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Learn the Mandarin Taiwan actually speaks

Not textbook Chinese. Not Beijing Chinese. The phrases you need at the drink shop, the pharmacy, your kid's preschool, and when the trash truck song starts playing — in pinyin, with audio and spaced repetition.

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Try a card — tap it

Half sugar, less ice.

Say it in Mandarin, then tap to hear the answer 👆

Why Taiwan-specific matters

Most apps teach mainland Mandarin. In Taiwan, that gets you polite confusion.

Trash is lèsè, not lājì — and it comes with a musical truck.
You ride a jīchē, tap a Yōuyóu kǎ, and tell the gas station jiǔwǔ jiāmǎn.
"You're welcome" is búhuì, goodbye is bàibài, and your drink order needs bàn táng shǎo bīng.
School parents live by the liánluò bù and the ānqīnbān — words no textbook teaches.

500 phrases across 20 daily-life decks

Every deck is built from real errands, real small talk, and real Taiwan vocabulary. Browse the free phrasebook, then practice with audio flashcards.

Ordering food & drinks

Restaurants, breakfast shops and bubble tea stands: for here or to go, sugar and ice levels, and paying the check.

Shopping & paying

Shops and convenience stores: asking prices, paying by card or LINE Pay, receipts, bags, and asking for help.

Greetings & small talk

Neighbours, weather, names, and the handful of polite phrases that carry a whole conversation.

MRT, buses and taxis, EasyCard top-ups, giving directions, and scooter life.

Traditional market

The morning wet market: calling the vendor, buying by the jin, bargaining, and produce, meat and fish.

Night market & street food

Ordering the classics, spice levels, queues and portions, and the game stalls.

Home, rent & bills

Landlords and rent, utility bills, the trash truck, typhoons, and the things that break.

Pharmacy & symptoms

Saying how you feel, buying medicine at the pharmacy, and clinic basics.

Doctor & hospital

Registering and the ER, your NHI card, blood tests and X-rays, paying, and picking up medicine.

School & preschool

Drop-off and pickup, teachers and classroom talk, homework, uniforms, cram school and school fees.

Numbers, time & dates

Counting and prices, telling the time, days and dates, opening hours — the layer every other topic sits on.

Convenience stores

Parcel pickup, bill payments, printing, heating up lunch — the errands you run at 7-Eleven and FamilyMart.

Opening an account, ATMs and transfers, changing money, and the chop and paperwork a foreigner gets handed.

Phone & internet

SIM cards and monthly plans, topping up, unlimited data, and getting home internet installed or fixed.

Paperwork & government offices

Your ARC, the immigration and household registration offices, forms and photocopies, and the take-a-number routine.

Colleagues and meetings, clocking off, overtime, leave and bonuses, and the year-end party.

Weather, typhoons & earthquakes

Typhoon days and cancelled work, earthquakes, the summer humidity, and whether to bring an umbrella.

Festivals & customs

Lunar New Year and red envelopes, Mid-Autumn barbecues, Dragon Boat, temple visits and make-up work days.

Driving & scooters

Renting and licensing, parking and tickets, repairs and flat tyres, and the two-stage left turn.

Emergencies & police

Calling 110 or 119, accidents and injuries, theft and lost property, and asking for urgent help.

How it works

1. Hear it. Every card speaks in a Taiwanese Mandarin (zh-TW) voice — pinyin on screen, real pronunciation in your ears.
2. Say it. See the English, say the Mandarin out loud, flip to check. Grade yourself and spaced repetition schedules the review.
3. Prove it. Take quizzes scored from the phrases you've actually studied — including a speaking test that listens to you say it — then go use them at the breakfast shop.
4. Or don't choose at all. The Learning Journey teaches you one topic at a time and picks the phrases for you. It learns what you know and what you keep missing, and always puts the most common, most useful phrases first — so you master what you'll actually say this week before anything niche. Free with an account.

Start learning — it's free