Ep08: Keep going! | It-ti̍t kiânn 一直行!

Bite-size Taiwanese - Cover Art - Elementary - 2500x2500
Bite-size Taiwanese | Elementary
Ep08: Keep going! | It-ti̍t kiânn 一直行!
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In this episode, we’ve learned some useful phrases for asking and giving directions, as well as essential vocabulary of Taiwanese addresses.

(These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.)

TAIWANESE ENGLISH
tsia̍t-ūn MRT (Mass Rapid Transit), subway
mn̄g lōo to ask for directions (literally: ask-road)
lōo to give directions (literally: inform-road)
su-ki driver
ùn-tsiàng driver

Culture note: the “ùn” part comes from the Japanese word “運転手” (un-ten-shu), which means “driver”, and “tsiàng” comes from “ちゃん” (-chan), which is a Japanese diminutive attached to a person's name or job title to make it a bit more friendly. It’s like a casual version of “sir” or “miss”.

ti̍t-ti̍t khì / ti̍t-ti̍t kiânn go straight ahead
uat tsiànn-tshiú-pîng / tsiànn-uat turn right
uat tò-tshiú-pîng / tò-uat turn left
kiânn kàu tshenn-âng-ting go until you reach the traffic light
lōo-kháu intersection
it-ti̍t kiânn keep going
kuè piān-lī-siong-tiàm pass by/after the convenient store
Tī ha̍k-hāu thâu-tsîng, tò-tshiú-pîng koh uat--ji̍p-khì. In front of the school, turn left again.
Tsiànn-tshiú-pîng ê tuā-lâu --ah. It’s the building on the right-hand side.
Tiàm tsia thîng hó. Stopping right here is fine.
Pháinn-sè, tsioh-mn̄g--tsi̍t-ē, Tâi-pak-tshia-thâu án-tsuánn kiânn? Excuse me, can I bother you for a second? How do I get to Taipei Main Station?
__ án-tsuánn kiânn/khì? How do I get to…?

*Syllables requiring tone changes have been greyed out.

To learn more about asking and giving directions in Taiwanese, check out our workbook. It also gives you some additional vocabulary, culture and grammar explanations, and great exercises to reinforce what you’ve learned in this episode.

TAIWANESE ADDRESSES

If you jump into a taxi, sometimes it can be faster to just give the address of where you are going. If the driver is familiar with the roads, there may not be a need to enter it into a GPS. Let’s take a look at some common words used in the Taiwanese address system.

TAIWANESE ENGLISH
tē-tsí address
tshī city
kuān county
khu district
lōo road (greater than 15 m, or 50 feet in width)
ke street (8-15 m, or 20-50 feet in width)
tang East
se West
lâm South
pak North
tang-sai-lâm-pak the four cardinal directions

Culture note: Whenever we say the 4 cardinal directions in English, it’s typically North, South, East, West. But in Taiwanese, it’s usually East, West, South, North.

tuānn section (longer roads or streets are often divided into sections called “tuānn”)
hāng lane
lōng alley
number

ONE BITE CHALLENGE: EAST AND WEST, THIS AND THAT

In this episode, we’ve talked a lot about directions so our One Bite Challenge this week is about a special usage of East “tang” and West “sai”. Notice here, that we use a different form of West, “sai” instead of “se”.

The sentence pattern goes like this:

verb - tang - verb - sai

Here East and West just means “this and that” or “all sorts of things”. It often suggests that you think those things are random or trivial.

Let’s look at some examples:

mn̄g” (to ask) → “mn̄g-tang-mn̄g-sai

This means to ask all sorts of questions. It can be used to describe someone who is nosy and keeps asking all these details about random things.

siūnn” (to think) → “siūnn-tang-siūnn-sai

This means to keep thinking about all kinds of random stuff (often not focusing on actually doing things), to imagine things, or even to be paranoid.

There are quite a few common verbs that fit into this sentence pattern. If you don’t see one that you’ve heard before, leave us a message and we’ll add it to the list below for everyone to see!

TAIWANESE ENGLISH
kóng-tang-kóng-sai to keep talking about all sorts of things, to gossip
hiâm-tang-hiâm-sai to complain about all sorts of things, to be fault-finding and difficult to please
kiann-tang-kiann-sai to be afraid of all sorts of things, to be spineless or overcautious
tshòng-tang-tshòng-sai to do/make various unspecified things, to be busy with several things
bú-tang-bú-sai to do/make various unspecified things, to be busy with several things
pìnn-tang-pìnn-sai to do/play with various unspecified things, to be busy with several things

Music Credit: TeknoAXE

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