Mandarin for Meetings at Taiwanese Tech Companies

To follow a meeting at a Taiwanese tech company, you need three things: a small set of meeting words (開會, 進度, 確認), the habit of hearing English terms dropped into Chinese sentences, and enough Traditional reading to follow documents and chat. This guide gives you the vocabulary and the patterns.

What to expect in a meeting

Meetings in Taiwanese tech teams vary a lot. Some are held in English. Some are in Chinese. Many are a mixture, with Chinese carrying the discussion and English carrying the technical nouns. If you are new, expect to hear four types of phrase:

1. Logistics: when, who, where.
2. Status: what is done, what is late.
3. Requests: please confirm, please review, please send.
4. Decisions: who will do what, by when.

The language for these is short, polite and repetitive. That makes it a good target for a learner.

Meeting vocabulary

Chinese	Pinyin	Meaning
開會	kāi huì	hold or attend a meeting
會議	huìyì	meeting
簡報	jiǎnbào	presentation, briefing (slides)
進度	jìndù	progress, schedule status
確認	quèrèn	confirm
討論	tǎolùn	discuss
報告	bàogào	report, to report (usually to a superior)
專案	zhuān’àn	project
需求	xūqiú	requirement, demand
測試	cèshì	test
版本	bǎnběn	version
更新	gēngxīn	update
上線	shàngxiàn	go live
期限	qíxiàn	deadline, time limit
負責	fùzé	be responsible for
優先	yōuxiān	priority, first
追蹤	zhuīzōng	follow up, track
加班	jiābān	work overtime

Notes:

• 專案 is the Taiwan word for a project. Mainland sources more often use 項目 (xiàngmù). Both are understood, but a Taiwanese team will say 專案.
• 窗口 (chuāngkǒu) is used in Taiwan for the person who is your point of contact in a company, as in 請你當我們的窗口 (“please be our contact”).
• 排程 (páichéng) means scheduling.

Phrases for a typical meeting

Situation	Chinese	Pinyin
Asking about progress	這個專案現在進度怎麼樣？	Zhège zhuān’àn xiànzài jìndù zěnmeyàng?
Giving status	目前大概完成百分之八十。	Mùqián dàgài wánchéng bǎi fēn zhī bāshí.
Confirming	我跟您確認一下，是下週五，對嗎？	Wǒ gēn nín quèrèn yíxià, shì xià zhōu wǔ, duì ma?
Asking to repeat	不好意思，可以再說一次嗎？	Bù hǎoyìsi, kěyǐ zài shuō yí cì ma?
Asking for the slides	可以請你把簡報寄給我嗎？	Kěyǐ qǐng nǐ bǎ jiǎnbào jì gěi wǒ ma?
Taking an action	這個我來負責。	Zhège wǒ lái fùzé.
Delaying a reply	我稍後回覆您。	Wǒ shāohòu huífù nín.
Reporting a problem	測試的時候發現一個錯誤。	Cèshì de shíhòu fāxiàn yí ge cuòwù.

Note that 一下 is spoken yíxià, with 一 in second tone before a fourth tone.

確認一下 (quèrèn yíxià, “confirm it for a moment”) is one of the most useful constructions. Verb plus 一下 softens a request, and in a meeting it is the polite way to double-check without sounding doubtful.

English inside Chinese sentences

In many Taiwanese tech offices you will hear English words inside Chinese sentences. The pattern is a Chinese frame with an English noun or verb in the middle:

• 這個 deadline 是下週五。 Zhège deadline shì xià zhōu wǔ. (This deadline is next Friday.)
• 麻煩你再 review 一下。 Máfan nǐ zài review yíxià. (Please review it once more.)
• 我晚點 email 給你。 Wǒ wǎndiǎn email gěi nǐ. (I’ll email you a bit later.)
• 這個 bug 已經 fix 了。 Zhège bug yǐjīng fix le. (This bug has been fixed.)
• 我們先 sync 一下。 Wǒmen xiān sync yíxià. (Let’s sync first.)

You can read these as ordinary Chinese sentences with a few borrowed words. The grammar is Chinese: 一下 after a verb, 了 after a completed action, 給 to mark the recipient. The English word is placed where a Chinese verb or noun would go. Which words get mixed varies by company, by team and by the age of the speaker, so do not assume a list. A few hours listening to your own team is better than any list.

Practical advice:

• You do not need to mix English yourself. Speaking plain Chinese is understood and appreciated.
• If a word you do not know sounds like English, it probably is. Ask 這是什麼意思？ Zhè shì shénme yìsi?
• Acronyms (PM, QA, KPI) are said with English letters, even in Chinese sentences.

Reading documents in Traditional

Internal documents, chat messages and email in Taiwan are in Traditional characters. If you learned from mainland materials, some technical vocabulary will look different. These pairs come up often (mainland forms in parentheses are shown for comparison):

Taiwan	Pinyin	Mainland
軟體	ruǎntǐ	软件
資料	zīliào	数据 / 资料
網路	wǎnglù	网络
螢幕	yíngmù	屏幕
滑鼠	huáshǔ	鼠标
記憶體	jìyìtǐ	内存
資料庫	zīliàokù	数据库
檔案	dǎng’àn	文件
程式	chéngshì	程序

伺服器 (server), 介面 (interface) and 使用者 (user) are standard terms in Taiwan.

Two points for readers:

• 檔 is dǎng in Taiwan (the MOE dictionary also allows dàng; the mainland standard is dàng).
• Some Traditional characters look alike, such as 版 and 板. A similar-looking characters guide helps with the commonest confusions, and reading Traditional characters covers the basics.

How much Chinese is enough

There is no official line that says what level a tech job needs. For orientation, the TOCFL suggested vocabulary bases are cumulative: 1,000 words at Band A Level 2, 2,500 at Band B Level 3 and 5,000 at Band B Level 4. The meeting vocabulary above is a small, specific slice that you can learn alongside general study, and it is worth learning early because you will use it every week.

For how employers treat the test, see TOCFL for employment in Taiwan. If you are starting from zero, the general business Mandarin guide explains the order to study in.

Adults learning around a job do best with short daily sessions. A few new words a day, reviewed with spaced repetition, add up, and the phrases above earn their place by being used in your next meeting.

Related reading

• Business Mandarin in Taiwan: How and When to Start
• Job Titles in Taiwan: How to Address Your Boss
• Formal Chinese Messages: Email, LINE & 請假 Templates
• TOCFL Certificate and Employment in Taiwan