Meeting English Speakers

[alib1986]

Hello

I was wondering how easy it is to meet other English speakers in Taiwan? It's not that I would not like to form friendships with the Taiwanese but it would be nice to meet english speakers too. I have heard there aren't too many in Taiwan by a friend who travelled there. I am looking to teach for a year but have never been before so I was just curious. I have seen many threads about starting relationships with the taiwanese but nothing on this.

Thanks

[Ovechkin]

extremely easy...many foreigners here, and a lot of American born chinese disguised as locals...TONS of english speakers...the question is, how social are you and what kind of friends are you looking for?

[alib1986]

I am very sociable! I like to meet new people Just looking for friendships really. People to hang out with in my spare time. I like to go to bars, festivals, love to eat out but I also like to go on little adventures or even just stay in and chill. I just don't want to feel lonely!

[Ovechkin]

you have nothing to worry about...u see foreigners walking around on almost every street in taipei...most foreigners welcome a conversation in english, as long as you're not weird about it. plenty of opportunities to meet people and do things...there are several restaurants, pubs, and areas frequented by foreigners also, cant go wrong there =)

[alib1986]

Cool thanks for the reply!

[Homey]

It really depends on where in Taiwan you are going and what part of the city/county you spend your time.

I rarely see foreigners and find that most of the Taiwanese cannot speak much English. Some even have problems with Chinese for some inexplicable reason when I show up. It's usually the girls. I go to order tea, or food, or ask for some product, and for some reason they simply cannot understand me. They get this look of panic on their faces and run to the back to get a male. I say they EXACT SAME THING with the exact same tones to the male and have absolutely no problems communicating. This even happens in Mcdonalds in the rare times I go there. I often think it's because they are just stupid, but it's surely because I'm so damn handsome and their brains are temporarily stunned!

Stick to the popular cities, or the rich areas of the other cities and you'll be fine. Despite what most believe on this forum, Taiwan is NOT just Taipei. In fact most of Taiwan is a completely different. Taipei is just a small part of the much larger island. You may even find some older people that don't even speak much Mandarin.

[funkymonkey]

Despite what most believe on this forum, Taiwan is NOT just Taipei. In fact most of Taiwan is a completely different. Taipei is just a small part of the much larger island. You may even find some older people that don't even speak much Mandarin.

QFT! Except at my school, I haven't even seen another foreigner for at least a week. If you want to meet foreigners, go to Taipei. If you want to learn Taiwanese, come to Jiayi.

[trubadour]

OP - 98% of foreigners want just the same thing as you and they all hang out in the same places or follow each other around so that they can mostly avoid loneliness and/or learning or speaking Chinese. Perhaps just like the foreigners where you come from. You have to be in a big city not in the sticks, though. The best bet if you want to see 'em whities most days is to find a place of work that has a few knocking about. That's nearly enough random people, random country social interaction for me.

[touduke]

you have nothing to worry about...u see foreigners walking around on almost every street in taipei...most foreigners welcome a conversation in english, as long as you're not weird about it.

there is a lot of confusing info in that answer
Firstly "foreigner" does not mean "English speaker"
the majority of foreigners are Asian work-slaves.
Secondly the question was about Taiwan not Taipei and

u see foreigners walking around on almost every street

it isn't even true for Taipei and much less in other places in Taiwan.
I can walk on the streets of Taichung for hours without seeing one single English speaker.

You'll meet plenty of Taiwanese insisting on talking in "English" to you though. :-)