Preparing your life in Taiwan
According to
Wikipedia, Taiwan's population was estimated in 2005 at 22.9 million, most of whom are on the island of Taiwan. About 98% of the population is of Han Chinese ethnicity. About 70% of the people in Taiwan belong to the Hoklo ethnic group and speak both Standard Mandarin (officially recognized by the ROC as the National Language) and Taiwanese Minnan (commonly known as "Taiwanese"; a variant of Min Nan spoken in Fujian province). Standard Mandarin is the primary language of instruction in schools.
Taiwan is a great place to learn Mandarin Chinese, even though English is widely spoken, and speaking some Chinese will definitively help you.
Below are some useful links that could be useful to learn Chinese for preparing your trip/stay in Taiwan.
ChinesPod.com
Probably the best source of podcasts to learn Chinese on the web.
Skritter.com
Definitively the best place to learn how to write Chinese characters.
ChineseTeachers.com
Definitively the best place to have 1-1 Chinese lessons with qualified Chinese teachers.
Nciku.com
Definitively the best online English-Chinese dictionary.
