Monday, December 05, 2016

New Resources: Good News Br. Pīnyīn Plus EPUB & Web Material

Recent discussions with users have prompted me to develop a new type of material for language-learners in the Mandarin field. I am calling it Pīnyīn Plus material.


Pīnyīn Plus material focuses on helping publishers learn Mandarin speech, the primary language skill required in the Mandarin field. (1 Co. 14:8–11) Pīnyīn Plus material provides the language-learning and memory-strengthening benefits of flashcards, and integrates these benefits into the context of a publication’s Mandarin text, in the style of augmented reality (AR).


The first Pīnyīn Plus resources to become available are the following:

For now, proofread Pīnyīn Plus material covering from the front cover to Lesson 2, Question 2 is available. Also, partially proofread Pīnyīn Plus and Pīnyīn material covering to the end of Lesson 12 is available. 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.


Here is a link to some information about the thinking behind the design of Pīnyīn Plus material:

To expand on the points listed re the above resources, note that:

  • The material in the above resources has been carefully translated, rendered, and proofread. 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.
  • The material in the above resources is based on the latest 2016-03 printing of the Good News brochure. 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 Good News brochure, 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 picture links which point to the official pictures on jw.org or the WOL.
  • The above resources contain links to the official Mandarin MP3 audio files on jw.org.
  • 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 (Good News Brochure Links (tiandi.info/fg)) 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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