East Asia · Taiwan
Mandarin Chinese (Taiwanese) conversational speech dataset
1,500 hours of spontaneous Mandarin Chinese (Taiwanese) conversations recorded in Taiwan across 150 vetted native speakers. Dual-channel audio with time-aligned transcripts, speaker metadata (age, gender, region, device), and full chain-of-consent documentation. Licensed for commercial ASR, TTS, and voice AI training.
Dataset specifications
| Language | Mandarin Chinese (Taiwanese) |
|---|---|
| Recorded in | Taiwan |
| Speech type | Spontaneous two-person conversations |
| Volume | 1,500 hours |
| Speakers | 150 vetted native speakers |
| Audio | Dual-channel (one channel per speaker) |
| Transcripts | Time-aligned, human-verified |
| Metadata | Age, gender, region, recording device |
| License | Commercial (training & evaluation) |
| Price | $70 per hour of audio |
Need more hours, another dialect or your own recording setup? We collect speech data to spec.
Built for
Training and evaluating speech models that must handle real Mandarin Chinese (Taiwanese) speech:
- Automatic speech recognition (ASR / STT)
- Text-to-speech & voice synthesis prosody
- Voice agents and IVR for Taiwan
- Speaker diarization & turn-taking models
- Speech LLM / audio-understanding fine-tuning
Why conversational data?
Models trained on read speech consistently underperform on spontaneous audio. Disfluencies, overlap, and natural speech rates aren’t in the training distribution. This dataset closes that gap for Mandarin Chinese (Taiwanese). Read more in our guide to conversational vs. scripted speech data.
Free samples
Audit the Mandarin Chinese (Taiwanese) data yourself
Share your company email and we’ll email you representative audio, matching transcripts, and the metadata schema. Check audio quality, transcript accuracy, and speaker diversity before you spend a dollar.
Public alternatives
Public Taiwanese Mandarin speech data vs. this dataset
| Source | What it is | License | Commercial training |
|---|---|---|---|
| CALLFRIEND Mandarin Chinese-Taiwan Dialect Second Edition (LDC2020S06) (opens in a new tab)Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC) | About 27 hours of unscripted telephone conversations between native speakers of Taiwan Mandarin; all calls originated in North America and were collected before July 1997. | LDC User Agreement for Non-Members (fee applies; non-commercial research and education only); commercial use requires LDC for-profit membership | Paid license |
| Common Voice Scripted Speech (Chinese, Taiwan) (opens in a new tab)Mozilla Common Voice (Mozilla Data Collective) | Read speech recordings in Chinese (Taiwan locale, zh-TW) from Mozilla's Common Voice project. | CC0 1.0 | Allowed |
CALLFRIEND's 27 hours of Taiwan Mandarin phone calls were placed from North America before 1997; Common Voice is read. This dataset is two-person conversation recorded in Taiwan.
Licenses as published by each source, checked October 2026. Check the current terms before use.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What does the Mandarin Chinese (Taiwanese) speech dataset include?
1,500 hours of spontaneous two-person conversations from 150 vetted native speakers recorded in Taiwan, delivered as dual-channel audio with time-aligned transcripts, speaker metadata (age, gender, region, device), and consent documentation.
What makes Taiwanese Mandarin hard for speech recognition?
Taiwanese Mandarin differs from mainland Mandarin in accent and vocabulary. Many speakers merge "zh", "ch" and "sh" into "z", "c" and "s", the neutral tone is used less, and it's written in Traditional characters. Conversation often mixes in Taiwanese Hokkien too.
Is there free Taiwanese Mandarin speech data?
Yes, Common Voice is free for commercial use. CALLFRIEND Mandarin Chinese-Taiwan Dialect needs a paid license. This dataset is spontaneous two-person conversation recorded in Taiwan, with speaker metadata, one channel per speaker and signed commercial-use consent.
Can I use this Mandarin Chinese (Taiwanese) dataset commercially?
Yes. The dataset is licensed for commercial use, including training ASR, TTS, and other voice-AI models. Every speaker has signed explicit commercial-use consent, and we provide the full consent chain for your legal review.
How much does the Mandarin Chinese (Taiwanese) speech dataset cost?
Pricing is $70 per hour of audio. Volume discounts are available for full-dataset and multi-language purchases. Contact us for a quote.
Can I evaluate samples before buying?
Yes. Request samples with your company email, and we'll email you representative audio files and matching transcripts so your team can audit quality before committing.
$95/hr