Monday, June 29, 2015

Imitate Bk. Pīnyīn-English, Scriptures, EPUB & Web Material for Introduction Added

Imitate bk. Pīnyīn-English-with-scriptures EPUB & web material for all of the Introduction has been added to:

The material with a grey background has not yet received final editing, but is otherwise usable. Such material is available covering to the end of Chapter 8.


Note that:

  • The material in the above resources has been carefully translated, rendered, and proofread. (Any unproofread material is rendered with a lower-contrast grey background. While unproofread material is not as good as proofread material, it is generally better than nothing.)
  • Since the Imitate book may get revised, the material in the above resources has been checked against the Chinese Imitate book material on the WOL. If you notice that some changes need to be made to the material in the above resources to bring it in line with revisions to the Imitate book, please email me to let me know.
  • The linked full text 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 links for the official pictures and for the official Mandarin MP3 audio files.
  • The Offline Viewing and Printing sections of the above web resources explain how to view them offline. Of course, the web pages of the above web resources can also be printed out from your web browser.
  • Like PDF files, EPUB files can be downloaded for offline viewing.
  • In common EPUB-reading apps like iBooks, EPUB files can be annotated, meaning that notes, highlighting, etc. can be added.
  • In common EPUB-reading apps like iBooks, the text size of the EPUB material 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.


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Saturday, June 27, 2015

Close to Jehovah Bk. 3-line, Scriptures, EPUB & Web Material for Ch. 27 Added

Close to Jehovah bk. 3-line-with-scriptures EPUB & web material for chapter 27 has been added to:

The material with a grey background has not yet received final editing, but is otherwise usable. Such material is available covering to the end of chapter 27.


The EPUB & web material is converted from the corresponding material in the PDF files at 3lines.org.


The time and effort that I was spending editing the Pīnyīn, English, formatting, etc. of the above material is being redirected towards readying Pīnyīn-English, etc. EPUB & web material for the Imitate book (short link: tiandi.info/ia), which will be considered next at the Congregation Bible Study.


Note that:

  • The full 3-line text of all the cited scriptures is included in the above resources.
  • The above resources are mobile-friendly—the EPUB & web material is quite legible and usable on everything from desktop/laptop PCs and Macs to iPads and other tablets to iPhones and other smartphones.
  • The above resources contain paragraph links, footnote links, etc. to make it quick and easy to get around in the material, drastically reducing the amount of manual scrolling needed.
  • Like PDF files, EPUB files can be downloaded for offline viewing.
  • In common EPUB-reading apps like iBooks, EPUB files can be annotated, meaning that notes, highlighting, etc. can be added.
  • In common EPUB-reading apps like iBooks, the text size of the EPUB material 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.

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New App: NWT Pinyin

The iPad, the iPhone, and the iPod touch have revolutionized the way many of us in the Chinese field can acquire and use publications in the field, at the meetings, etc. However, it has been a challenge to look up scriptures in the official Pīnyīn New World Translation Bible PDF file on them. As a PDF file, that file is rooted in the print world, with its set page sizes and line endings, so it does not naturally or comfortably “live” on many mobile device displays, like computer-native web and EPUB material does. As a really big PDF file, it’s time-consuming and laborious to find just the chapter and verse that you want in it. It’s been frustrating that trying to make good use of one of our most important and useful publications on one of the devices that we most likely have with us has been such a slow and cumbersome process.


Recently, a free app became available on the App Store that almost perfectly solves this common problem:

When launched, it provides a simple button for downloading the official Pīnyīn New World Translation Bible PDF file from jw.org to the app. After that, the app provides fast and convenient iOS-native, JW Library-like controls for “teleporting” right to the chapter of the Bible book that you want. Once there, you can pinch or double-tap to zoom in as much as you want.


Why do I say that it’s just almost perfect? One thing I really wish it did better is that I wish it maintained the zoom level when moving to the next or previous page. As it is, when you do so, the zoom level resets to show one whole page on the display. That zoom level is often unusable, especially on smaller devices like the iPhone.


