NTU doctoral graduate creates site for learning Taiwanese through TV

NTU doctoral graduate creates site for learning Taiwanese through TV

2025-05-26

Many people find it hard to study Taiwanese. But now there’s a new website that aims to make it easy. Called “TaigiTube,” users of the ad-free and cost-free site can search for a word or phrase, and it will find a video clip that uses the word. The creator is recent NTU doctoral graduate Chang Kai-wei. When he was little, he would often watch dramas with his grandma, which gave him the idea to learn Taiwanese through TV shows. After being up for just two weeks, the site has already had hundreds of thousands of visits.

Lin Yung-chi
FTV reporter
“Going out for a walk in the late afternoon, the sun is so bright that I can hardly open my eyes.” I want to express this in Taiwanese, but my Taigi isn’t fluent enough. Now there’s no need to worry. I can find a clip from a drama to learn how.

Ah, that’s how you say it! Just open this website and type your search into the searchbar, and it’ll find a few YouTube clips for you to watch that use the phrase.

The actors become teachers, reading it out for you to hear in the way that people would actually say it. This is TaigiTube, which went online earlier this month. In less than two weeks, the site has already had hundreds of thousands of hits. The creator is 26-year-old Chang Kai-wei, who just earned his PhD in communication engineering from NTU.

Chang Kai-wei
TaigiTube creator
Someone abroad created the YouGlish website. Before when I was studying English, I used it to study pronunciation. There was nothing like that for Taiwanese, so I figured I could make it. I scoured YouTube for videos. If it has subtitles, I can add it to my database.

Chang spent three months building a search engine using subtitles provided by YouTube. The finished site has over 10,000 links, all from dramas or news programs. It includes 10 million phrases, all inspired by memories of watching TV with his grandmother.

Chang Kai-wei
TaigiTube creator
When I was little, I watched TV dramas with my grandma to study Taiwanese, like Night Market Life. They’re beloved memories I have with her. I figured I could share these memories with others.

These moments spent with his grandmother have been compiled into TaigiTube. His professors also encouraged him to do research that can benefit people. In July, Chang plans to go to MIT in the US to do postdoctoral research.

Chang Kai-wei
TaigiTube creator
What I’m looking forward to more is for people in Taiwan to interact with the functions on the site, on TaigiTube. I’m still creating functions, like adding songs in Taiwanese.

Chang plans to add more than 200,000 Taiwanese songs to the catalogue. Hopefully by making learning fun, the language can be passed down to new generations of speakers.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#Taiwanese #Taigi #languagelearning #TaigiTube #Hoklo #TVdramas #Taiwaneselanguage

紀念與阿嬤"追八點檔回憶" 台大博士生架設台語學習網

2025-05-26

不少人學台語，常覺得困難，但最近有個網站，叫做"台語水管"，沒有廣告、也不收費，只要輸入關鍵字，就會跑出含有這句話的八點檔片段。開發者是台大博士張凱爲，小時候常跟外婆看八點檔，因此想透過劇情片段，讓民眾開心學台語，兩週下來，吸引十萬人次使用。

[[民視記者林詠琪]]
“大中午的出來散步，太陽照得我眼睛都快張不開，突然好想用台語來形容，但很抱歉我的台語真的不標準，不過現在沒關係，可以用八點檔影片來教你”

哎呀，原來是這麼唸，點開網頁，搜尋欄，輸入關鍵字，立刻跳出多部youtube影片，都是含有這句台語的片段，換個詞試試看。

演員變成老師，直接唸給你聽，超生活化的學台語方式，就在台語水管網，五月初上線，不到兩週，吸引十多萬人次使用。而開發者是今年26歲，台大電信所博士張凱爲。

[["台語水管"開發者張凱爲]]
“國外其實有YouGlish這個網站，那我以前在學英文的時候，有用這個網站去學習一些發音，那台語剛剛好沒有這個功能，所以想說可以把它做出來。我去蒐集YouTube上，如果有字幕提供的話，那我就可以做一些處理，把它收錄到我的資料庫裡面”

透過YT提供的字幕，張凱爲寫程式，打造搜尋引擎，花了3個月的時間，完成網站，共有1萬多部影片連結，全來自八點檔或新聞，總計約有1千萬個句子，靈感來源還有這段溫馨回憶。

[["台語水管"開發者張凱爲]]
“小時候就是跟阿媽，看這些八點檔在學習一些台語，像以前夜市人生啊。跟外婆很美好的回憶，然後覺得可以把這些回憶，分享給大家”

與外婆相處的點滴，匯聚成台語水管網，教授也鼓勵他，要做對社會有貢獻的研究，而今年7月張凱爲，就要到美國MIT，進行博士後研究。

[["台語水管"開發者張凱爲]]
“我其實更期待的是，台語水管這個網頁、這個功能，跟台灣社會有什麼樣的互動，現在目前正在開發的功能，是我想要收錄台語歌曲”

張凱爲準備加入兩萬多首的台語歌詞，希望用有趣活潑的方式，讓台語世代傳承。

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週一至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

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Wearing a vest with a traditional Indigenous pattern, Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Ljaucu Zingrur discusses how President Lai Ching-te has supported indigenous communities during his first year in office.

Ljaucu Zingrur
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But there are three rules: Look at pretty women, yes. Only look, don’t touch. Appreciate them, but don’t make a move.

Lin reminds people that they should not harass the women they’re admiring.

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Japanese master architect Tadao Ando has designed four “Children’s Book Forests” in his home country. Now, his first overseas Children’s Book Forest, also his fourth project in Taiwan, is coming to Taichung’s Maple Garden. It took the city government four years to secure the deal.

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