Taiwan Mandarin ！

Most Taiwanese people don’t eat breakfast at home — they just walk to the nearest breakfast shop. There’s always one nearby.

This is a short beginner reading lesson in Taiwanese Mandarin. A new shop just opened down the street. Today you finally go in.

You’ll pick up words like 菜單 cài dān (menu), 總共 zǒng gòng (total), and 試試看 shì shì kàn (give it a try) — in a real sentence, not a vocabulary list.

What you’ll learn: how to order at a Taiwanese breakfast shop. The way people actually do it here.

文章 the text

上個禮拜，我家附近開了一家新的早餐店。

我每天上班經過，都看到店裡很多人。我想：「應該很好吃吧？」

今天早上，我決定去試試看。

我走過去，店裡有點擠。我看了一下菜單——蛋餅、吐司、豆漿、紅茶、奶茶，該有的都有，跟一般早餐店差不多。

我決定點蛋餅。

我說：「我要一個起司蛋餅，還有一杯熱豆漿。謝謝。」

老闆說：「大杯、小杯？」

我說：「大杯。」

老闆說：「好，總共六十五元。」

我付了錢，找了一個位子坐下來。沒多久，東西來了。我吃了一口起司蛋餅。

還不錯。起司有點多，但是我喜歡。

我想：「下次再來。」

單字 the Words

中文	Pinyin	English
附近	fù jìn	nearby
試試看	shì shì kàn	give it a try
菜單	cài dān	menu
該有的都有	gāi yǒu de dōu yǒu	has everything it should
起司蛋餅	qǐ sī dàn bǐng	cheese egg crepe
熱豆漿	rè dòu jiāng	hot soy milk
總共	zǒng gòng	total, altogether
付錢	fù qián	to pay
沒多久	méi duō jiǔ	not long after
下次	xià cì	next time

翻譯 the translation

Last week, a new breakfast shop opened near my place.

I walked past it every day on the way to work and always saw it packed with people. I thought: “Must be good.”

This morning, I decided to check it out.

I walked in — it was a little crowded. I looked at the menu: egg crepes, toast, soy milk, black tea, milk tea. Everything a breakfast shop should have. Pretty standard.

I decided to go with the egg crepe.

“I’d like one cheese egg crepe, and a hot soy milk. Thanks.”

The owner said: “Large or small?”

“Large.”

“Okay, that’s 65 dollars total.”

I paid, found a seat. Not long after, the food came. I took a bite of the cheese egg crepe.

Not bad. A little heavy on the cheese, but I liked it.

I thought: next time, I’m coming back.

Notice this

「應該很好吃吧？」
That 吧 at the end isn’t a question — it’s a guess. You’re talking to yourself, not asking anyone. You’ll hear this constantly in Taiwan.

「試試看」
試 means try, 看 means see. Put them together and you get “try and see.” The good news: you can add 看 to almost any verb — 吃吃看, 去去看, 問問看. Same idea.

「該有的都有」
Literally “what should be there, is there.” It’s a very Taiwanese way of saying “nothing special, but it’s got everything you need.” Half compliment, half shrug.

拼音 the Pinyin

shàng gè lǐ bài，wǒ jiā fù jìn kāi le yī jiā xīn de zǎo cān diàn。
上個禮拜，我家附近開了一家新的早餐店。

wǒ měi tiān shàng bān jīng guò，dōu kàn dào diàn lǐ hěn duō rén。wǒ xiǎng：「yīng gāi hěn hǎo chī ba？」
我每天上班經過，都看到店裡很多人。我想：「應該很好吃吧？」

jīn tiān zǎo shàng，wǒ jué dìng qù shì shì kàn。
今天早上，我決定去試試看。

wǒ zǒu guò qù，diàn lǐ yǒu diǎn jǐ。wǒ kàn le yī xià cài dān——dàn bǐng、tǔ sī、dòu jiāng、hóng chá、nǎi chá，gāi yǒu de dōu yǒu，gēn yī bān zǎo cān diàn chà bù duō。
我走過去，店裡有點擠。我看了一下菜單——蛋餅、吐司、豆漿、紅茶、奶茶，該有的都有，跟一般早餐店差不多。

wǒ jué dìng diǎn dàn bǐng。
我決定點蛋餅。

wǒ shuō：「wǒ yào yī gè qǐ sī dàn bǐng，hái yǒu yī bēi rè dòu jiāng。xiè xiè。」
我說：「我要一個起司蛋餅，還有一杯熱豆漿。謝謝。」

lǎo bǎn shuō：「dà bēi、xiǎo bēi？」
老闆說：「大杯、小杯？」

wǒ shuō：「dà bēi。」
我說：「大杯。」

lǎo bǎn shuō：「hǎo，zǒng gòng liù shí wǔ yuán。」
老闆說：「好，總共六十五元。」

wǒ fù le qián，zhǎo le yī gè wèi zi zuò xià lái。méi duō jiǔ，dōng xi lái le。wǒ chī le yī kǒu qǐ sī dàn bǐng。
我付了錢，找了一個位子坐下來。沒多久，東西來了。我吃了一口起司蛋餅。

hái bù cuò。qǐ sī yǒu diǎn duō，dàn shì wǒ xǐ huān。
還不錯。起司有點多，但是我喜歡。

wǒ xiǎng：「xià cì zài lái。」
我想：「下次再來。」