The Taiwanese language, from a language learner’s perspective - Israel Lai | PG 2023

Taiwan has its own language????
Oh boy, that on its own is a very hard question to answer. But in this talk, I’ll attempt to answer that, and more, on what’s commonly known as the Taiwanese language.
Apart from teaching you how to start speaking Taiwanese, I’ll introduce the linguistic and historical aspects of this language. But more importantly, I’ll be talking about the significance of this minority language on the island of Taiwan, its current status and uses, and why it’s important to me, an outsider, to be telling you about all of this.
Israel Lai is a composer by day and a language learner by night. He discovered his passion for languages when he first taught himself German on his own, ten years ago. Amid lockdown, he created the language-linguistics podcast 絮言．狂想, discussing language topics closer to Cantonese listeners and creating listening materials for Cantonese learners. He also runs the CZcams channel Rhapsody in Lingo, creating multilingual videos about his language learning and life abroad. Israel is currently pursuing a PhD in Composition at the University of Manchester, focusing on density and urban landscapes. He is also a stenography learner.
Website: rhapsodyinlingo.com
This video was recorded at the Polyglot Gathering 2023 (www.polyglotgathering.com).

[@lenfer8645]

"What have you learned about Taiwan using/learning Taiwanese that you wouldn't have learned in Mandarin?"
As a Taiwanese person, I would say it's the red pill. Learning Taiwanese made me realize that my parents' fluency in Taiwanese isn't just a skill; it's their identity, something I should have inherited. Yet I belong to the Mandarin-washed generation. Coming to terms with the fact that I've been living in a colonial state (ROC) was both painful and enlightening. It forced me to confront the inaccuracies in some of my impressions about Taiwan. The journey of learning Taiwanese, and the enlightenment that came with understanding colonization, urged me to look deeper into the history of my homeland.

[@deryckchan]

The way you explain literary vs colloquial readings of Taiwanese and code-mixing with Mandarin makes it sound like they're secretly speaking 3 languages at the same time and it takes a native speaker's upbringing to know the conventions of which reading to use in which context... Wait that sounds a bit familiar with another trilingual culture I know!

[@vampyricon7026]

Just a note that the syllable-final stops in Hokkien only became glottal after *a.