New Resource: Jehovah’s Will Brochure (Pīnyīn-English, Scriptures EPUB) Page

The content available so far on the Jehovah’s Will brochure Pīnyīn-English web pages is now available in EPUB format at this download page:

• Jehovah’s Will Brochure
   (Pīnyīn-English, Scriptures EPUB)
• (Short link: tiandi.info/jl)

Here is an excerpt from the download page:

Introduction

The material in the EPUB file linked to below contains text from the Chinese Jehovah’s Will brochure, written in Pīnyīn. It also includes English ruby text that has been bundled with the Pīnyīn text that it shows the meaning of. Thus, while making better use of limited display real estate on mobile devices and requiring less paper to print out compared to corresponding 3-line material, this material provides us Mandarin-learners with assistance in the two language aspects we require in order to be able to discuss or study the Jehovah’s Will brochure with someone in Mandarin:

1. The pronunciations of the Mandarin words used
   • These show us how to communicate the brochure’s message in Mandarin.
2. The meanings of the Mandarin words used
   • These show us what is being communicated in Mandarin.

Advantages of the EPUB Format

Being in EPUB format allows this material to benefit from the advantages of this format, including:

• Broad hardware and software support
• Easy enlarging and automatic reflowing of the text to accommodate displays of various shapes and sizes, including those of many mobile devices
• Offline use
  • Since EPUB files have been available from jw.org for a long time, many people in the Chinese field are now familiar with how to download EPUB files and use them offline.
• Annotation (notes, highlighting, etc.) support
  • EPUB files can be easily annotated by users in apps such as iBooks, which runs on the iPad, the iPhone, the iPod touch, and now the Mac as well. There are also apps that annotate EPUB files on Windows, Android, etc.
• Hyperlinking that is familiar and expected, and that thus will get used and benefitted from
  • Taking advantage of this, scripture references in the main text are links to the full text of the cited scriptures. There, links are provided for returning to the referring citations in the main text.
  • Links are also provided for “teleporting” from the table of contents to the chapter headings and back.
  • As well, links are provided as necessary for going to any footnotes, etc., and for returning from them to the main text.
• Producibility with simpler, more accessible, more mobile tools
  • Whereas at this time Microsoft Word running on a desktop or laptop PC is needed to produce satisfactory 3-line material, this plain text-based Pīnyīn-English material can be satisfactorily partly produced with even an app running on a mobile device like an iPad.