New Resources: Was Life Created? Br. (Pīnyīn, Web, Scriptures) Pages

I realized again recently that there is currently no official Pīnyīn PDF for the Was Life Created? brochure on jw.org, while the existing unofficial 3-line PDFs only cover about the first two-thirds or so of the brochure. So, there is a need for proofread Pīnyīn material for the remaining third or so of the Was Life Created? brochure.

To help fill that need, the following new resources have started to become available:

• Was Life Created? Br.
   (Pīnyīn, Web, Scriptures)
   (proofread, mobile-friendly,
   device to landscape ▶ large print)
• Was Life Created? Br.
   (Pīnyīn, Web, Scriptures, Night Theme)
   (proofread, mobile-friendly,
   black background, grey text,
   device to landscape ▶ large print)
• (Short link: tiandi.info/lc)

To begin with, proofread Pīnyīn web material is available for the section on page 29 of the brochure, entitled “Does it matter what you believe?” in English. I think this is one of the most important parts of the Was Life Created? brochure. Next, Jehovah willing, I will pick up from where the existing 3-line files left off.

(For more information on why I have moved on from producing 3-line PDFs to producing Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn/Sidney Lau-English web and EPUB material, see this post.)

Note that:

• The material in the above resources has been carefully rendered and proofread.
• The linked full text in Pīnyīn of all the cited scriptures is included in the above resources.
• The above resources are mobile-friendly—they are quite legible and usable on everything from desktop/laptop PCs and Macs to iPads and other tablets to iPhones and other smartphones.
• In the above resources, links are used extensively to make it quick and easy to get around in the material, drastically reducing the amount of manual scrolling needed.
• The Offline Viewing sections of the above resources explain how to view them offline. Of course, in addition to being downloadable and viewable offline, the web pages of the above web resources can also be printed out from your web browser.
• Turning mobile devices to landscape orientation causes the text in the above resources to become large-print text.
• For your convenience, a short link is available for the above resources.

Also, the introductions explain why it’s good to use Pīnyīn as a writing system on its own.

Eventually, Pīnyīn-English web and Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn-English EPUB versions of the above resources should appear as well.

New Resource: The Article “Pīnyīn is a Good, Workable Writing System On Its Own”

The article “Pīnyīn is a Good, Workable Writing System On Its Own” is now available to be read on 3lines.org. Its contents were taken from the Introductions of recent Pīnyīn web resources, and it should serve as a brief overview of why it’s important for those of us in the Mandarin field to recognize that Pīnyīn is a full writing system, not just a pronunciation aid. (The article “Pīnyīn Was Plan A” provides a more in-depth discussion of how we in the Mandarin field should view Pīnyīn.)

Here is a link to the newly posted article:

• “Pīnyīn is a Good, Workable Writing System On Its Own”
  
  (The login information required is the same as for anywhere else on 3lines.org. If you’re already on the 3lines.org site, you can find this article in the folder Misc ▶ Articles.)

The subject of Pīnyīn and the Chinese characters may be one of the most important subjects I have ever written about, since it deals with facing the most difficult fundamental aspect of the Mandarin language, the language that is the very reason that the Mandarin field exists. This article is a distillation of months of research and analysis regarding this subject, and of decades of experience in learning and teaching Mandarin in the Mandarin field. I highly recommend that anyone in or interested in the Mandarin field read it, and that they also go on to read the more in-depth article, “Pīnyīn Was Plan A”. Please feel free to pass on the information about these articles to any Witness you know who is in or interested in the Mandarin field. (Many of the principles discussed in these articles apply to the Cantonese field as well, which is evidently consolidating on the Sidney Lau system as the romanization system of choice.)

Close to Jehovah Bk. XLP-iPhone-A5 Size LN-A 3-Line Material for Ch. 6 Posted

The Pīnyīn+Simp. Chinese 3-line XLP-iPhone-A5 size file for Chapter 6 of the Close to Jehovah book is now available for download:

• Close to Jehovah Book
   (3-Line, XLP-iPhone-A5, LN-A, Scriptures,
   Revised Text PDFs)
   (linked scriptures)
• (Short link: tiandi.info/cl)

The Sidney Lau+Trad. Chinese 3-line XLP-iPhone-A5 size file for Chapter 6 will be available shortly. [Update, 2014-04-20: The Sidney Lau+Trad. Chinese file for Chapter 6 is now available for download as well.]

The files have LN-A (LinkNav and annotation (notes & highlighting)) support, and they contain the linked full text of cited scriptures. Pīnyīn+Simp. Chinese and Sidney Lau+Trad. Chinese versions of the files are available.

To help explain how the XLP-iPhone-A5 files may work well on a variety of mobile devices, the following paragraphs are included on the Close to Jehovah Book (3-Line, XLP-iPhone-A5, LN-A, Scriptures, Revised Text PDFs) page:

While the regular files use letter size as the paper size, these files named with “XLP-iPhone-A5” use A5 as the paper size, and are especially suited for use on devices such as the iPhone, the iPod touch, and other devices with similarly sized screens, such as Android phones. (See the 3-Line Material on the iPhone and the iPod touch page for instructions on how to use these files on an iPhone or an iPod touch.)

