User Comments - user15833
user15833
Posted on: Please Speak Chinese
May 22, 2008 at 2:54 AM@pulosm - Everyone studying Chinese in Taiwan says the same thing about China - that people will speak less English to you, so it's easier to learn Chinese. It may me true that down south, there are a lot of Taiwanese who can't speak English, but in the cities, especially Taipei, where most foreigners come to study, it's nearly impossible to escape from English. Practically every person in Taiwan seems to either speak English or feel embarrassed when their English isn't good enough. (I've even had people avoid talking to me entirely because their English wasn't good enough, despite my pointing out, in Chinese, that they didn't need to speak English to talk to me - 哎呀!)
Posted on: Taipei
May 22, 2008 at 2:08 AM@artkho: It's 蚵仔煎, but pronounced something like o-a-qian (I don't know how to type Taiwanese romanization, sorry).
Posted on: Taipei
May 22, 2008 at 2:05 AMA useful lesson, although it would be great if the 台北人 sounded a little more Taiwanese. The accent on the 去過, for instance, is definitely not Taiwanese, and besides, many Taiwanese folks would be likely to respond "有啊." Also, the lesson intro mentions oyster omelet, one of the famous foods usually referred to in Taiwan only by its Taiwanese name. It would be awesome to see some of these local dialect variants incorporated into future lessons about various Chinese-speaking places. Thanks for all the hard work!
Posted on: Taipei
May 23, 2008 at 2:16 AMI tried betel nut a couple of years ago when some friends came to visit me, and it was absolutely disgusting. What's worse is the middle-aged truck drivers (and seemingly most of the temple parade attendants) who give you a huge betel nut smile with red stained gums and teeth! Still, betel nut is one of those things you've just got to try to say you did. Some others: Pearl milk tea (can't go to its birthplace without having some!) 珍珠奶茶 Mango ice (with sweetened condensed milk) 芒果牛奶冰 Taiwanese sausage 香腸 Stinky tofu 臭豆腐 Mian xian (official English name? no idea. but it's thin noodles in a thick soup - I like the kind with pig intestines, but the original has oysters) 大腸/蚵仔麵線 Boolaahee soup (I only know it by the Taiwanese name, so no idea on the characters - it's a soup of tiny white fish that I think is also found in Japan) Best Activity + Food: Indoor shrimp fishing. Catch your own shrimp with little fishing poles and nets, then cook them up and eat them right there!