Study Mandarin in China or in Taiwan?

[Vindobona]

Hello everybody,

I would like to know why did you decide to study Mandarin in Taiwan and not in China?

From my point of view:

China:

+ lower tuition

+ lower living cost

+ simplified characters

+ business opportunities

+ future mega power country

Taiwan:

+ More developed, and safety compared to China

+ Friendly people

+ Higher quality of life

+ Multicultural

+ possibility for scholarship

I am currently making decision where to go. I would appreciate any opinion, comments. Thank you.

Vindobona

[muyongshi]

So what, people in China aren't friendly???? I beg to differ. Also there aren't certain scholarships you can get in the mainland too....

Another thing is that Taiwan has an accent....

[Xiying]

Well...the degree of friendliness in Taiwan is much more than I've experienced in northern China (say, Beijing), but somewhat comparable to the level in the south.

And everywhere you go in China, people will have an accent. Even Beijing dialect is not proper Putonghua. Though in some of the larger cities, you may get a greater mix of dialects than you get in Taiwan outside of Taipei.

China

+greater need to practice Mandarin due to less Mandarin proficiency

Taiwan

+smaller class sizes

+cleanliness

-more people speaking English to you (if you don't look E Asian)

[simonlaing]

Disadvantages to studying in Taiwan

-Expensive cost of living (as compared to PRC)

- Need to learn Traditional characters not use in Mainland, (though only a few month study can make the change over)

- Living on an island , limited travel opportuinities, high incidence of hurricanes and Typhoons.

- There is a Taiwan accent and classical style of writing that is different than most in the mainland. Putonghua should be about the same though in the universities.

Some thoughts.

have fun,

Simon:)

P.S. I have heard the scholarships there are quite good .

[skylee]

Quote:

- Need to learn Traditional characters not use in Mainland

- classical style of writing that is different than most in the mainland

I don't understand why these are disadvantages.

And I get this impression that many members here mind the Taiwan accent very much but not, say, the Beijing accent ....

[md1101]

ive heard stories of people from mainland china looking less favourbly on foreigners with accents from the province of taiwan . perhaps thats why ppl arent critising the beijing accent?

and if there is much truth to that it could be a reason against going to taiwan. the only evidence i have is anecdotal though. with a sample size of 1.

anyway i always thought that beijing hua = putonghua by definition. i.e they chose the beijing dialect and made it the national language. obviously i must be wrong because people are saying the beijing accent is not standard. can someone please enlighten me on the issue?

[roddy]

I'm pretty sure it's been discussed once or tence before . . .

[md1101]

well i just read up on it. beijingers have a few unique sounds softer tones lots of ers and so on. i get the jist of it. although its based on the beijing dialect there a few differences.

[Lu]

Business opportunities in China... are you going there for business or for studying? If you want to make a bit of money on the side, there's plenty of opportunity for that in Taiwan as well.

Traditional characters: that would be a plus, in my opinion. Not so bad to start with traditional, and if you decide to go to China later on, the transition to simplified takes weeks, not months.

Scholarships are available on both sides of the strait.

Taiwanese may have an accent, but on the other hand I find they speak clearer than people on the mainland. Teachers here generally don't have a non-standard accent, they are taught & screened rather strictly for that.

- travel opportunities to other countries

+ nice weather, clean(er) air, beautiful landscape. Typhoons are only in Sept and Oct, and usually not as bad as they look on the news. Earthquakes are generally not so bad either. (simonlaing, I don't think we have hurricanes in Taiwan, only typhoons)

+ life is very convenient

+ democracy and freedom of speech

+ Palace Museum

- other culture

they chose the beijing dialect and made it the national language.

Not entirely so, they took the Beijing dialect and based putonghua on it, but it's not completely the same. Take the difference between the way of speaking of a news anchor and that of a Beijing taxi driver. For more information, check other threads on this.

[gato]

I don't think we have hurricanes in Taiwan, only typhoons)

"Hurricane" and "typhoon" are different names for the same thing.

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/A1.html

Subject: A1) What is a hurricane, typhoon, or tropical cyclone?

The terms "hurricane" and "typhoon" are regionally specific names for a strong "tropical cyclone". A tropical cyclone is the generic term for a non-frontal synoptic scale low-pressure system over tropical or sub-tropical waters with organized convection (i.e. thunderstorm activity) and definite cyclonic surface wind circulation (Holland 1993).

[adrianlondon]

Going to China is more of an "experience" for a westerner.

I love the Taiwanese accent (it's similar to most people from Guangdongwhen they speak mandarin) and I think traditional characters are cool. I learnt some in Beijing anyway, as I did calligraphy.

However, I picked Beijing because it's more of an adventure (out of a straight choice I'd pick Taipei to work though) and because I knew I'd meet lots of other like-minded people (ie people coming for the language and the experience) there.

[md1101]

yeap. just call it a it strong low pressure system and you cant go wrong

[md1101]

the Taiwanese accent (it's similar to most people from Guangdongwhen they speak mandarin)

really? does that mean they pronounce shi as si and zhi as zi and so on? i don't like that very much....

[adrianlondon]

Yep, that's what it means. I think it's fine. Makes it hard to learn the correct pronunciation though!

Oh yeah, and that's another reason I studied in China and not Taiwan ... Taiwan doesn't use pinyin (although the schools for foreigners often do).

[kdavid]

I have trouble communicating with Taiwanese. It sounds to me like they never close their mouth when they speak.

You have a much better chance of developing a standard accent on the mainland than you will in Taiwan. Just stay in the NE and don't stray too far south.

[Lu]

The terms "hurricane" and "typhoon" are regionally specific names for a strong "tropical cyclone".

So that means there are no hurricanes in Taiwan, only typhoons, as the hurricanes are elsewhere :-p

Met a lady from Guangdong here some time ago with a strong accent, but I thought it didn't sound much like the Taiwanese accent. Even less difference between z/s/c and zh/sh/ch, and between n and ng. Also it just sounded different.

[Xiying]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_dialect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Mandarin#Standard_Mandarin_and_Beijing_dialect

Putonghua: 今天会下雨，所以出门时要记得带伞。

Beijinghua: 今儿啊可能会下雨，所以呀你出门儿的时候可一定得记着带上伞！

The pronounciation of words (phonology) in putonghua is derived from Beijing dialect, but the grammatical patterns and vocabulary used are a bit different. I can understand Putonghua clearly, but I often have trouble listening to Beijinghua.

Taiwanese-accented Mandarin is a branch southern-accented Mandarin (depending on degree of accent, people can know you're from Taiwan, or they'll just know you're from the sourth). It actually sounds pretty much like Fujian Mandarin (around Xiamen). When my Taiwanese friend was living in Beijing, a lot of people thought he was Cantonese! But as a foreigner subjected to formal training, you will likely be taught standard Mandarin wherever you go.