When visiting or moving to Taiwan it is important to learn several functional phrases in order to be able to live more comfortably and independently. In terms of pure functionality, one should learn how to say, “how much is that/this?” or “how much does that/this cost?” This phrase allows a newly arrived foreigner to Taiwan to be able to go food shopping or to be able to negotiate on prices a little better than would otherwise be the case.
            In Mandarin there are several ways to ask how much something costs. One of the easiest and quickest methods is simply, “Dou Sao?” or “how much?” Once one acquires some proficiency with this phrase then one can add, “Dou Sao Qien,” which can be translated as “how much money?” However, the phrase “Dou Sao?” is fairly universal and would be understood by all. In order to be more precise when inquiring about the price of something a new arrival to Taiwan might want to learn how to say “this” or “that” in Mandarin, which is “Zhe ge” for “This”

and “Na ge” for “That” for example. When learning these types of functional phrases, one can actually begin to pickup a broader understanding of the Mandarin language because by learning that the “ge” portion of these phrases is actually just a measure word, one learns that measure words are sprinkled throughout the language and are easily learned although so numerous that they are difficult to apply.
            In conclusion, since one is arriving in Taiwan where Mandarin may be the official and most widely utilized language, Taiwanese, or “Tai Yu” is also commonly spoken throughout the island. While “thank you” in Taiwanese, “Dou Xia” is very similar to “thank you” in Mandarin, “Dou Xie,” such phrases as “Hello” are very different. In Mandarin, “Hello” is commonly “Ni Hao,” while in Taiwanese “Hello” would be something similar to “Lihobo, jiababe” or “Have you eaten.” Clearly, Taiwanese is much more difficult to learn than Mandarin and it is not necessary to learn it but, if one is visiting Taiwan for any length of time, knowing how to say hello in both Mandarin and Taiwanese is important.