What’s the Difference

Between Taiwanese Mandarin

and Chinese Mandarin?
• Regardless of which Mandarin dialect you’ve learned—whether it be
Standard Chinese, the Beijing accent or the Taiwanese dialect—you’ll,
in nearly all cases, generally be understood.
• However, when speaking with natives, they’ll prefer certain words
over others used by the standard dialect of China, and they might use
an accent you’re probably not accustomed to yet.
• Each country’s (and in some cases, each region’s) language has its
own set of slang words and its own accent, which means the native
people oftentimes pronounce words a bit different than what a learner
is used to.
• This doesn’t just apply to China and Taiwan—it applies to every
country that speaks the same language as another. For example,
Colombian Spanish is a bit different from Mexican Spanish.
• Are you ready for the good news?
• You can easily overcome these rather small dialect barriers.
• But first, let’s take a look at the key differences between Standard
Chinese Mandarin and Mandarin spoken in Taiwan.
Pronunciation and Tones

• If understanding Chinese tones has been a challenge for you, you’re

probably screaming on the inside at the thought of Taiwan putting its
own spin on them.
• Well, don’t worry too much because the same four tones exist in
Taiwanese Mandarin.
• The difference is that a few words you’ve likely learned from
textbooks or courses have a slight tone change in the Taiwanese
dialect.
• For example, the word 星期 (xīng qī) means “week” in Mandarin.
• While 星期 is pronounced with two first tones in China, pronounced
with a first tone
• While in Taiwan, it’s and a second tone: 星期 (xīng qí).
• Taiwanese speakers also change the sounds of words and syllables
when speaking. For example, “zh” becomes “z,”
“ch” becomes “c” and “sh” becomes “s.”
Different Vocabulary Words

• Now it’s time for some bad news: not all words in Mainland (or
Standard) Chinese are the same in Taiwanese Mandarin.
• While there’s certainly a lot of shared vocabulary, sometimes
Taiwanese people simply use their own words or phrases.
• For example, to say “good morning” in China, you typically say 早上
好 (zǎo shàng hǎo). In Taiwan, you say 早安 (zǎo ān).
• In China, the word for “potato” is 土豆 (tǔ dòu), whereas in Taiwan
it’s 马铃薯 (mǎ líng shǔ).
• Think of it as how Americans use certain words in English that people
from Britain don’t use, and vice versa. However, in the majority of
cases, everyone still understands each other.
Accents Are Different

• Simply put, the biggest difference between Chinese and Taiwanese

Mandarin boils down to the accents.
• Going back to our American and Great Britain example, if an
American were to travel to Britain, the primary language difference
would be accent.
• The biggest accent difference between Taiwanese speakers and
Standard Chinese speakers (and Beijing speakers especially) is the 儿
(er) sound.
• In most textbooks, learners are taught words like the following:
• 哪儿 (nǎr) — where
• 这儿 (zhèr) — here
• 一点儿 (yì diǎnr) — a little
• However, in Taiwan, that final 儿 sound is dropped:
• 哪 (nǎ)
• 这 (zhè)
• 一点 (yì diǎn)
• It’s also very common in southern China to drop the 儿 sound as well.