Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material for the December 11–17 Bible Reading Posted

While we greatly appreciate the availability of the official Pīnyīn NWT Bible PDF file, the PDF format was conceived of in a world dominated by paper. Unfortunately, that means that PDF files are often not optimal for reading on the mobile devices that are now so prevalent among Mandarin field publishers.

The Pīnyīn Plus NWT Bible web material that is now available has been designed to be mobile-first, so it automatically adjusts itself to be optimal for reading on mobile devices of various shapes and sizes, including tablets and smartphones.

Proofread Pīnyīn web material for the December 11–17 Bible Reading is now available:

• Zec. 8:14–23

Also, partially proofread Pīnyīn web material is now available for the Bible Readings between December 18 and January 21.

The above material is part of this resource:

• NWT Bible (Pīnyīn Plus, Web)
  (2007 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly, unofficial,
  incomplete but with many often-used scriptures,
  flashcards integrated with the text,
  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 chapter, paragraph, etc.,
  extensive links for getting around, audio links,
  Night Theme that can be turned on or off
  using the ☀️/🌙 button at the top right,
  adjustable text size)
  (Info re offline viewing and printing)
  
• Short Links:
  Links ▶ Publications ▶
  New World Translation Bible Links (tiandi.info/bi)

To expand on why the above resource provides an excellent Mandarin reading experience on mobile devices:

• The above web material resource provides easy enlarging and automatic reflowing of the text to accommodate displays of various shapes and sizes, including those of many mobile devices.
  • This is especially an advantage compared to the situation with PDF files, which have preset page sizes, text sizes, and line renderings baked in. As a result, PDF files are often cumbersome and difficult to read on smaller mobile devices. E.g., when you are zoomed in and get to the bottom of a column, it can be difficult to scroll up and to the right in order to get to the top of the next column without interrupting the flow of the reading. While trying to do so quickly, you may even accidentally turn the page, causing an even greater interruption as you try to figure out where you are, and then tap/swipe, zoom, and scroll back to where you actually want to be.
• In the above resource, Pīnyīn, an excellent tool for confidently and easily reading out Mandarin, is presented in a highly legible and readable way, and is given the primary focus.
  • In fact, the material can easily be set to only display the highly legible Pīnyīn, without the beautiful and traditionally-used, but actually unnecessary Chinese characters distracting and taking up limited display real estate. (This can be done on the above resource by selecting 📘 Reveal None from the drop-down list near the top of the Pīnyīn Plus web page you are on. The web browser you are using will remember the setting for whenever it is again used to access the above resource until the setting gets changed manually, or until your browser gets reset, perhaps from being deleted and reinstalled.)

The introduction for the above resource explains why it’s good to use Pīnyīn as a writing system on its own. Here is a quote:

“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 for 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.”

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

• The material in the above resource 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 resource is based on the latest 2007 printing of the Mandarin Chinese NWT Bible. If you notice that some changes need to be made to the material in the above resource to bring it in line with revisions to the Mandarin Chinese NWT Bible, please email me to let me know.
• The above resource is mobile-friendly—it 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 resource provides a control on each page for changing the text size. This should make it easy for most people to set the text to a comfortably readable size. When a new text size is selected, the text automatically reflows to allow you to read it without you having to scroll left or right.
• 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 links to the official Mandarin MP3 audio files on jw.org.
• An active Internet connection is required to access the above web resource directly. However, its material can be downloaded in a zip file for offline use. More information is provided at the Info re offline viewing and printing link.
• For your convenience, a short link (New World Translation Bible Links (tiandi.info/bi)) is available for the above resource.

New Resource: “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. Pīnyīn Web Material With Music

Those who have recently attended a Mandarin circuit assembly will have come to know that the songs used in this service year’s Mandarin circuit assemblies are from the new songbook, entitled, in English, “Sing Out Joyfully” to Jehovah. (It turns out that this is why, as mentioned in an earlier post, the official Chinese material available at that time for the new “Sing Out Joyfully” songbook was only partially complete—it first made available ahead of time only the songs that would be used in this service year’s Mandarin circuit assemblies.) As of this writing, however, no official Pīnyīn material is available for this new songbook, “Sing Out Joyfully” to Jehovah.

Also, with the official Pīnyīn PDF songbook files that are available, having to share limited display real estate with Chinese characters as well as with musical notation has forced the Pīnyīn text to be rendered in relatively small type that can be difficult to read, especially for older people.

