Although Mandarin Chinese is the official language of Taiwan, many regional dialects and indigenous languages are widely spoken throughout the island such as Hakka and Taiwanese Hokkien. Taiwan is majority multilingual and it is not uncommon for students to learn three languages in school: Mandarin, English and Taiwanese. However, the popularization of Mandarin since the 1960s has decreased the prevalence of other local languages. In recent years, the Taiwan government has passed legislation to preserve Hakka culture, which is why you can now hear public transportation announcements made in Hakka in addition to the Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien and English translations.
The currency in Taiwan is the New Taiwan Dollar, or NTD for short. The currency here most commonly comes in bill increments of 100, 500 and 1000 NTD, while coins are typically worth 1, 5, 10, or 50 NTD. As with US pennies, I rarely use 1 NTD coins, so I have an almost full jar of them, which I am hoping the bank will take off my hands. They must have automatic counters here, right?
