posted by zeitgeistein on September 23, 2011 | 7 comments
I was just wondering if the Chinese taught here would be similar enough to be used in Taiwan. I'm looking into becoming an English teacher (My degree in Art is not helping me in this horrid ecomony)& the warmer climate in Taiwan makes it seem like the better choice.
Putonghua is the language of education and government in Taiwan, but you might benefit from learning some Hokkien as well. People might find your Beijing accent funny.
hey zeitgeisten,If you're just starting out it's definitely close enough - I don't think you need to worry about picking up a mainland accent , although if you're planning to use Chinese professionally going forward it's advantageous to speak with a mainland accent these days. And if you do speak with a native mainland accent you've just solved that job problem for good.There are a couple of subtle differences. The two big ones are that mainlanders tend to use the neutral tone in places where the Taiwanese don't. And standard mandarin has something called 儿化音, which adds an R-type sound to the end of some words. There are some podcasts where we get into this, so you'll actually pick this stuff up as you go through the archives.Anyway, good luck getting started and let us know if you run into any trouble.
zeitgeistein on September 24, 2011 | reply
Thanks for the advice! Yes, I'd like to continue learning/speaking Chinese professionally. Any advice on the different job markets- Taiwan v.s. the mainland for English teachers?
mharrison.home on September 25, 2011 | reply
People in Taiwan will certainly find your Beijing accent funny but people in China immediately pick me as having lived/studied in Taiwan. That didn't happen years ago, so perhaps there is more exposure to Taiwanese Chinese now on the mainland. Tones are flatter in Taiwan Mandarin and there is different vocabulary for some things. 星期一 becomes 禮拜一 for example; 普通话 is 國語. Communists are 共匪 but that gets a laugh on either side of the straits these days. The Taiwanese are generous and friendly people, but make sure you get out of Taipei from time to time so as not to be too over-socialized into 泛藍 politics. There are the presidential and legislative yuan elections next January and these are worth seeing and hearing. Chinese is used for public political campaign in ways you never hear on the mainland.
Sounds very interesting! Hopefully I'll find the time and chance to visit Taiwan one day. People in the mainland use 礼拜 very often as well.--Echoecho@popupchinese.com
paulmccarthy79 on September 27, 2011 | reply
Hi Zeigestein. I've nothing to add on the language, but having worked as an English teacher in Taiwan a few years ago, I'd heartily recommend reading some of the blogs on Dave's ESOL Island and forumosa for tips on job hunting and what to watch out for. First-timers are ripe for being ripped-off as I discovered to my cost! If you can, get work in a state school rather than a cram school, but definitely speak to some other teachers there first. Having said all that, there are good jobs and good times to be had there. Good luck!