A new resource is now available that seeks to help with these challenges:

• “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk.
  (Pīnyīn, Music, Web)
  (proofread, mobile-friendly,
  links for getting around,
  prezoomed to use full screen width,
  easy-to-read font)
  (Info re offline viewing and printing)
  
• Short Links:
  Links ▶ Publications ▶ Books ▶
  “Sing Out Joyfully” Book Links (tiandi.info/sjj)

The above Pīnyīn songbook material has been designed to be mobile-first, so it automatically adjusts itself to be optimal for reading on mobile devices of various shapes and sizes, including tablets and smartphones. A couple of the ways in which it does so are:

• Song material automatically loads “prezoomed” to take full advantage of the width of your device’s display, so as to render the Pīnyīn lyrics in as large a size as possible.
• The typeface chosen for the Pīnyīn lyrics is one that is especially legible at smaller text sizes.

So far, material is available in the above resource for songs 13, 17, 59, 126, and 127. This covers the songs used in the afternoon portion of the 2017-2018 Circuit Assembly Program​—With Circuit Overseer, with the theme “Don’t Give Up in Doing What Is Fine!” (While the old songbook (Sing to Jehovah) could be used for the songs in the morning portion of this program, the songs in the afternoon portion of this program are only available in the new songbook (“Sing Out Joyfully” to Jehovah).) More material will be added as time allows.

The introduction for the above resource explains why it’s good to use Pīnyīn as a writing system on its own, as the above resource does.

The Pīnyīn lyrics in the above resource do not have Pīnyīn Plus flashcard functionality because they need to stay aligned with the musical notation. If time allows, Pīnyīn lyrics in the future may also be presented on their own, in which case they can offer Pīnyīn Plus flashcard functionality.

The Article “SPEECH is Top Priority, Not Characters” Has Been Revised

[Update 2018-08-16: Since this article is no longer accessible from 3lines.org, references to 3lines.org have been removed, and the article link has been updated.]

This article has been revised:

• SPEECH is Top Priority, Not Characters
  This short article boils down what our top priority should be when it comes to learning Mandarin for the Mandarin field, and why, according to Jehovah’s Word and his organization, and according to modern language science.

Here is a paragraph that was added:

Sadly, that “faith follows the thing heard” is made painfully obvious by how, occasionally, publishers leave the Mandarin field (or even leave the truth) because they’re not getting the spiritual nourishment they need from the Mandarin meetings—since they’re not understanding what they hear, their faith is not getting built up. Rather than successfully continuing to help out, such ones instead become spiritual casualties on the Mandarin front of the spiritual war we are fighting. (2 Corinthians 10:4, 5) Learning characters does not fix this—publishers need to learn to understand Mandarin speech to benefit spiritually from Mandarin meetings, because the talks, comments, etc. at such meetings are made of Mandarin speech, not characters. In fact, focusing on characters makes this problem worse because it makes learning Mandarin speech harder and slower. At the very least, it distracts from learning Mandarin speech.

Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material for the December 4–10 Bible Reading Posted

While we greatly appreciate the availability of the official Pīnyīn NWT Bible PDF file, the PDF format was conceived of in a world dominated by paper. Unfortunately, that means that PDF files are often not optimal for reading on the mobile devices that are now so prevalent among Mandarin field publishers.

The Pīnyīn Plus NWT Bible web material that is now available has been designed to be mobile-first, so it automatically adjusts itself to be optimal for reading on mobile devices of various shapes and sizes, including tablets and smartphones.

Proofread Pīnyīn web material for the December 4–10 Bible Reading is now available:

• Hag. 2:1–14

Also, partially proofread Pīnyīn web material is now available for the Bible Readings between December 11 and January 7.

