Resources for Learning Taiwanese as an English Speaker

Resources for Learning Taiwanese as an English Speaker

A list of resources (podcasts, tutors, books, blogs, dictionaries) for anyone interested in learning more Taiwanese Hokkien (福建話)

langauges, Taiwan, learning

NB: Thank you so much to everyone who passed along the information and resources included here

My experiences learning to read in Taiwanese, starting from a point of limited literacy in Han characters: https://ampleroad.substack.com/p/reading-or-something-like-it-guest

Screen readers/romanization & character converters/audio technologies

1. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/inkah-pop-up-dictionary/pcgmedbmchghfgikplcimdmfldfnecec/related?hl=en (Inkah is a screen reader - similar to Pleco - for deciphering Mandarin characters on your browser)

2. https://suisiann.ithuan.tw/ (This tool will translate romanized Taiwanese into 漢字台文 (or vice versa) and produce an audio file so you can hear the text. It is sometimes buggy. Taking out Arabic numerals helps.)

3. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/t%C3%A2i-g%C3%AD-helper/pdpbfanllabhbledlnemlnmchfeheljp?hl=en (Tâi-gí Helper Chrome and Firefox extension allows you to highlight and right click any Taiwanese text (romanized or in characters) and then choose from a menu of dictionaries to look up the definition and/or pronunciation. The dictionary will pop up in a separate tab)

4. https://buttaiwan.github.io/taigivs/ (This tool adds Taiwanese romanization to characters; there is a built-in dictionary function, just click on the words and the definitions appear in a window on the right; it also tries to guess at the correct pronunciation for the characters that may change sound depending on context or placement in the sentence)

POJ and Taiwanese character keyboards

1. Phah Taigi for iOS and Android:

1. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.taccotap.phahtaigi&hl=en&gl=US

2. 意傳科技:

1. https://sujiphuat.ithuan.tw/hueuan/

2. The developer is not recognized by Apple yet but this is my number one recommendation for writing in Taiwanese

3. FHL - Faith, Hope, Love

1. POJ Romanization was developed by Christian missionaries

2. https://taigi.fhl.net/TaigiIME/

Taiwanese Lessons and Tutoring

Online Options

1. iTalki platform (hire a tutor!): https://www.italki.com/teachers/chinese(taiwanese)?hl=en

2. Kóng Tâi-gí 講台語 is another platform for finding online Taiwanese tutors. Feel free to reach out to them on Facebook in English: https://www.facebook.com/tutorkongtaigi

In Person with Potential Online Availability

United States

1. Washington DC Taiwanese School: https://www.facebook.com/WDCTS/

2. Taiwan School (of the Taiwanese American Center of Northern California): https://www.facebook.com/SJTaiwanSchool/ and https://etaiwanschool.org

1. Great option for online group classes! Register here (someone will get back to you if you fill out the form, even if most of the current term is over): https://sites.google.com/etaiwanschool.org/taiwanschool/register

3. Houston School of Taiwanese Languages and Cultures

1. https://sites.google.com/view/htslc?fbclid=IwAR1nrSpVCAdoFCFWMf2Rdch2wliyk1Cy429YOOhqU7yAjI8BsZ-qhnOEXos

Taiwan

1. Periodically-updated list of community-led classes across Taiwan - the site (台文通訊Bong報) is in Mandarin & Taiwanese: https://www.tgb.org.tw/?fbclid=IwAR2dw55ZHHtbag9TGkSLcl831UyThtWo0XFqHUxdHyh5BGr7RPKl-eNnUFs

2. Mrs. Zheng private tutoring (user-friendly English/Mandarin website; also holds online classes by request): http://www.mrszheng.com/home

3. Maryknoll Language Service Center (distance learning available, their materials are excellent): http://friendship.catholic.org.tw/school.htm

4. 嘉徽ê台文園地 https://www.facebook.com/KahuieTaibunhngte/ - young Taiwanese woman who offers private or small group classes for intermediate and high-level learners (also on Google Meets)

5. National Taiwan Normal University (aka Shida) offers Practical Taiwanese I & II as a “Culture Class” every academic quarter. Email mtc@mtc.ntnu.edu.tw for more information.

6. National Taiwan University (aka Taida) offers Taiwanese language classes through their Chinese Language Division (CLD) continuing education program. Since the pandemic they are also running online classes. Email and contact information here: https://oia.ntu.edu.tw/prospective-students/learning-chinese-xu6g/for-non-ntu-students-n9as

7. New Bloom Magazine has started offering Taiwanese classes at their Taipei location (tuition on a sliding scale). Email newbloommag@gmail.com for more information

8. Shuanglian Church 雙連教會 (Taipei, Mandarin website): https://www.slpctaipei.org/slpc-tai-gi-class

Language Instruction (audio, ebooks, & printed books) - all for English speakers

1. Bite Size Taiwanese

1. Beginner lessons, designed by a Taiwanese-American: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bite-size-taiwanese-elementary/id1479600652

2. Short Takes book: https://bitesizetaiwanese.com/product/shorttakes/

2. Taiwanese Made Easier:

1. Scanned copies of a six-textbook series taking you from beginning to advanced, zero to being able to talk to your manager in Taiwanese. Audio files also included. Highly recommended: https://sites.google.com/site/tmemp3/home?authuser=0

