I could meet on Monday or Wednesday nights around the 古亭 or 大安 areas (Guting or Daan Park for the Chinese-impaired ). Another place I could meet would be near Alleycats by 永康 street (Yong-Kang), though Alleycat’s would be too dark for a study group… There are other places there…
The goal would be to read through the Maryknoll books (books 1 to 3) as well as share any new discoveries about Taiwanese. I have all the Maryknoll books and we can get copies.
Man I would so be there if it weren’t for my damn asthmatic lungs! I had won a scholarship to Shi-Da, and after only three months I was too sick to go to class, or leave my place period. I left Taiwan in anger and shame. Even working in Houston can upset my asthma, and everyone around me is completely unaffected. Curse my weak lungs! :fume:
Sorry, had to get that out.
I currently have books 1 and 2 of the Maryknoll series, plus the cds…I’ve gone through 5 chapters in three weeks, repeating every sentence, and having listened to each cd about 3 to 5 times. I guess the only advice I can give for anyone wanting to join you is…play the sentence, pause it, repeat it, then listen to them repeat it (for most parts everything is said twice). This has worked for me…as it is…here in Texas. You lucky healthy lung people :s
[quote=“Sinister Tiddlywinks”]Would anyone be up to a Taiwanese study group?
I could meet on Monday or Wednesday nights around the ?? or ?? areas (Guting or Da’an Park for the Chinese-impaired ). Another place I could meet would be near Alleycats by ?? street (Yong-Kang), though Alleycat’s would be too dark for a study group… There are other places there…
The goal would be to read through the Maryknoll books (books 1 to 3) as well as share any new discoveries about Taiwanese. I have all the Maryknoll books and we can get copies.[/quote]
Is this still on? I am all for it, seriously. My taiwanese is next to none.
But I long to learn.
Don’t know why I’m posting this as I already sent PM’s, but anyway… Alleycat’s is too dark, but it would be a comfy place. Should we ask them if they’d turn up the lights for us? Or just go to the outdoor patio at Barrista?
And there’s a place in Taipei to buy the Maryknoll books, but I’m not the one who knows where… Working on it…
The plan is to go through the chapters of the Maryknoll books one chapter per week. We have all week to study the chapter on our own, then we meet and talk about the chapter, pointing out interesting things and sharing any other Taiwanese we’ve learned outside that would be related to the stuff in the chapter. If it’s anything like the Sanskrit study group I did back in Taichung, there may also be a lot of silence as people just read the chapter and then some random ‘surprise quiz’ testing at will.
Hmm. Would there be much poitn doing this without a native Taiwanese speaker for ponounciation? Wouldn’t we just pick up bad hbits off each other. What abotu all chipping in for a ‘teacher’ or someone to just coem along and help us with pronounciation?
I would be willing to chip in for a teacher. And it wouldn’t be like the teacher would have to ‘only speak Taiwanese’ either. It would be much more casual and we’d probably speak a lot of English and of course, strike Mandarin/Taiwanese comparisons when we find them.
The ideal thing would be to find a joint with a Taiwanese-speaking owner who’d be happy to have us there studying Taiwanese and be willing to help out now and then or whatever.
I’m trekking on over to 永康街 right now to see. Maybe Dante’s? Or that little tea shop with the cool (but musty) basement? Or Alleycat’s (but are the staff there Taros or Yams? And would they turn up the lights?)
[after-post edit: ‘Taro’ means 外省人 and a Yam is a person who probably speaks Taiwanese at home and is more comfortable with the language. I think both terms are derogatory - but nobody says that in English anyway.]
I would if I could but… We started as three and ended up as two. We made it to chapter 5 of the Teach Yourself book. I really like the Teach Yourself series.
I just got back from the 永康 tour. And here’s what I found:
4th prize goes to… DANTE’s - Nice atmosphere, cheap drinks and snacks, but way too small and too many other people. Open till 11.
3rd prize goes to… BARISTA - Nice atmosphere, moderately priced drinks and snacks (100NT for a latte), but they close off the upper floors at around 10, and there are too many other people there and out on the patio. Open till midnight.
2nd prize goes to… THE GREEN STEPS - Sublime atmosphere - not too fancy, comfortable for group study, hardly any other people and lots of vegetation. Expensive (but free lemon water after your 200 NT tea!). The waitress sounded excited about our group. Open till 11.
1st prize goes to…
月牙泉
It’s not as musty as I thought - they just have to turn on that industrial AC in the basement - a very traditional Taiwanese atmosphere, including a tatami room perfect for a study group. The menu is plentiful, Taiwanese, and cheap (hot and cold teas start at 50 NT, snacks and little meals about the same). We would pretty much have the whole basement to ourselves. The owner’s a Taro, but he’s cool about us taking the basement on Wednesdays as long as we purchase a tea or snack or anything.
Open till midnight.
[quote]And it wouldn’t be like the teacher would have to ‘only speak Taiwanese’ either. It would be much more casual and we’d probably speak a lot of English and of course, strike Mandarin/Taiwanese comparisons when we find them.
[/quote]
Yeah, my suggestion was for someone who wouldn’t be like a traditional teacher, but just someone who was there to join in the discussion, and help with pronounciation. He certainly wouldn’t be expected to structure, direct or dominate the sessions.
I could be interested, depending on the time. I have an early bedtime, and some evening classes.
I’m definitely interested in joining you guys. The only problem is that I have a German class (near Guting station) between 6:30 and 9:40pm. Let me know if you’ve decided on a date.
BTW, I’m actually Taiwanese (born in Canada) and can speak the language, but not too well. And if you’re interesting in borrowing them, I also bought the Maryknoll CDs.
Chapter one in the Maryknoll book is all about pronunciation and how to read the missionary script. So it would be a great help if we could get a native speaker there to give us a helping yam
Again, I’m willing to pitch in. I guess we should offer him or her free tea and snacks and like $500 bucks per session? And money always makes things messy, especially when they’re supposed to be casual - so we should pay in advance instead of when we leave.
As for the time: it is a working night for most people. I teach an evening class until 8:30. I think that’s pretty common for Wednesday nights. What if we start around 9:30 or 10ish? We could finish up around 11.
I went to 月牙泉 today, and they have some awesome eggrolls!
Anyway, is next Wednesday night a good time to start Lesson 1? 9:30 or 10 to begin and we end at 11?
月牙泉 is across he street from ‘ICE MONSTER’, the famous mango ice place. 月牙泉 has a big neon blue sign that says: [color=blue] 月牙泉
[/color]. The basement is spacious with little wooden tables. I felt like a hobbit in the shire. Awesome eggrolls.
Chapter One Maryknoll book One.
And we’re looking for a native speaker to help us out. We could pay him/her 500 NT??? plus free tea and eggrolls???
I thought I shouldn’t come. It’s really to late for me. But then I thought, I really want to do this. Is it possible to start earlier? Maybe 8:30 or 9:00 at the latest.
I won’t be able to get the books before Wed either. But I’ll try and come.
). Another place I could meet would be near Alleycats by 永康 street (Yong-Kang), though Alleycat’s would be too dark for a study group… There are other places there…