The above material is part of this resource:

• NWT Bible (Pīnyīn Plus, Web)
  (2007 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly, unofficial,
  incomplete but with many often-used scriptures,
  flashcards integrated with the text,
  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 chapter, paragraph, etc.,
  extensive links for getting around, audio links,
  Night Theme that can be turned on or off
  using the ☀️/🌙 button at the top right,
  adjustable text size)
  (Info re offline viewing and printing)
  
• Short Links:
  Links ▶ Publications ▶
  New World Translation Bible Links (tiandi.info/bi)

To expand on why the above resource provides an excellent Mandarin reading experience on mobile devices:

• The above web material resource provides easy enlarging and automatic reflowing of the text to accommodate displays of various shapes and sizes, including those of many mobile devices.
  • This is especially an advantage compared to the situation with PDF files, which have preset page sizes, text sizes, and line renderings baked in. As a result, PDF files are often cumbersome and difficult to read on smaller mobile devices. E.g., when you are zoomed in and get to the bottom of a column, it can be difficult to scroll up and to the right in order to get to the top of the next column without interrupting the flow of the reading. While trying to do so quickly, you may even accidentally turn the page, causing an even greater interruption as you try to figure out where you are, and then tap/swipe, zoom, and scroll back to where you actually want to be.
• In the above resource, Pīnyīn, an excellent tool for confidently and easily reading out Mandarin, is presented in a highly legible and readable way, and is given the primary focus.
  • In fact, the material can easily be set to only display the highly legible Pīnyīn, without the beautiful and traditionally-used, but actually unnecessary Chinese characters distracting and taking up limited display real estate. (This can be done on the above resource by selecting 📘 Reveal None from the drop-down list near the top of the Pīnyīn Plus web page you are on. The web browser you are using will remember the setting for whenever it is again used to access the above resource until the setting gets changed manually, or until your browser gets reset, perhaps from being deleted and reinstalled.)

The introduction for the above resource explains why it’s good to use Pīnyīn as a writing system on its own. Here is a quote:

“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 for 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.”

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

• The material in the above resource 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 resource is based on the latest 2007 printing of the Mandarin Chinese NWT Bible. If you notice that some changes need to be made to the material in the above resource to bring it in line with revisions to the Mandarin Chinese NWT Bible, please email me to let me know.
• The above resource is mobile-friendly—it 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 resource provides a control on each page for changing the text size. This should make it easy for most people to set the text to a comfortably readable size. When a new text size is selected, the text automatically reflows to allow you to read it without you having to scroll left or right.
• 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 links to the official Mandarin MP3 audio files on jw.org.
• An active Internet connection is required to access the above web resource directly. However, its material can be downloaded in a zip file for offline use. More information is provided at the Info re offline viewing and printing link.
• For your convenience, a short link (New World Translation Bible Links (tiandi.info/bi)) is available for the above resource.

Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material for the November 27–December 3 Bible Reading Posted

While we greatly appreciate the availability of the official Pīnyīn NWT Bible PDF file, the PDF format was conceived of in a world dominated by paper. Unfortunately, that means that PDF files are often not optimal for reading on the mobile devices that are now so prevalent among Mandarin field publishers.

The Pīnyīn Plus NWT Bible web material that is now available has been designed to be mobile-first, so it automatically adjusts itself to be optimal for reading on mobile devices of various shapes and sizes, including tablets and smartphones.

Proofread Pīnyīn web material for the November 27–December 3 Bible Reading is now available:

• Hab. 2:15–3:6

Also, partially proofread Pīnyīn web material is now available for the Bible Readings between December 4 and December 31.

The above material is part of this resource:

• NWT Bible (Pīnyīn Plus, Web)
  (2007 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly, unofficial,
  incomplete but with many often-used scriptures,
  flashcards integrated with the text,
  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 chapter, paragraph, etc.,
  extensive links for getting around, audio links,
  Night Theme that can be turned on or off
  using the ☀️/🌙 button at the top right,
  adjustable text size)
  (Info re offline viewing and printing)
  
• Short Links:
  Links ▶ Publications ▶
  New World Translation Bible Links (tiandi.info/bi)

To expand on why the above resource provides an excellent Mandarin reading experience on mobile devices:

• The above web material resource provides easy enlarging and automatic reflowing of the text to accommodate displays of various shapes and sizes, including those of many mobile devices.
  • This is especially an advantage compared to the situation with PDF files, which have preset page sizes, text sizes, and line renderings baked in. As a result, PDF files are often cumbersome and difficult to read on smaller mobile devices. E.g., when you are zoomed in and get to the bottom of a column, it can be difficult to scroll up and to the right in order to get to the top of the next column without interrupting the flow of the reading. While trying to do so quickly, you may even accidentally turn the page, causing an even greater interruption as you try to figure out where you are, and then tap/swipe, zoom, and scroll back to where you actually want to be.
• In the above resource, Pīnyīn, an excellent tool for confidently and easily reading out Mandarin, is presented in a highly legible and readable way, and is given the primary focus.
  • In fact, the material can easily be set to only display the highly legible Pīnyīn, without the beautiful and traditionally-used, but actually unnecessary Chinese characters distracting and taking up limited display real estate. (This can be done on the above resource by selecting 📘 Reveal None from the drop-down list near the top of the Pīnyīn Plus web page you are on. The web browser you are using will remember the setting for whenever it is again used to access the above resource until the setting gets changed manually, or until your browser gets reset, perhaps from being deleted and reinstalled.)

