Do you have Taiwanese family, or Taiwanese friends?

Have you ever been in a conversation where everyone talks so fast, and the words all blur together, and you just wish you could click pause in real life, slow it down to .75x, and figure out what the heck they were saying?

If you grew up learning Mandarin at home with your family, maybe went to Chinese school on the weekends once in a while, chances are you can often guess what people are saying. But you don't actually know what those words mean. Some of the words you understand, but you've never actually seen them written down, you just know the sound, and roughly what it means, but not literally what it says.

What you're missing is vocabulary, and the habit of connecting the sounds you already know to the actual characters, knowing literally what each one means. Most of the Mandarin you know is the Mandarin you picked up as a kid, dinner-table Mandarin, the way your grandma talks to you. But nobody ever handed you the grown-up vocabulary, the words you'd actually need to talk about your job, your opinions, or how you really feel.

That's why I made this course. Through real material, you hear "this sound" and connect it to "this meaning", then go back and see which characters that sound is actually made of - like realizing 電腦 (diàn nǎo) literally means "electric brain." Slowly, you start thinking in Mandarin, instead of translating from English in your head.

And one more thing, please don't make "learning Mandarin" your goal. If you're here, looking at this page, I know you're curious about Taiwan. Turn that curiosity into Taiwan that keeps you going.

As a kid, I actually thought Taiwan was boring, traveling meant "上車睡覺，下車尿尿 (shàngchē shuìjiào, xiàchē niàoniào)" - sleep on the bus, pee when you get off. My parents weren't really the type to take me hiking, camping, surfing, and definitely not to a music festival. It wasn't until I got older that I realized, wait, Taiwan is soo freaking cool! If you have roots here, and every trip to Taiwan only ever means Taipei, I want you to fall in love with your roots, feel more connected to them, and be proud of where you come from. That's why I turned all of it, the culture, the places, everything I discovered into the material for this course.

By the End of This Course, You Will…

• You'll start noticing that the run-together sounds Taiwanese people speak in are actually made of words you already know

• You'll feel more connected to Taiwan, and prouder of your Taiwanese identity

• You'll start thinking in Mandarin, and understand how the language is actually spoken

• You'll be able to live more independently, without needing family or friends to translate for you

• You'll feel more comfortable joining in on conversations in Mandarin

• You'll understand Taiwanese culture, slang, and natural expressions better

• You'll be able to communicate with your Taiwanese parents more clearly, in the words you actually mean to say, and through the language, understand their culture and the way they speak

So go ahead grab your headphones, hit play, and let’s Mandarin and Chill.