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Hi guys, welcome back on my channel. My name is Charlotte.
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Today, I want to answer a question that I have been asked several times,
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Especially since I started this channel and I am talking a lot about Taiwan,
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some foreigners have contacted me (on Instagram) to ask some practical questions about traveling to Taiwan.
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I thought it might be helpful if, from time to time, when a question has been asked a lot,
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I answer it here on Youtube for everyone to find.
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The question I want to talk about today, that I have been asked a lot, is:
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“Can you survive in Taiwan (for a trip or for longer term) if you can only speak English?”
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Of course, I can only answer from my own personal experiences while living from 5 to 6 months in Taiwan.
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Correct me if you think I am wrong
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From my experiences, in big cities in Taiwan, it is so easy to get around with only English.
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Many people speak English, many signs and directions, everything is also indicated in English.
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I think the only place where I had some trouble not understanding was in more traditional places
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For example: restaurants. If you go to a restaurant and it is owned by an elderly couple who make the food themselves,
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In that case you find a little menu where you need to indicate what you want and that will be in Chinese.
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In that case, you just have to go with your Taiwanese friends.
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In other cases, I think life is very easy in Taipei with only English.
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Even if the person in front of you that you are talking to does not speak English well,
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If they are not confident about their English, they will just grab another person next to them who will speak English well.
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I cannot remember any big issue I had with the language.
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Maybe only in specific cases like for example: when I had to buy a mattress at IKEA.
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I had very specific questions about the measurements, the delivery time, the way they would deliver it, things like that.
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That was hard to figure out by myself, so luckily, I had my awesome roommate helping me.
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She came with me to IKEA and helped me place the order.
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In some cases, you might need some help, but believe me: Taiwanese people are so friendly and welcoming to foreigners.
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That's how I experienced it and I have heard from many friends that they experienced the same.
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Don't be afraid to ask for help.
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Big cities should be no problem at all. But once you get out of the big cities,
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It is the same in every single country in the world I think:
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In the big cities people are more international, everything is ready to welcome tourists there.
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It will be very easy. Once you get out of the big cities, that's where you might have some trouble.
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Even when you go to smaller places outside of big cities in Taiwan, I feel like many young people will have learned English at school.
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Definitely!
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Even though the conversations might not always be perfect, many people can understand the basics and can communicate
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Maybe with arms and feet? x)
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Actually, I had a lot of conversations where we could not totally understand each other,
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But one way or the other, using facial expressions, using your hands and pointing at things
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You can communicate so much already! You would be surprised.
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I would not worry about travelling to the countryside.
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Even if the first person you meet won't speak English, there will always be someone, somewhere around who can help you in English.
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I don't think you should worry about speaking English in Taiwan.
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I feel like if you have the time on your hands, it is always a good idea when you travel to a country to learn a few words that you might use a lot.
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For example: “hello”, “thank you”, “where is …?”
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It doesn't have to be many pages long, but it can be a nice little gesture to the people and the country you are visiting,
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that you took the time and trouble to learn these simple words.
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Of course I understand perfectly (because I was in the same situation), that not everybody has the time to learn the whole language before going there.
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That is perfectly okay. I think Taiwanese people are very understanding
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and they are happy that you are coming to their country to learn about their culture and especially their food!
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Taiwanese people are so proud about their food and there is a good reason.
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I don't have to say anything more. Just go there and try the food!
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I hope this answered your question.
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If you have more specific questions about English in Taiwan, you can ask me in the comments down below.
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I will try to reply to as many as I can.
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If you have other, completely different questions about traveling or living as a foreigner in Taiwan, feel free to ask me.
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If a question gets asked a lot, I will consider making another video about it, to make it easier for you.
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Thank you so much for watching!
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Don't forget to “like” and “subscribe” and see you very soon in the next video.
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Bye bye ~