The introduction for the above resource explains why it’s good to use Pīnyīn as a writing system on its own. Here is a quote:

“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 for 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.”

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

• The material in the above resource 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 resource is based on the latest 2007 printing of the Mandarin Chinese NWT Bible. If you notice that some changes need to be made to the material in the above resource to bring it in line with revisions to the Mandarin Chinese NWT Bible, please email me to let me know.
• The above resource is mobile-friendly—it 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 resource provides a control on each page for changing the text size. This should make it easy for most people to set the text to a comfortably readable size. When a new text size is selected, the text automatically reflows to allow you to read it without you having to scroll left or right.
• 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 links to the official Mandarin MP3 audio files on jw.org.
• An active Internet connection is required to access the above web resource directly. However, its material can be downloaded in a zip file for offline use. More information is provided at the Info re offline viewing and printing link.
• For your convenience, a short link (New World Translation Bible Links (tiandi.info/bi)) is available for the above resource.

Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material for the November 20–26 Bible Reading Posted

While we greatly appreciate the availability of the official Pīnyīn NWT Bible PDF file, the PDF format was conceived of in a world dominated by paper. Unfortunately, that means that PDF files are often not optimal for reading on the mobile devices that are now so prevalent among Mandarin field publishers.

The Pīnyīn Plus NWT Bible web material that is now available has been designed to be mobile-first, so it automatically adjusts itself to be optimal for reading on mobile devices of various shapes and sizes, including tablets and smartphones.

Proofread Pīnyīn web material for the November 20–26 Bible Reading is now available:

• Mic. 4:1–10

Also, partially proofread Pīnyīn web material is now available for the Bible Readings between November 27 and December 24.

The above material is part of this resource:

• NWT Bible (Pīnyīn Plus, Web)
  (2007 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly, unofficial,
  incomplete but with many often-used scriptures,
  flashcards integrated with the text,
  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 chapter, paragraph, etc.,
  extensive links for getting around, audio links,
  Night Theme that can be turned on or off
  using the ☀️/🌙 button at the top right,
  adjustable text size)
  (Info re offline viewing and printing)
  
• Short Links:
  Links ▶ Publications ▶
  New World Translation Bible Links (tiandi.info/bi)

To expand on why the above resource provides an excellent Mandarin reading experience on mobile devices:

• The above web material resource provides easy enlarging and automatic reflowing of the text to accommodate displays of various shapes and sizes, including those of many mobile devices.
  • This is especially an advantage compared to the situation with PDF files, which have preset page sizes, text sizes, and line renderings baked in. As a result, PDF files are often cumbersome and difficult to read on smaller mobile devices. E.g., when you are zoomed in and get to the bottom of a column, it can be difficult to scroll up and to the right in order to get to the top of the next column without interrupting the flow of the reading. While trying to do so quickly, you may even accidentally turn the page, causing an even greater interruption as you try to figure out where you are, and then tap/swipe, zoom, and scroll back to where you actually want to be.
• In the above resource, Pīnyīn, an excellent tool for confidently and easily reading out Mandarin, is presented in a highly legible and readable way, and is given the primary focus.
  • In fact, the material can easily be set to only display the highly legible Pīnyīn, without the beautiful and traditionally-used, but actually unnecessary Chinese characters distracting and taking up limited display real estate. (This can be done on the above resource by selecting 📘 Reveal None from the drop-down list near the top of the Pīnyīn Plus web page you are on. The web browser you are using will remember the setting for whenever it is again used to access the above resource until the setting gets changed manually, or until your browser gets reset, perhaps from being deleted and reinstalled.)

The introduction for the above resource explains why it’s good to use Pīnyīn as a writing system on its own. Here is a quote:

“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 for 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.”