2. Be aware that TME teaches POJ romanization but not how to read/write characters in Taiwanese 台文 (the POJ is translated into Mandarin instead)

3. Southern Hokkien (3 volumes, published by National Taiwan University):

1. Complete online course! http://ocw.aca.ntu.edu.tw/ntu-ocw/ocw/cou/104S114/1

2. Books: https://www.books.com.tw/products/0010663610

4. Glossika Hokkien course: https://ai.glossika.com/language/learn-taiwanese-hokkien

5. Spoken Hokkien (ebook with audio lessons for beginners, written by Dr. Meili Fang, a scholar of Taiwanese): https://speaktaiwanese.com/spoken-hokkien/

6. Practical Taiwanese Conversation (short beginner course designed by the Modern Taiwanese Language Association): http://learntaiwanese.org/

7. Maryknoll Taiwanese textbook, 3 volumes (once & still the gold standard): http://ip194097.ntcu.edu.tw/memory/tgb/MoWT.asp (scanned online; hit the second option on the left-hand menu bar, then search for ‘Maryknoll’ as the publisher 出版者檢索. You can then scroll through page-by-page.)

1. Maryknoll Languages Services Center website - very basic (http://friendship.catholic.org.tw/school.htm)

2. I recommend emailing Feng Hui-jing 老師 at gin520829@gmail.com to order the books and audio options

8. Harvard Taiwanese 101: https://www.books.com.tw/products/0010864234?loc=M_0005_004

9. Taiwanese Grammar (by Phil Lin, also of Bite Size Taiwanese): https://www.amazon.com/Taiwanese-Grammar-Reference-Philip-Lin-ebook/dp/B00T02HAYI

10. Learning Taiwanese using Chinese Characters, 3 volumes: http://ip194097.ntcu.edu.tw/memory/tgb/MoWT.asp (scanned online)

11. Handbook of Taiwanese Romanization: http://taiwaneseamericanhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/1196.-Handbook-of-Taiwanese-Romanization.pdf

Language Instruction (audio, ebooks, & printed books) - in Mandarin or Taiwanese

1. Let’s Learn Taiwanese Hokkien (Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced) - published by the Taiwanese Ministry of Education as downloadable pdfs. https://www.huayuworld.org/taiwanese-download.php

2. 講台語當著時 Kóng Tâi-gí tang tio̍h sî (produced by Formosa Television, 民視): 26 video lessons, subtitled in Manarin characters: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe8vfIFNtjRcbTvj_qwwwxbaaeIukdZTE&fbclid=IwAR2WgsEENr9co14LkTpBUNqMApioZBRVueBoTORvaYCrKtnAVcnuN-NLHWo

Taiwanese Dictionaries

1. https://www.mkdict.net/ (Maryknoll Taiwanese-English Dictionary)

2. https://chhoe.taigi.info/ (aggregates 7 different Taiwanese dictionaries & allows searching in 台文, Mandarin, POJ Romanization & English).

1. Example of how to use Chhoe Taigi if you aren’t literate in Mandarin: https://twitter.com/catielila/status/1162971685936607233?s=20

3. https://itaigi.tw/ (allows you to look up Taiwanese POJ using Mandarin characters and play back the Taiwanese pronunciation; sometimes I will look something up in English using Chhoe Taigi, get the Mandarin translation, and put that into iTaigi so I can hear the Taiwanese. This is a crowd-sourced dictionary and accuracy is not guaranteed)

4. https://twblg.dict.edu.tw/holodict_new/mobile/search.jsp (Taiwanese Ministry of Education official dictionary, definitions in Mandarin - no English, unfortunately)

1. Previous version of the MOE Dictionary, still online: https://twblg.dict.edu.tw/holodict_new/

5. https://timeline.line.me/user/_dVmpHylF09TQQSYaX9CQK0pT_qUJaSEoLQVorxw (Taigi 台語小幫手) LINE App, type in Mandarin characters and it will send you a link with the POJ and audio pronunciation

Universities outside of Taiwan that offer Taiwanese Courses

United States

1. Stanford University:

1. Beginning Southern Min (Taiwanese) Conversation (CHINLANG 10, 11, & 12): https://explorecourses.stanford.edu (enter “Taiwanese” as the search term). This class is taught by a great lecturer in the Chinese Language department. She’s very kind! Our class had a range of students - Singaporean Hokkien speakers; white Americans; 1.5 generation Taiwanese who had grown up unable to communicate with their Taiwanese-speaking grandparents; me (conversationally fluent in Taiwanese but back then fairly illiterate in characters).

2. University of California, Berkeley:

1. Taiwanese Language (also Ethnic Studies 198), run by Taiwanese students as part of the DeCal (Democratic Cal) program: https://decal.berkeley.edu/courses/4137?fbclid=IwAR11feggamyA2uZwYm_3woFsR-10m0moNl5JlLdfUp2wFzf9CcR7uWuPprU

2. Contact info: taiwanesedecal@gmail.com

3. University of Pennsylvania:

1. Beginning and Intermediate Taiwanese (also CHIN 051/151 and 052/152): https://plc.sas.upenn.edu/taiwanese

2. Contact information for the instructor: https://plc.sas.upenn.edu/people/faculty/gracewu

United Kingdom

1. SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) in London:

1. Elementary Spoken Hokkien: https://www.soas.ac.uk/cia/languages/languages-of-china-inner-asia-at-soas-hokkien-minn