Basically, though, this app is an excellent tool for looking up scriptures in the official Pīnyīn New World Translation Bible PDF file as quickly and easily as we should be able to on the iPad, the iPhone, and the iPod touch, and it is the solution to this problem that I currently recommend.


[Update 2017-05-01: This app now also provides a simple button for downloading the official Pīnyīn songbook PDF file from jw.org to the app. After that, the app provides fast and convenient iOS-native, JW Library-like controls for “teleporting” right to the song that you want. Once there, you can pinch or double-tap to zoom in as much as you want.]


[Update 2018-02-20: This app now supports the official lyrics-only Pīnyīn PDF file for the “Sing Out Joyfully” book that we are now using as our songbook. Accordingly, a link for it has been added to the tiandi.info/sjj short link.]


[Update 2019-04-25: Unfortunately, it appears that this app is no longer in the App Store.]


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New Resources: Imitate Bk. Resources With English Ruby Text

Many of you may have noticed that it has been officially announced in the June 2015 km that the Imitate book will be considered at the CBS, starting the week of October 19, 2015. Now, the first unofficial Imitate book material with English ruby text has been posted:

tiandi.info/ia has been updated with the above resources. Also, link pages leading to the above resources have been posted at 3lines.org.


The list of reasons I decided to proceed with working on Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn-English material for the Imitate book has been updated as well:

Note that:

  • The material in the above resources has been carefully translated, rendered, and proofread. (Any unproofread material is rendered with a lower-contrast grey background. While unproofread material is not as good as proofread material, it is generally better than nothing.)
  • Since the Imitate book may get revised, the material in the above resources has been checked against the Chinese Imitate book material on the WOL. If you notice that some changes need to be made to the material in the above resources to bring it in line with revisions to the Imitate book, please email me to let me know.
  • The linked full text 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 links for pictures. The Mandarin resources also contain links for official Mandarin MP3 audio files. (Unfortunately, at this time there are no official Cantonese audio files to link to.)
  • The Offline Viewing and Printing sections of the above web resources explain how to view them offline. Of course, the web pages of the above web resources can also be printed out from your web browser.
  • Like PDF files, EPUB files can be downloaded for offline viewing.
  • In common EPUB-reading apps like iBooks, EPUB files can be annotated, meaning that notes, highlighting, etc. can be added.
  • In common EPUB-reading apps like iBooks, the text size of the EPUB material 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 and Sidney Lau romanization as writing systems on their own.


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Friday, June 26, 2015

Official Pīnyīn and Sidney Lau Imitate Bk. PDF Files are Now Available on jw.org

Many of you may have noticed that it has been officially announced in the June 2015 km that the Imitate book will be considered at the CBS, starting the week of October 19, 2015. In advance of that, the official Pīnyīn and Sidney Lau Imitate book PDF files recently became available for download on jw.org.


Accordingly, the following information has been added to tiandi.info/ia:

Official Pīnyīn and Sidney Lau PDFs

jw.org
(PUBLICATIONS ▶ BOOKS & BROCHURES ▶
DISPLAY: Chinese (Simplified) ▶
《信心的榜样》PDF)

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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Unproofread Imitate Bk. Pīnyīn Web Material Up to the End of Ch. 8 Added

Unproofread Imitate book Pīnyīn web material up to the end of Chapter 8 has been added to:

The proofread portion of the above material extends from the beginning to the Introduction, paragraph 9. Material that has not been proofread is rendered with a lower-contrast grey background. While unproofread material is not as good as proofread material, it is generally better than nothing.


Here is a list of reasons I decided to proceed with working on Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn-English material for the Imitate book:

Note that:

  • The material in the above resources has been carefully rendered and proofread. (Any unproofread material is rendered with a lower-contrast grey background.)
  • Since the Imitate book may get revised, the material in the above resources has been checked against the Chinese Imitate book material on the WOL. If you notice that some changes need to be made to the material in the above resources to bring it in line with revisions to the Imitate book, please email me to let me know.
  • 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 links for pictures and for official Mandarin MP3 audio files.
  • 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 text explaining that has recently been revised. Check it out.)


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

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Wednesday, June 10, 2015

The Article “Pīnyīn is a Good, Workable Writing System On Its Own” Has Been Revised

The article “Pīnyīn is a Good, Workable Writing System On Its Own”, available to be read on 3lines.org, has been revised. 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:

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.)