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

• The material in the above resource 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 resource is based on the latest 2007 printing of the Mandarin Chinese NWT Bible. If you notice that some changes need to be made to the material in the above resource to bring it in line with revisions to the Mandarin Chinese NWT Bible, please email me to let me know.
• The above resource is mobile-friendly—it 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 resource provides a control on each page for changing the text size. This should make it easy for most people to set the text to a comfortably readable size. When a new text size is selected, the text automatically reflows to allow you to read it without you having to scroll left or right.
• 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 links to the official Mandarin MP3 audio files on jw.org.
• An active Internet connection is required to access the above web resource directly. However, its material can be downloaded in a zip file for offline use. More information is provided at the Info re offline viewing and printing link.
• For your convenience, a short link (New World Translation Bible Links (tiandi.info/bi)) is available for the above resource.

Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material for the November 13–19 Bible Reading Posted

While we greatly appreciate the availability of the official Pīnyīn NWT Bible PDF file, the PDF format was conceived of in a world dominated by paper. Unfortunately, that means that PDF files are often not optimal for reading on the mobile devices that are now so prevalent among Mandarin field publishers.

The Pīnyīn Plus NWT Bible web material that is now available has been designed to be mobile-first, so it automatically adjusts itself to be optimal for reading on mobile devices of various shapes and sizes, including tablets and smartphones.

Proofread Pīnyīn web material for the November 13–19 Bible Reading is now available:

• Jon. 3:1–10

Also, partially proofread Pīnyīn web material is now available for the Bible Readings between November 20 and December 17.

The above material is part of this resource:

• NWT Bible (Pīnyīn Plus, Web)
  (2007 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly, unofficial,
  incomplete but with many often-used scriptures,
  flashcards integrated with the text,
  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 chapter, paragraph, etc.,
  extensive links for getting around, audio links,
  Night Theme that can be turned on or off
  using the ☀️/🌙 button at the top right,
  adjustable text size)
  (Info re offline viewing and printing)
  
• Short Links:
  Links ▶ Publications ▶
  New World Translation Bible Links (tiandi.info/bi)

To expand on why the above resource provides an excellent Mandarin reading experience on mobile devices:

• The above web material resource provides easy enlarging and automatic reflowing of the text to accommodate displays of various shapes and sizes, including those of many mobile devices.
  • This is especially an advantage compared to the situation with PDF files, which have preset page sizes, text sizes, and line renderings baked in. As a result, PDF files are often cumbersome and difficult to read on smaller mobile devices. E.g., when you are zoomed in and get to the bottom of a column, it can be difficult to scroll up and to the right in order to get to the top of the next column without interrupting the flow of the reading. While trying to do so quickly, you may even accidentally turn the page, causing an even greater interruption as you try to figure out where you are, and then tap/swipe, zoom, and scroll back to where you actually want to be.
• In the above resource, Pīnyīn, an excellent tool for confidently and easily reading out Mandarin, is presented in a highly legible and readable way, and is given the primary focus.
  • In fact, the material can easily be set to only display the highly legible Pīnyīn, without the beautiful and traditionally-used, but actually unnecessary Chinese characters distracting and taking up limited display real estate. (This can be done on the above resource by selecting 📘 Reveal None from the drop-down list near the top of the Pīnyīn Plus web page you are on. The web browser you are using will remember the setting for whenever it is again used to access the above resource until the setting gets changed manually, or until your browser gets reset, perhaps from being deleted and reinstalled.)

The introduction for the above resource explains why it’s good to use Pīnyīn as a writing system on its own. Here is a quote:

“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 for 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.”

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

• The material in the above resource 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 resource is based on the latest 2007 printing of the Mandarin Chinese NWT Bible. If you notice that some changes need to be made to the material in the above resource to bring it in line with revisions to the Mandarin Chinese NWT Bible, please email me to let me know.
• The above resource is mobile-friendly—it 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 resource provides a control on each page for changing the text size. This should make it easy for most people to set the text to a comfortably readable size. When a new text size is selected, the text automatically reflows to allow you to read it without you having to scroll left or right.
• 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 links to the official Mandarin MP3 audio files on jw.org.
• An active Internet connection is required to access the above web resource directly. However, its material can be downloaded in a zip file for offline use. More information is provided at the Info re offline viewing and printing link.
• For your convenience, a short link (New World Translation Bible Links (tiandi.info/bi)) is available for the above resource.