Mandarin for phone plans and internet in Taiwan
Get a SIM card or monthly plan, top up, ask for unlimited data, swap LINE contacts, and get home internet installed or fixed — with pinyin and audio practice.
There are two routes to a Taiwanese number. A prepaid card (yùfùkǎ) is the quick one — buy it, top it up (chúzhí), done. A monthly contract (ménhào) is cheaper per gigabyte but means paperwork and residency documents at a carrier shop, and often a lock-in period known as bǎngyuē. The phrase everyone uses for an unlimited data plan is wǎnglù chī dào bǎo, literally 'internet eat till full'.
Once you have a number, Taiwan runs on LINE. jiā LINE — add me on LINE — is how you exchange contacts with a landlord, a colleague, a plumber, and often your child's teacher. For home internet, zhuāng wǎnglù is getting it installed, and when it inevitably slows down, wǎnglù hěn màn is the complaint that starts the support conversation.
20 phrases for phone & internet
| What you say | Pinyin | Characters |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile phone. | shǒujī | 手機 |
| I want to sign up for a phone plan. | wǒ yào bàn ménhào. | 我要辦門號。 |
| Prepaid SIM card. | yùfùkǎ | 預付卡 |
| Top up the credit. | chúzhí | 儲值 |
| Unlimited data. (literally "eat till you're full") | wǎnglù chī dào bǎo | 網路吃到飽 |
| How much per month? | yí ge yuè duōshǎo qián? | 一個月多少錢？ |
| Locked into a contract. | bǎngyuē | 綁約 |
| Cancel the contract. | jiěyuē | 解約 |
| My phone is broken. | wǒ de shǒujī huài le. | 我的手機壞了。 |
| The screen is cracked. | yíngmù pò le | 螢幕破了 |
| Charger. | chōngdiànqì | 充電器 |
| My battery's dead. | méi diàn le | 沒電了 |
| Do you have Wi-Fi? | yǒu Wi-Fi ma? | 有 Wi-Fi 嗎？ |
| What's the password? | mìmǎ shì shénme? | 密碼是什麼？ |
| The signal is bad. | xùnhào bù hǎo | 訊號不好 |
| Add me on LINE. | jiā LINE | 加 LINE |
| I'll send it to you. | wǒ chuán gěi nǐ. | 我傳給你。 |
| The internet is really slow. | wǎnglù hěn màn. | 網路很慢。 |
| Get the internet installed. | zhuāng wǎnglù | 裝網路 |
What you'll hear back
The other half of the conversation — what the vendor, clerk or nurse says to you. Understanding these is usually harder than speaking.
| What they say | Pinyin | Characters |
|---|---|---|
| May I have your phone number? | qǐngwèn nín de diànhuà hàomǎ? | 請問您的電話號碼？ |
Questions people ask
Can I get a SIM card without an ARC?
Short-term prepaid SIMs for visitors are generally available on a passport, including at the airport. Monthly contracts normally require residency documents, so if you've just arrived, prepaid first and a contract later is the usual path.
What does 吃到飽 mean on a phone plan?
Unlimited data — the same phrase used for all-you-can-eat restaurants. Speeds may be shaped after a threshold depending on the plan, so it's worth asking what happens past the cap.
Which carriers are there?
Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile and FarEasTone are the main networks, with several smaller operators reselling on them. Coverage differences mostly show up in the mountains rather than in cities.
How do people message each other in Taiwan?
LINE, near-universally — for friends, workplaces, schools, landlords and small businesses. jiā LINE is the standard way to ask, and plenty of shops take orders through it.