Hey Jill! Thanks for the article, however I think that the way you explained 在 and 著 is not entirely correct. The two have different grammatical functions regardless of differences between regional dialects of Mandarin (at least between 國語 and 普通話). Also the sentence 我吃著飯 is not a grammatical sentence, unless you were to first include a preposition (他在餐廳吃著飯）or add a second verb (他吃著飯看書). Second, 孩子兒 is not correct either--it should be (小)孩兒 in standard 普通話. Last, the pinyin for 捷運 and 微波爐 are both incorrect (運 is yùn and 波 is bō). Just want to make sure anyone who reads the article isn't confused =)

Taiwanese Mandarin is a relatively recently introduced language: before the arrival of the KMT at the end of the Chinese Civil War, few spoke it there. (Japanese was the official language for 50 years but Minnanyu/Hokkien/Taiwanese was the major colloquial Chinese language - not a "dialect".) The main basis of Taiwanese Mandarin is the Nanjing standard, which is why it is substantially the same as Southern Chinese Mandarin, but diverges from Northern Chinese Mandarin. The latter is given prominence in official and educational use in China, but most of the south of China speaks Mandarin in the same way as Taiwanese Mandarin speakers, as far as structure and pronunciation are concerned, e.g. in avoiding the use of 兒. (Vocabulary in southern China tends more to follow northern usage, because of the influence of schooling.) The earlier adoption of technology in Taiwan has also left its mark: much of the vocabulary connected with such fields predates Chinese vocabulary.

Thank you Jill.