PERSONAL PRONOUNS

SENTENCES AND VOCABULARY

Pronunciation note: “siánn-lâng” is often contracted as “siàng-n̂g” or “siáng” in spoken Taiwanese, and sometimes also “siâng” in certain regional dialects.Grammar note: the function of “ê” is similar to the apostrophe “s” in English. It is also used as a general measure word for people and things, as in “hit ê lâng” (that person) or “nn̄g ê lâng” (two people).Usage note: “Tsia̍h-pá-buē?” is a way to greet people in Taiwanese. If you want to know more about the greeting, check out Ep1 of our Elementary Level podcast.*Syllables that have been greyed out require tone changes.For more about personal pronouns and possessives, go check out our downloadable workbook! You’ll also find additional vocabulary with characters, pronunciation notes, grammar explanations, culture tips, and fun exercises to help your practice.

NASA GREETINGS TO THE UNIVERSE IN 55 LANGUAGES

In 1977, NASA launched two Voyager space probes that continue to explore our solar system and now even interstellar space. On board, they placed recordings of “greetings to the universe” in 55 different languages, just in case the probes would encounter any extraterrestrial beings.One of the recorded languages is Amoy, a Southern Min dialect spoken around Xiamen, which is similar to Taiwanese. If you want to learn more about how they decided which languages to use and more background on the whole project, check out the links below:https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/golden-record/whats-on-the-record/greetings/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contents_of_the_Voyager_Golden_RecordMusic Credit: TeknoAXE