The XLP-iPhone-A5 files should also be a good fit on 6" (15.2 cm) screen Kindles and other similarly sized devices, as well as on tablets with 7" (17.8 cm) screens, as long as these devices have PDF support. (Note that landscape orientation may work best, as explained on the 3-Line Material on the iPhone and the iPod touch page.) Some may prefer to use these files on larger mobile devices like the Kindle DX or the iPad as well. (See the 3-Line Material on the iPad page for instructions on how to use these files on an iPad.)

Also, instructions are included re how to download the files on an iPhone or an iPod touch using GoodReader for iPhone, and how to download the files on an iPad using GoodReader for iPad.

The relevant folders at the 3lines.org site contain an HTML file (web page) with a link to the Close to Jehovah Book (3-Line, XLP-iPhone-A5, LN-A, Scriptures, Revised Text PDFs) page.

Related links:

• 3-Line Material on the iPhone and the iPod touch


• 3-Line Material on the iPad


• Printing Extra Large Print 3-Line Material


• PDF Link Navigation


• PDF Annotation (Notes & Highlighting)


• Printing Selected Pages From a PDF

Good News Brochure Pīnyīn-English Web Material Up to Lesson 3, Question 2 Added

Good News brochure Pīnyīn-English web material covering up to Lesson 3, Question 2, including the full text of the cited scriptures, has been added to:

• Good News Brochure
   (Pīnyīn-English, Web, Scriptures)
   (proofread, mobile-friendly, picture links)
• Good News Brochure
   (Pīnyīn-English, Web, Scriptures, Night Theme)
   (proofread, mobile-friendly, picture links,
   black background, grey text)
• (Short link: tiandi.info/fg)

Note that:

• The material in the above resources has been carefully rendered and proofread.
• The linked full text in Pīnyīn-English of all the cited scriptures is included in the above resources.
• The above resources are mobile-friendly—they are quite legible and usable on everything from desktop/laptop PCs and Macs to iPads and other tablets to iPhones and other smartphones.
• The Recommended Browsers: sections in the above resources contain information about how to get the best viewing experience.
• In the above resources, links are used extensively to make it quick and easy to get around in the material, drastically reducing the amount of manual scrolling needed.
• The above resources contain picture links.
• Besides being viewable online, the web pages can also be downloaded and used offline. Of course, they can be printed out from your web browser as well. (More details are included in their Offline Viewing and Printing sections, which include a link to a special PDF file for printing out the content of the web pages.)
• For your convenience, a short link is available for the above resources.

Also, the introductions explain why it’s good to use Pīnyīn as a writing system on its own.

Bible Teach Bk. Pīnyīn Web Material Up to Ch. 2, Par. 5 Added

Bible Teach book Pīnyīn web material covering up to chapter 2, paragraph 5 has been added to:

• Bible Teach Bk.
   (Pīnyīn, Web, Scriptures)
   (proofread, mobile-friendly, picture links,
   device to landscape ▶ large print)
• Bible Teach Bk.
   (Pīnyīn, Web, Scriptures, Night Theme)
   (proofread, mobile-friendly, picture links,
   black background, grey text,
   device to landscape ▶ large print)
• (Short link: tiandi.info/bh)

Note that:

• The material in the above resources has been carefully rendered and proofread.
• The linked full text in Pīnyīn of all the cited scriptures is included in the above resources.
• The above resources are mobile-friendly—they are quite legible and usable on everything from desktop/laptop PCs and Macs to iPads and other tablets to iPhones and other smartphones.
• In the above resources, links are used extensively to make it quick and easy to get around in the material, drastically reducing the amount of manual scrolling needed.
• The above resources contain picture links.
• The Offline Viewing sections of the above resources explain how to view them offline. Of course, in addition to being downloadable and viewable offline, the web pages of the above web resources can also be printed out from your web browser.
• Turning mobile devices to landscape orientation causes the text in the above resources to become large-print text.
• For your convenience, a short link is available for the above resources.

Also, the introductions explain why it’s good to use Pīnyīn as a writing system on its own.

The full Pīnyīn text of all the cited scriptures in the new material has been added to:

• NWT Bible (Pīnyīn, Web)
   (proofread, incomplete, unofficial,
   mobile-friendly, chapter-level links,
   device to landscape ▶ large print)
• NWT Bible (Pīnyīn, Web, Night Theme)
   (proofread, incomplete, unofficial,
   mobile-friendly, chapter-level links,
   black background, gray text,
   device to landscape ▶ large print)
• (Short link: tiandi.info/bi)

“Pīnyīn Was Plan A” Article Revised

Some revisions have been made to the article “Pīnyīn Was Plan A”.

