VOCABULARY TAIWANESE ENGLISH Ū (siánn-mih) thui-tsiàn--ê--bô? Do you have any recommendations? thui-tsiàn / tshui-tsiàn to recommend hái-sán-tànn seafood vendor, seafood place Tâi-uân-lâng tsiok ài tsia̍h hái-sán. Taiwanese...

In this episode, we’ve talked about personal pronouns like “you” and “I”, the “exclusive we” and “inclusive we”, and also how to express possession in Taiwanese. Please visit the episode webpage for a detailed outline of the episode!

In this episode, we’ve talked about personal pronouns like “you” and “I”, the “exclusive we” and “inclusive we”, and also how to express possession in Taiwanese. (These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.) PERSONAL PRONOUNS Singular Plural 1st person guá I, me guán / gún (exclusive) we, us - - lán you and I; (inclusive) we, us 2nd person lí (singular) you lín (plural) you 3rd person i he/she/it,...

In this episode, we’ve talked about how to express the four seasons and common weather conditions in Taiwanese. Also, we learned some names of seasonal fruits. Please visit the episode webpage for a detailed outline of the episode!

In this episode, we’ve talked about how to express the four seasons and common weather conditions in Taiwanese. Also, we learned some names of seasonal fruits. (These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.) SENTENCES AND VOCABULARY TAIWANESE ENGLISH sù-kuì the four seasons tshun-hā-tshiu-tang a common expression for the four seasons. (literally: “spring-summer-fall-winter”) tshun-thinn spring,...

In this episode, we’ve talked about traveling by train to the beautiful east side of Taiwan, and also how to use prepositions to talk about your route and manner of transportation. Please visit the episode webpage for a detailed outline of the episode!

In this episode, we’ve talked about traveling by train to the beautiful east side of Taiwan, and also how to use prepositions to talk about your route and manner of transportation. (These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.) SENTENCES AND VOCABULARY TAIWANESE ENGLISH Hua-liân / Hua-lian Hualien, a city in eastern Taiwan Thài-lóo-kok / Tha-lóo-khooh Taroko Gorge, or the name of the Truku indigenous...

NOTE: This week we're off for the Lunar New Year holiday, so today's episode will be a re-broadcast of Ep06: The Ninth Tone from our Pronounce it Like a Pro podcast series (show notes at link).  Don't worry, we'll have a brand new Newbie episode next week!

NOTE: This week we're off for the Lunar New Year holiday, so today's episode will be a re-broadcast of Ep06: The Ninth Tone from our Pronounce it Like a Pro podcast series (show notes at link).  Don't worry, we'll have a brand new Newbie episode next week!

In this episode, we’ve talked about some of the Lunar New Year’s Eve traditions in Taiwan. (These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.) SENTENCES AND VOCABULARY TAIWANESE ENGLISH Sin-nî khuài-lo̍k! Happy New Year! sin-li̍k Western Gregorian calendar, literally the “new calendar” kū-li̍k the Traditional or lunar calendar, literally the “old calendar”. Also known as “lông-li̍k”, the “farming...

In this episode, we’ve learned how to ask “What time is it?”, “When are you going?”, and also time on the clock and different parts of the day. (These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.) SENTENCES AND VOCABULARY TAIWANESE ENGLISH Thô-hn̂g ki-tiûnn Taoyuan Airport ki-tiûnn airport ki-tiûnn tsia̍t-ūn airport MRT, or the Airport Metro Train tsia̍t-ūn MRT, metro Tâi-pak tshia-tsām Taipei Main...

In this episode, we’ve talked about the “literary” pronunciation of numbers. We’ve also talked about several number-related expressions and how to ask for someone’s phone number and year of birth. Please visit the episode webpage  for a detailed outline of the episode!

In this episode, we’ve talked about the “literary” pronunciation of numbers. We’ve also talked about several number-related expressions and how to ask for someone’s phone number and year of birth. (These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.) THE TWO PRONUNCIATIONS OF TAIWANESE NUMBERS 1 2 3 4 5 Bûn-giân-im “Literary” it jī sam sù ngóo** Pe̍h-uē-im “Colloquial” “tsi̍t” (it) “nn̄g”...

In this episode, we’ve talked about the days of the week (Monday, Tuesday, etc.) in Taiwanese. Also, we learned about expressing days and weeks in a relative sense, such as “today” or “last week”. (These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.) SENTENCES AND VOCABULARY TAIWANESE ENGLISH hioh-khùn to take a break phah-sǹg to plan, to intend tshit-thô to play, to have fun; to go...

In this episode, we’ve talked about clothes shopping and learned some useful adjectives and intensifiers. Please visit the episode webpage for a detailed outline of the episode!

In this episode, we’ve talked about clothes shopping and learned some useful adjectives and intensifiers. (These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.) SENTENCES AND VOCABULARY TAIWANESE ENGLISH Hit niá gû-á-khòo tsin hó-khuànn! That pair of jeans looks nice! hit that tsit this niá (measure word for clothing) gû-á-khòo jeans khòo pants or trousers sann garments worn above the waist or clothes in...

In this episode, we’ve learned how to say “Do you speak Taiwanese?” and some responses to this question. (These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.) SENTENCES AND VOCABULARY TAIWANESE ENGLISH a-sa-puh-luh vulgar, indecent, messy, disorderly Culture note: the phrase comes from the Japanese word 朝風呂 (asa-buro), 朝 (asa) means “morning” and 風呂 (furo) means “bath”. People thought it was strange to take baths in the...

In this episode, we’ve learned how to say “Do you speak Taiwanese?” and some responses to this question. Please visit the episode webpage for a detailed outline of the episode!

In this episode, we’ve learned how to say “Do you speak Taiwanese?” and some responses to this question. (These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.) SENTENCES AND VOCABULARY TAIWANESE ENGLISH a-sa-puh-luh vulgar, indecent, messy, disorderly Culture note: the phrase comes from the Japanese word 朝風呂 (asa-buro), 朝 (asa) means “morning” and 風呂 (furo) means “bath”. People thought it was strange to take baths in the...

NOTE: This week we're off for the Thanksgiving holiday, so today's episode will be a re-broadcast of Ep02: Unaspirated & Voiceless from our Pronounce it Like a Pro podcast series.  Don't worry, we'll have a brand new Newbie episode next week! In this episode, we learned 11 Taiwanese consonants and the important features about these sounds: voiced, voiceless, aspirated, and unaspirated. (These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal...

In this episode, we’ve learned how to describe locations in Taiwanese and some commonly used location suffixes. (These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.) INDICATING THE LOCATION OF SOMETHING To indicate the location of something, you can use the sentence pattern below: something + tī + location phrase The verb “tī” means “to be located in/at”, and can also be used as a preposition. In fact, many prepositions in...

In this episode, we’ve learned how to describe locations in Taiwanese and some commonly used location suffixes. Please visit the episode webpage for a detailed outline of the episode!

In this episode, we’ve learned some Taiwanese “measure words” while Phil and Alan figure out the ingredients for a Thanksgiving turkey dinner. (These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.) NUM + MEASURE WORD + NOUN In Taiwanese, whenever we use a number to indicate the amount of something, there is always an extra word between the number and the noun. This word is called a “counter”, “measure word”, or “classifier”,...

In this episode, we’ve learned some Taiwanese “measure words” while Phil and Alan figure out the ingredients for a Thanksgiving turkey dinner. Please visit the episode webpage for a detailed outline of the episode!