Chat in English with someone who writes Traditional Chinese

Piou lets you write in English while your contact writes in Traditional Chinese, the script used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and many overseas families: each message is translated on the reader's own device, and the original is always one tap away. Translation is part of Piou Premium (NT$180 a month in Taiwan, $5.99 in the US, after a 7-day free trial) and works offline once both languages are downloaded. Piou handles written Chinese; spoken Cantonese isn't supported.

How it works between English and Traditional Chinese

You type in English; your contact types in Traditional characters. Piou detects the language of each message on the sender's phone and stores it exactly as written. The reader's device does the translating: a translated message is labeled “Translated”, and “Show original” brings back the exact text.

Everything runs on the device, with no cloud translation service:

• iPhone (iOS 18 or later): Apple's built-in translation.
• Android (8.0 or later): Google's ML Kit, with the language models downloaded to the phone. For Traditional Chinese, Piou translates into Chinese, then converts the script to Traditional characters on the phone, using OpenCC.
• Web app (app.piou.chat): the open-source Bergamot engine with Firefox Translations models in the browser, or Chrome's built-in translation on desktop when available. English–Chinese is a direct pair.

Translations never leave the device. Messages are stored on Piou's servers in their original language so they can be delivered and synced.

Translation is personal. With Premium, you read everything in English: messages, polls, the text of status updates, and voice messages, transcribed and translated while the original audio stays playable. Without Premium, your contact's messages stay in Chinese, with a banner once a day per conversation offering to translate. For your contact to read you in Chinese, they need Premium too, or you can gift it.

An example exchange

Jake teaches at an English cram school in Taichung. He messages the mother of a student, Yu-ting. The translations are illustrative; the exact wording depends on each device's engine.

• Jake writes: “Hi Mrs. Lin, Yu-ting did great on today's speaking test! Just a heads-up: no class next Friday because of the holiday.”
  • Mrs. Lin reads: “林太太你好，Yu-ting 今天的口說測驗表現很棒！提醒一下：下週五因為放假，不上課。”
• Mrs. Lin writes: “謝謝老師！她最近都有在家練習。請問下週五的課會補嗎？”
  • Jake reads: “Thank you, teacher! She's been practicing at home lately. Will next Friday's class be made up?”
• Jake writes: “Yes, we'll add a makeup class on Saturday the 25th at 10 a.m.”
  • Mrs. Lin reads: “會的，我們會在 25 號星期六早上 10 點補課。”

Two things stand out. Mrs. Lin calls Jake “teacher” (老師): in Taiwan, that's how parents and students address teachers, a mark of respect rather than a clumsy translation. And 都有在家練習 uses 有 before a verb, a construction common in Taiwanese Mandarin; the engine handled it here, but regional turns of phrase aren't always recognized.

Tips for writing to Traditional Chinese speakers

• Use titles. In Taiwan, people are often addressed by role: 老師 (teacher), 林經理 (Manager Lin), or even “Yu-ting's mom”. In writing, “Mr. or Ms. plus family name” translates cleanly.
• Family name first, English names common. In 林語婷 (Lin Yu-ting), Lin is the family name. Many people in Taiwan and Hong Kong also use an English name such as Vivian or Kelvin; use the one they use with you.
• Watch the year. Official documents in Taiwan often use the Minguo calendar, where year 115 is 2026: a date written 115/10/18 means October 18, 2026.
• Count in ten-thousands. 萬 means 10,000, so NT$3萬 is NT$30,000. Restate important amounts in figures.
• Stickers are a language. Many users in Taiwan and Hong Kong reply with a sticker instead of words. Piou has its own stickers, but they aren't translated: say the important things in words.
• Hear the soft no. 我再考慮看看 (“let me think about it some more”) often signals a polite no.

Translation limits to know

• Script conversion on Android. The converted text is in Traditional characters, but some vocabulary may follow mainland usage, such as 視頻 instead of Taiwan's 影片 for “video”.
• Cantonese. Spoken Cantonese isn't supported, and colloquial written Cantonese can be mistranslated; standard written Chinese gives the best results.
• Missing subjects and tenses. Chinese often drops “I” or “you” and doesn't conjugate verbs, so the engine guesses who did what, and when.
• He and she in voice messages. In spoken Mandarin, 他 and 她 are both pronounced tā, so a transcribed voice message can get the gender wrong.
• Names. Taiwanese and Hong Kong names are often romanized differently from mainland pinyin (陳 can be Chen or Chan), and names in characters can be translated word by word. Ask how a name is spelled.
• Zhuyin shortcuts and slang. Chat shorthand such as ㄅㄅ (“bye-bye”) or ㄏㄏ (a dry laugh) may come through untranslated.
• High stakes. For medical, legal, immigration, money or contract questions, use a professional interpreter or a human translation. In an emergency in Taiwan, call 119 for an ambulance or fire and 110 for the police; in Hong Kong, call 999.

Getting started

1. Install Piou on an iPhone (iOS 18 or later) or an Android phone (8.0 or later), or open app.piou.chat and add it to your home screen (Safari → Share → “Add to Home Screen” on iPhone; Chrome → ⋮ → “Install app” on Android).
2. Create your account with Apple, Google or an email address, choose English, and verify your phone number once. It lets your contacts find you; it's never used to sign in.
3. Download English and Chinese on Wi-Fi so translation also works offline.
4. Add your contact from “Already on Piou”, or send an invite link or QR code. They choose Chinese (Traditional) as their language.
5. Start the 7-day free trial. A card is required and nothing is charged for 7 days. If you want your contact to read you in Chinese, tap “Gift Piou to someone”.