Learning Mandarin Before Moving to Taiwan

If you have three to twelve months before moving to Taiwan, spend them in this order: sounds and tones first, then a small set of survival phrases and numbers, then the housing and paperwork vocabulary, and only then broader conversation. You do not need to arrive fluent. You need to arrive able to say a few things clearly and to read the words on the documents you will sign, because the first weeks in Taiwan are mostly errands.

This guide gives a plan for three, six and twelve months, explains whether to learn pinyin or Zhuyin, and lists the words worth learning for the landlord, the bank and the school. It does not replace a class once you arrive. It makes the first class much more useful.

What to Expect From Your Hours

A pre-move plan is a budget of hours, so it helps to see what hours buy. TOCFL, Taiwan’s official proficiency test, suggests 240 to 480 hours of study to reach Band A Level 1 (A1) and 480 to 720 hours for Band A Level 2 (A2), for learners outside a Chinese-speaking region. Those are cumulative, official suggested figures, and individual progress varies a great deal.

At 45 minutes a day, twelve months comes to roughly 270 hours. At 30 minutes a day it is about 180 hours. Three months at 45 minutes is about 70 hours. So:

Time before the move	At 30 min/day	At 45 min/day	Suggested aim
3 months	about 45 hours	about 70 hours	Sounds, tones, numbers, 100 phrases, 50 characters read
6 months	about 90 hours	about 135 hours	Add survival scripts and about 300 words
12 months	about 180 hours	about 270 hours	At 45 minutes a day, inside the suggested Level 1 (A1) range

These hours are a planning tool, not a promise. Study a little every day in preference to long weekend sessions.

Pinyin or Zhuyin?

You can learn either first, and you can add the other later. The decision depends on what you will read and type.

• Pinyin is the romanisation used in most English-language materials, and it lets you start fast. It also helps you type Chinese on a phone or laptop with a standard English keyboard.
• Zhuyin (注音, also called Bopomofo) is the phonetic system taught in Taiwanese schools, and most people in Taiwan type with it. It appears in children’s books and in some Taiwanese learning materials. Dangdai, the textbook series from NTNU’s Mandarin Training Center, gives both pinyin and Zhuyin.

A sensible compromise is to start with pinyin for the first one or two months and add Zhuyin from month three, using the Zhuyin chart. The 37 Zhuyin symbols take only a short time to learn, so adding them later costs little. Whichever you choose, check the sounds against audio. For a longer comparison, read Bopomofo vs Pinyin.

If you plan to type in Chinese in Taiwan, whether in chats with your landlord or messages to classmates, it is worth trying both input methods at some point. Phones sold in Taiwan offer a Zhuyin keyboard, and pinyin is available as an alternative.

Choosing a Programme to Plan For

If you are moving to study, the school you choose affects both your visa and your timetable, so decide early. Study Chinese in Taiwan compares the main options. For the visa side, see the Taiwan language study visa guide. School-specific guides exist for ICLP and TLI, and community-college classes are a cheaper part-time option. Check each school’s current terms, fees and entry requirements on its own website, since these change.

If you are moving for work or family rather than study, you will probably not need a school’s visa support. You may still want a class for structure, and the same advice on sounds, numbers and survival phrases applies.

Month-by-Month Plan

The first three months: foundation

1. Sounds and tones. Spend the first two to three weeks on pinyin or Zhuyin and the four tones. Use the tone practice page for the tones and the pinyin chart for the sounds.
2. Numbers and money. Numbers to 100 and beyond, then prices and dates. These are used every day. See Chinese numbers.
3. Greetings and polite requests. 你好, 謝謝, 不好意思, 麻煩你, 請問, 我聽不懂, 請再說一次.
4. First 50 characters. Recognition first. The signs in Chinese signs in Taiwan are a good starting list.

Months four to six: survival Mandarin

Learn the scripts in Survival Mandarin for Your First Month in Taiwan. Add the words in the next section. Start listening to slow Taiwanese audio each day, even if you only catch a few words. At this point you should be able to introduce yourself, give your address, ask a price and understand a reply that is a number.

Months seven to twelve: build conversation

Add everyday topics: family, work, food, weather, plans. Begin graded reading with short Traditional texts. A weekly session with a tutor is worth the cost at this stage, mainly for listening practice and tone correction. Find a tutor who uses Taiwanese vocabulary; the differences from mainland usage are explained in Taiwanese vs mainland Mandarin.

What to Prioritise for Paperwork and Housing

The words you meet in the first month are narrow and repetitive. Learning them before you arrive is a good use of time.

Area	Words	Pinyin
Housing	房東, 租約, 租金, 押金, 管理費	fángdōng, zūyuē, zūjīn, yājīn, guǎnlǐfèi
Utilities	水電, 網路	shuǐdiàn, wǎnglù
Documents	護照, 居留證	hùzhào, jūliúzhèng
Banking	帳戶, 存款, 提款, 存摺	zhànghù, cúnkuǎn, tíkuǎn, cúnzhé
Appointments	掛號, 預約, 號碼牌	guàhào, yùyuē, hàomǎpái
Forms	姓名, 地址, 電話, 生日, 簽名	xìngmíng, dìzhǐ, diànhuà, shēngrì, qiānmíng

You do not need to produce these words fluently. Recognising them on a lease, a form or a message lets you ask the right question. For the logistics behind each, see the guides on opening a bank account, housing in Taipei and the student ARC.

Habits That Carry Over

• Keep the daily session short and fixed. Twenty to forty-five minutes at the same time each day beats an occasional long session.
• Use spaced review. If you use Anki or another system, review daily and keep new cards modest. Your review load grows faster than people expect.
• Practise out loud. Pronunciation is the one thing that is hard to fix alone later. Record yourself and compare with the audio.
• Test yourself against a real list. The TOCFL placement test gives a rough sense of where you stand before you arrive.

What to Do in the Last Month

Rehearse the scripts you expect to use in your first week: the airport, the taxi, the landlord, the SIM shop. Save your address, the school’s address and your landlord’s name in Chinese on your phone. Arrive with a few phrases you can say well rather than many you half remember.

Related Reading

• Study Chinese in Taiwan: schools, visas and costs in one place.
• Survival Mandarin for Your First Month in Taiwan: scripts for the landlord, bank and phone shop.
• Bopomofo vs Pinyin: how to choose.
• Taiwan Language Study Visa: the visa route for students.