Job Discussion Forums

[vallillo1983]

Is there anyone who has been in Taiwan and hopes to stay there long-term that has not learnt Chinese and only knows the basics of how to speak/make conversations, listen to the TV etc? can it be done? or is learning chinese vital?

[MomCat]

Vallillo,

I've only been in Taiwan for six months but spent two years in China before coming here. I don't speak Chinese at all. I rely on cards with translations, local friends, kind strangers and luck to get around. It hasn't been that difficult. The biggest drawbacks are not being able to talk to my friends and neighbors in their native tongue and needing help with fairly routine transactions like buying a phone or signing a lease.

I have no doubt life'd be easier, and probably more interesting, if I did speak the language but it's not necessary.

Cat

[TaoyuanSteve]

[wood]

Clearly life here in Taipei doesn't
necessitate learning Chinese. It makes
life easier in some respects but many
seem to get by quite well without it.
Choose your experience.

[DirtGuy]

Um, please don't take this the wrong way; Why not stop wasting time asking these sorts of questions and take some lessons? Mandarin (spoken) is just not that difficult IMHO. Forget about learning to read the stuff. My experience the last time I worked there was to have private lessons 3 hours each day for 2 weeks. Tried to do a self-study course before I left with little success. I was actually able to carry on rudimentary conversations with people and my listening comprehension was much greater than my speaking ability. While I agree with the other posters that you do not need to know Mandarin, being able to speak at least a little of it made a difference in how the locals reacted to me.

Go ahead and try to learn. Lessons are cheap. You might surprise yourself.

DirtGuy

[KaiFeng]

Yeah, you can get by with little or no Mandarin. But if you're in it for the long-term, there are absolute benefits that will help you get much more money:

1. Speaking Mandarin gives you competitive advantage over other trainers and consultants. Over a few years this really adds up.
2. Learning the language will make you a better trainer for your clients; you will better understand them.
3. You can more credibly take on translation/editing work, even if you work with a native Chinese speaker, like I did (my wife).
4. It helps your clients to like you and feel comfortable with you. The business value of this is inestimable.

Yah, there are personal benefits too, and stuff. I have been married for 17 years to a Mandarin-speaker, and every day speaking it gives me absolute pleasure and satisfaction. But above I am emphasizing the business case for picking up Mandarin, not the vast personal enrichment.

[TaoyuanSteve]

[DirtGuy]

TS,

Sorry. I did not pick up on that and you are probably right.

The first time I went over I used the Pimsleaur (probably misspelled) to learn some Mandarin. The program is set up to ideally take 30 days (budget more time) and it really worked for me. I was able to function on a survival Mandarin basis.

The last time I worked there, I tried the Rosetta Stone program. It just didn't work for me although many people swear by it.

Now I understand there are two levels of the Pimsleaur series available. Check on e-bay. I plan to buy the 2nd level plus re-do level 1 before I go over as preparation for formal Mandarin instruction.

For those who have never heard of it, Pimsleaur is strictly a listening based way to learn a language. Well designed. You don't have to learn Pinyin in order to benefit from its instruction. This works great with Mandarin as most people are never going to learn to read it plus there aren't so many grammar rules to memorize.

Hope the OP can use this info.

DirtGuy

[flapjack]

hi dirt guy,
i like your posts , but just wanted to say, have you ever heard the expression, "When you find youself in a hole, STOP DIGGING!"

For the OP, I think learning Chinese in TW is like learning Spanish in Catalunia.