(The login information required is the same as for anywhere else on 3lines.org. If you’re already on the 3lines.org site, you can find this article in the folder Misc ▶ Articles.)

One of the changes made is that the quotations now have a light gray background to make it easier to tell them apart from the main text.

Here is an example of a portion of the article that has been rewritten:

Basically, compared to those in the standard program who were just taught Pīnyīn for a couple of months or so purely as a phonetic aid for pronouncing characters, the students who were allowed to use Pīnyīn on its own as a writing system for a couple of years or so not only did significantly better in learning the language and in learning the Chinese characters, they also did significantly better overall academically. This is not surprising to me, since language is needed to learn and progress in any and every other field of learning. As former UN interpreter Wu Wenchao said,

Chinese language is difficult to learn in comparison with alphabetic languages. …Chinese students work very hard and would have to spend two more years [some have said even longer] in learning in order to reach the same level of a Western intellectual. …The difficulty in learning is analogous to long boot-up time in computer terminology, which means system delay in becoming operational.

In view of the above, I can’t help but wonder how well those learning Mandarin for the Mandarin field can do who just keep on using Pīnyīn on its own as a writing system, instead of stopping and moving on to characters after some arbitrary length of time. Since Jehovah’s organization is now providing official Pīnyīn versions of the core publications, and since many unofficial Pīnyīn-containing resources are available as well (as discussed more extensively below), Pīnyīn-using Mandarin field language learners now actually do not have to divert years of additional time to learn the relatively complex Chinese characters. Also, they do not have to put forth additional constant, ongoing effort to remember the Chinese characters they’ve learned, and to learn new ones. (And if they do choose to learn some Chinese characters, they could do so more effectively than they could without the assistance of Pīnyīn.) Mandarin field language learners who just use Pīnyīn on its own as a writing system can focus more on the information being communicated in the publications, that they in turn need to communicate to those in the field, without having to expend so much time and mental effort on language technicalities. Such ones should do significantly better overall in the Mandarin field, just as the Z.T. students mentioned above did significantly better overall academically.

Good News Brochure Pīnyīn EPUB Material Up to Lesson 6, Question 2 Added

Good News brochure Pīnyīn EPUB material up to Lesson 6, Question 2 has been added to:

• Good News Brochure
   (Pīnyīn, Scriptures EPUB)
   (proofread, mobile-friendly, picture links,
   supports offline use & annotation)
• (Short link: tiandi.info/fg)

Note that:

• The material in the above resource has been carefully rendered and proofread.
• The full text in Pīnyīn of all the cited scriptures is included in the above resource.
• The above resource is mobile-friendly—the EPUB material is quite legible and usable on everything from desktop/laptop PCs and Macs to iPads and other tablets to iPhones and other smartphones.
• In the above resource, links are used extensively to make it quick and easy to get around in the material, drastically reducing the amount of manual scrolling needed.
• The above resource contains picture links.
• In common EPUB-reading apps like iBooks, the text size can be adjusted to be quite large.
• iBooks has an optional Night theme.
• For your convenience, a short link is available for the above resources.

Also, the introductions explain why it’s good to use Pīnyīn as a writing system on its own.

Good News Brochure Pīnyīn Web Material Up to Lesson 6, Question 2 Added

Good News brochure Pīnyīn web material up to Lesson 6, Question 2 has been added to:

• Good News Brochure
   (Pīnyīn, Web, Scriptures)
   (proofread, mobile-friendly, picture links,
   device to landscape ▶ large print)
• Good News Brochure
   (Pīnyīn, Web, Scriptures, Night Theme)
   (proofread, mobile-friendly, picture links,
   black background, gray text,
   device to landscape ▶ large print)
• (Short link: tiandi.info/fg)

Note that:

• The material in the above resources has been carefully rendered and proofread.
• The full text in Pīnyīn of all the cited scriptures is included in the above resources.
• The above resources are mobile-friendly—they are quite legible and usable on everything from desktop/laptop PCs and Macs to iPads and other tablets to iPhones and other smartphones.
• In the above resources, links are used extensively to make it quick and easy to get around in the material, drastically reducing the amount of manual scrolling needed.
• The above resources contain picture links.
• Turning mobile devices to landscape orientation causes the text in the above resources to become large-print text.
• For your convenience, a short link is available for the above resources.

Also, the introductions explain why it’s good to use Pīnyīn as a writing system on its own.

New Resource: PinyinWOL & CantoneseWOL Android Apps

From the same source that puts together the RTE resources:

• PinyinWOL & CantoneseWOL Android Apps
• (Short link: tiandi.info/mobile)

Here is the introduction at the above resource:

This app adds unofficial pinyin to the JW site and the Online Library. NO cloud servers, mirrors or proxies are used by this app; it connects to jw.org only. Pinyin is added by the little chip in your phone or tablet, not by this unofficial server, so the app should be fine in places where Web filtering is enforced (as long as jw.org is allowed).

FYI, here is a chart showing the percentage shares of the operating systems used to visit 3lines.org for the last few months: