MEotW: qià‐dào‐hǎochu

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• qià‐dào‐hǎochu

What can we say to Mandarin-speaking people about how fine-tuned the universe is to support life?

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MEotW: ménwèi

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• ménwèi

How can we talk to Mandarin-speaking people, many of whom believe in evolution, about the “security guards” built into our cells?

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Learn From the Bible Bk. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or Better Available Up to Lesson 65

[NOTE: For spiritual food (which is for you yourself to learn spiritual things from, and which ideally should be in your own mother tongue), please go to jw.org.

The supplementary language-learning material mentioned in this post is for helping you to learn about how the Mandarin language is used in an official publication, so that you will be better able to help others in the Mandarin language field.]

Partially proofread Pīnyīn web material (more correct than computer-generated Pīnyīn like that displayed by apps like Equipd, and more mobile-friendly than PDFs) or better is available for up to Lesson 65 of the Learn From the Bible book in the following resource:

• 
• Learn From the Bible Bk.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing Bible lessons and accounts,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Learn From the Bible book,
  2021-09 / 2025-03 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
  can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  icon can be added to the home screen
  with supporting browsers,
  “flashcards” integrated with the text,
  (tap/click on a Pīnyīn expression
  to reveal its “flashcard”,
  tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn expression
  to hide the “flashcard”),
  Pīnyīn (Pinyin) used as the default writing system,
  carefully done human-translated
  context-appropriate English translations
  with literal & effective meanings,
  Simplified & Traditional characters,
  📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced,
  and 📘 Reveal None controls for
  all the “flashcards” in a lesson, paragraph, etc.,
  links for getting around,
  picture thumbnails & links, audio links,
  Dark mode selectable with the
  dropdown control at the top right,
  adjustable text size)
  (Info re offline viewing and printing)
• Short Links:
  Links > Publications > Books >
  Learn From the Bible Book Links (tiandi.info/lfb)

In the above resource, the following web material is now available for the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book:

Proofread Pīnyīn Plus material:

• Beginning to Lesson 4

Partially proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material:

• Lesson 5 to Lesson 65
• Material with a grey background has been partially proofread. Pīnyīn material with a golden-hued background has been proofread, but not all of its “flashcards” have been added and proofread.

Proofread Pīnyīn and partially proofread Pīnyīn Plus material:

• Lesson 60 to Lesson 62
• Pīnyīn material with a golden-hued background has been proofread, but not all of its “flashcards” have been added and proofread.

Note that like most of the other Pīnyīn Plus web material resources, the above resource can be used offline. Also, an icon can be added to the home screen with supporting browsers.

While incomplete, this material can help Mandarin field language learners—especially, but not only, those who can read English—to get past the Great Wall of characters and supercharge their efforts to prepare for and participate in Mandarin discussions using the Learn From the Bible book, such as those now scheduled for the Congregation Bible Study sections of our Life and Ministry meetings.

[NOTE: While the organization expresses valid general concerns here about posting copies of official publications to the Internet, there are good legal and spiritual reasons for concluding that those concerns do not apply to this particular material, since such material should NOT be considered to be infringing on copyright, and since such material is specifically designed to be, NOT SPIRITUAL FOOD, but rather, material FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING. See this disclaimer for more information.]

MEotW: jiǎntǐ‐zì

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• jiǎntǐ‐zì

While they are simpler than traditional Chinese characters, why are the official simplified characters at best a compromise?

“爱” is the Simplified Chinese character for “love”. It’s simpler, but omits the “heart” radical (“心”), and has been “friend” (“友”)-zoned. 💔

— Troubadour WW (@troubadourww) February 20, 2017

“Ài” is how Pīnyīn represents “love”. It doesn’t play the games the characters play—it helps you actually say “I love you” (“Wǒ ài nǐ”). ❤️

— Troubadour WW (@troubadourww) February 20, 2017

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MEotW: fántǐ‐zì

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• fántǐ‐zì

As beloved as they are by many, why have there been serious, concerted efforts to simplify and replace traditional Chinese characters?

“愛” is the Traditional Chinese character for “love”. It appropriately has the “heart” radical (“心”) in it, but it’s quite…complicated. 😓

— Troubadour WW (@troubadourww) February 20, 2017

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MEotW: Hànzì

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• Hànzì

In the big picture, how should we Mandarin field language learners view Chinese characters?

(The above picture is from near the beginning of the book The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy, by John DeFrancis.)

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Updates and More Pīnyīn Plus Material Added to Learn From the Bible Bk. Pīnyīn Plus Web Material for Lessons 18 & 19

Updates and more _Pīnyīn_ Plus material added to _Learn From the Bible_ Bk. _Pīnyīn_ Plus web material for Lessons 18 & 19 (proofread, adjustable text size, integrated flashcards, context-appropriate human-translated English, CHS, CH, offline use, icon…) troubadourworks.com/tiandi/lfb/P...

[image or embed]

— tiandi, Links News (@tiandilinksnews.bsky.social) September 12, 2025 at 6:48 PM