Here is a sample of some of the new content:

Indeed, in our ministry specifically, we definitely need to understand speech and to speak understandably much more than we need to read and write.

…

Also, as a Sumerian proverb stated, “a scribe whose hand matches the mouth, he is indeed a scribe”. Pīnyīn can indeed be used to write anything that can be spoken in Modern Standard Mandarin, from the simplest expressions to the most advanced, complex, and deeply meaningful expressions, so it qualifies as a full writing system in that fundamental sense as well.

…

But, aren’t characters more meaningful than Pīnyīn? There are certainly meanings and stories behind how certain characters are written, but taken as a bewitchingly complex, independent system for directly representing meanings visually, the characters can actually be a distraction or a diversion from the Mandarin words themselves, which are already a system of representing meanings through Mandarin speech sounds. Really, a Mandarin word still means what it means, no more and no less, whether it is spoken, written in characters, or written in Pīnyīn. Shakespeare said that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, and indeed, a rose would smell as sweet whether the spoken Mandarin word for it is written as “玫瑰” or as “méigui”. Writing the word in characters does not add to its meaning, and writing it in Pīnyīn does not take away from its meaning.

…

While those who love traditional Chinese culture may dislike such a radical innovation, it can be said that such innovations are actually a sign of positive, healthy cultural development. Another example of such a radical but positive innovation was the West and China moving from always using Roman numerals and the Chinese characters for numbers to mostly using Arabic numerals. I’m sure most would agree that it’s a very good thing that we no longer have to deal with CMXXXVI÷III or 九百三十六÷三, because we can just work out 936÷3! Pīnyīn brings similar benefits as a writing system for Mandarin.

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Close to Jehovah Bk. 3-line, Scriptures, EPUB & Web Material for Ch. 26 Added

Close to Jehovah Bk. 3-line-with-scriptures EPUB & web material for chapter 26 has been added to:

The material with a grey background has not yet received final editing, but is otherwise usable. Such material is available covering to the end of chapter 26.


The EPUB & web material is converted from the corresponding material in the PDF files at 3lines.org.


The time and effort that I was spending editing the Pīnyīn, English, formatting, etc. of the above material is being redirected towards readying Pīnyīn-English, etc. EPUB & web material for the Imitate book (short link: tiandi.info/ia), which will be considered next at the Congregation Bible Study.


Note that:

  • The full 3-line text of all the cited scriptures is included in the above resources.
  • The above resources are mobile-friendly—the EPUB & web material is quite legible and usable on everything from desktop/laptop PCs and Macs to iPads and other tablets to iPhones and other smartphones.
  • The above resources contain paragraph links, footnote links, etc. to make it quick and easy to get around in the material, drastically reducing the amount of manual scrolling needed.
  • Like PDF files, EPUB files can be downloaded for offline viewing.
  • In common EPUB-reading apps like iBooks, EPUB files can be annotated, meaning that notes, highlighting, etc. can be added.
  • In common EPUB-reading apps like iBooks, the text size of the EPUB material 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.

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Thursday, June 04, 2015

Unproofread Imitate Bk. Pīnyīn Web Material Up to the End of Ch. 7 Added

Unproofread Imitate book Pīnyīn web material up to the end of Chapter 7 has been added to:

The proofread portion of the above material extends from the beginning to the Introduction, paragraph 9. Material that has not been proofread is rendered with a lower-contrast grey background. While unproofread material is not as good as proofread material, it is generally better than nothing.


Here is a list of reasons I decided to proceed with working on Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn-English material for the Imitate book:

Note that:

  • The material in the above resources has been carefully rendered and proofread. (Any unproofread material is rendered with a lower-contrast grey background.)
  • Since the Imitate book may get revised, the material in the above resources has been checked against the Chinese Imitate book material on the WOL. If you notice that some changes need to be made to the material in the above resources to bring it in line with revisions to the Imitate book, please email me to let me know.
  • 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 links for pictures and for official Mandarin MP3 audio files.
  • 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 text explaining that has been revised. Check it out.)


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

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