Hi,
This is a questions that may have been asked 500 times… sorry for that !
Can a person who doesn’t speak any Chinese (but who plans to learn it if he stays in Taiwan), live and find a job in Taiwan?
I mean, during his first years there. If this person decides to learn Chinese, of course he won’t have the problem of language barrier in the future.
A more general question is: do Taiwanese speak well English?
Yes you can live and find a job in Taiwan without speaking Chinese. Many have done it. It is easier if you are from an English-speaking country though.
Most Taiwanese people speak little English. However, there are enough people who at least speak some English for you to get around. Expect some confusion and inconvenience at times. But you will survive.
I would suggest that if you do come that you start to study Chinese in a formal course right away. Most people who put it off end up never learning Chinese. You are unlikely to just pick it up even if you are multilingual already.
Good luck!
Thanks for your reply !
Actually I don’t have any plan to move to Taiwan.
But, for some reasons, in my future it’s not 100% impossible that I move to Taiwan.
It was just a question to know more about foreigners who go to live in Taiwan 
Of course I’ll learn Chinese if I was a resident in Taiwan!
People who move to a foreign country and make no efforts to adapt are stupid.
I would add: It’s hard to find a good, rewarding job if you don’t speak Chinese. There is English teaching, but that’s basically only open to “native English speakers” (as defined by the government).
More jobs are open to you if you speak and read Chinese but I’m not sure how ‘rewarding’ most of them are. There are foreigners who have financially rewarding jobs in law, securities, and technology who do not speak Chinese. I would say that Chinese is very nice to have for many reasons but not necessary. It may be necessary to believe that it is necessary to put in the effort to learn it.
[quote=“Colorados”]Thanks for your reply !
Of course I’ll learn Chinese if I was a resident in Taiwan!
People who move to a foreign country and make no efforts to adapt are stupid.[/quote]
Well, maybe. Many foreigners living in Taiwan make a perfectly sensible decision not to learn Chinese because it takes a great deal of time and effort.
More jobs are open to you if you speak and read Chinese but I’m not sure how ‘rewarding’ most of them are. There are foreigners who have financially rewarding jobs in law, securities, and technology who do not speak Chinese. I would say that Chinese is very nice to have for many reasons but not necessary. It may be necessary to believe that it is necessary to put in the effort to learn it.[/quote]
As I recall, we’ve had almost this exact conversation before. 
I’m assuming OP isn’t a lawyer, a securities trader, or an engineer – otherwise he would probably have his mind set on doing one of those fields already. The question of “are there jobs available” indicates to me that he does not have one of the half dozen or so skills that TW’s less-than-progressive government considers valuable in a foreigner.
He might have some other kind of skill. I thought he might be interested in different views on the question.
[quote=“Colorados”]Of course I’ll learn Chinese if I was a resident in Taiwan!
People who move to a foreign country and make no efforts to adapt are stupid.[/quote]
well, that’s a stupid statement. people have different needs, and different motivations to learn or not learn the local language. I’ve been in 25 different countries. No way I’m going to learn 20 different languages.
How long will you live there? What’s your support environment like? Do you have a translator and bodyguards? And why learn Chinese when you live in Taiwan… better learn Taiwanese instead.
[quote=“urodacus”][quote=“Colorados”]Of course I’ll learn Chinese if I was a resident in Taiwan!
People who move to a foreign country and make no efforts to adapt are stupid.[/quote]
well, that’s a stupid statement. people have different needs, and different motivations to learn or not learn the local language. I’ve been in 25 different countries. No way I’m going to learn 20 different languages.
How long will you live there? What’s your support environment like? Do you have a translator and bodyguards? And why learn Chinese when you live in Taiwan… better learn Taiwanese instead.[/quote]
Learning Hokkien as a business language is a fairly ridiculous suggestion unless you want to set up a beetlenut stand.
Anyway learning Chinese is such a slog, I’m not sure I would really recommend it as a career move. I’m only about 70% where I want to be but am now happy using Chinese as a business language. It has also finally started opening doors for me but only after learning other skills and making connections . Im not rrally sure why someone would want to live in Taiwan if they don’t speak Chinese anyway
Learning Chinese can’t hurt you. If you’re just trying to do business, people are so happy to be making deals, expanding guanxi, and earning money that they will figure out how to communicate in any language. If you want a career in Taiwan and to really enjoy your life here, you are only limiting your options by not speaking Chinese.
But it’s not an easy language to learn.
[quote=“Hokwongwei”]Learning Chinese can’t hurt you. If you’re just trying to do business, people are so happy to be making deals, expanding guanxi, and earning money that they will figure out how to communicate in any language. If you want a career in Taiwan and to really enjoy your life here, you are only limiting your options by not speaking Chinese.
But it’s not an easy language to learn.[/quote]
Exactly, unless you are an excellent engineer, it will be hard to have any kind of meaningful career here, especially in 2014. And really what kind of life are you having in Taiwan if you dont speak Chinese? Would you respect anyone living in your own country who has made no effort to learn the language?
