most taiwanese people speak the standard chinese language known as mandarin, and others speak local dialects such as min nan (taiwanese) or hakka. the cantonese language, spoken in parts of southern china (for example, the province of guangdong, hong kong and macau), is not spoken in taiwan. a small percentage of aboriginal taiwanese speak aboriginal languages, but the rest of the chinese people have treated them badly, and many of these people, and their languages, struggle to survive. some older taiwanese people who went to school while the country was under japanese rule can speak japanese.