In the five weeks before the trip, I started learning Mandarin Chinese, the national language of Taiwan. It wasn’t easy! The written language consists of symbols that show meaning, not the sounds or pronunciation, which is very different from English. Learning to read the written language takes years of dedicated study.

However, with the help of pronunciation guides, I learned how to say basic phrases. Below are some phrases we thought you’d like to learn to say, too. Click the “Hear It!” button to hear my Taiwanese friend Jeannie say the phrase.