This is very misleading. There are vast areas of the Taiwanese business world in which Taiwanese is the preferred language of insiders. Knowing Taiwanese in addition would be a major plus in most sectors of the traditional economy. Many Taipei-raised professionals have told me that they became fluent in Taiwanese after they went to work because it is essential.
That said, it’s a really difficult language and most migrants to Taiwan would be better off learning Mandarin first.
[quote=“OrangeOrganics”]
Learning Hokkien as a business language is a fairly ridiculous suggestion unless you want to set up a beetlenut stand.
Anyway learning Chinese is such a slog, I’m not sure I would really recommend it as a career move. I’m only about 70% where I want to be but am now happy using Chinese as a business language. It has also finally started opening doors for me but only after learning other skills and making connections . Im not rrally sure why someone would want to live in Taiwan if they don’t speak Chinese anyway[/quote]
[quote=“Feiren”]This is very misleading. There are vast areas of the Taiwanese business world in which Taiwanese is the preferred language of insiders. Knowing Taiwanese in addition would be a major plus in most sectors of the traditional economy. Many Taipei-raised professionals have told me that they became fluent in Taiwanese after they went to work because it is essential.
That said, it’s a really difficult language and most migrants to Taiwan would be better off learning Mandarin first.
[quote=“OrangeOrganics”]
Learning Hokkien as a business language is a fairly ridiculous suggestion unless you want to set up a beetlenut stand.
Anyway learning Chinese is such a slog, I’m not sure I would really recommend it as a career move. I’m only about 70% where I want to be but am now happy using Chinese as a business language. It has also finally started opening doors for me but only after learning other skills and making connections . Im not rrally sure why someone would want to live in Taiwan if they don’t speak Chinese anyway[/quote][/quote]
No doubt Taiwanese is useful, but telling people to learn it rather than Mando is silly.
Why not? Plenty of non-English speakers in my country, including Chinese speakers. They come for many reasons: money, family, to escape danger, fun, whatever. Good luck to 'em for dealing with their environment in the best way that they can. That’s true intelligence.
As a language teacher, I have very little respect for language learning. Language acquisition happens for a number of reasons. ‘Effort’ is sometimes, but not always a key factor.
People should just live their lives, not scuttle around trying to be perceived as ‘good immigrants’.
Why not? Plenty of non-English speakers in my country, including Chinese speakers. They come for many reasons: money, family, to escape danger, fun, whatever. Good luck to 'em for dealing with their environment in the best way that they can. That’s true intelligence.
As a language teacher, I have very little respect for language learning. Language acquisition happens for a number of reasons. ‘Effort’ is sometimes, but not always a key factor.
People should just live their lives, not scuttle around trying to be perceived as ‘good immigrants’.[/quote]
Hmmmmmmm, difference of opinion then. Learning the local language makes one self-sufficient. I dont have much respect for people who are not self-sufficient.
I had my haircut in Chinatown, Londonand the Chinese barber was complaining about living in England and the English. He had lived in the UK for 15 years but could hardly speak English. I wondered if most of his problems couldnt be alleviated by learning the local language and actually engaging with the natives.
Similarly, I a dont have much respect for the English teacher who drags his co-teacher with him to set up a new phone contract, after living in Taiwan for 6 years.
I respect your opinion, but at the same time think other people would share similar sentiments.
The reasons people don’t speak the local language are different. The Chinese barber was probably working hard when he arrived in the UK and was focusing on survival. It’s very likely he speaks and understands enough to ‘get by’ but will never understand enough to fully integrate. That’s completely normal amongst first generation immigrants (and yes, I’ve taught hundreds). It’s very much the current thread in British nationalism, that ‘they’ should just bloody well learn English, if they want to be here, and screw they’re own cultures and languages and I reject it in that it’s a good intention, but the reality is that it’s unfeasible.
There are many factors for language-learning ‘success’, including time and resources available, previous language-learning experience (7th language easier to learn than second), intelligence, family and cultural environment, work environment, access to libraries and media, access to education, previous education and L1 literacy, what first language(s) are spoken, and many other things, not simply will and persistence.
The idea of ‘respect’ for language learning is a middle-class construct that comes from the idea that language learning is difficult, but just a series of self-directed steps that one takes towards fluency. It’s not really true. If you’ve done it, just be thankful for your relative advantages.
[quote=“OrangeOrganics”] I don’t have much respect for people who are not self-sufficient.
I had my haircut in Chinatown, etc…[/quote]
So, you have no respect for those who are not self sufficient and yet you get someone else to cut your hair?
WTF is up with that? do it yourself, like a real person.
[quote=“urodacus”][quote=“OrangeOrganics”] I don’t have much respect for people who are not self-sufficient.
I had my haircut in Chinatown, etc…[/quote]
So, you have no respect for those who are not self sufficient and yet you get someone else to cut your hair?
WTF is up with that? do it yourself, like a real person.[/quote]
Yes, that is exactly what I meant.