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

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 are a couple of excerpts from the revised article:

…Indeed, those who have expended much time and effort to learn some characters may find that they can understand those “gateway characters” faster when they see them, compared to when they see Pīnyīn. This is because while characters and Pīnyīn are both systems for visually representing Mandarin words and their meanings, Pīnyīn represents meaning indirectly by first simply and directly representing invisible Mandarin speech sounds, which in turn represent meaning (1 Corinthians 14:10, quoted above), whereas characters make some attempt to represent meaning directly through their visual designs, resulting in a short circuit.

However, just as a short circuit is not a good thing to have in an electrical circuit, relying on characters trying to directly represent meaning visually is not a good thing to do for those of us who are learning Mandarin for the Mandarin field. Why? The reason is that, just like it’s an established fact that the earth is round, according to modern linguistics (the scientific study of language) this is also an established fact: “Speech is primary, writing is secondary and is always derivative of speech.” This scientific truth about language, that Jehovah built us and wired us to primarily represent meaning through speech, supports what 1 Corinthians 14:8–11 (quoted above) says about understandable speech being of prime importance to Christian evangelizers. …

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There is of course some value in learning a reasonable number of characters, since they are so pervasive in the Chinese world. However, characters can gradually be learned later, if desired, when we actually have time for the diversion that they entail.

If we were to compare Mandarin language ability to a building, then ability with Mandarin speech would be the building’s foundation and basic structure. Pīnyīn is an excellent tool for helping to build good, solid ability with Mandarin speech, which makes for a good, solid foundation and a good, solid basic structure for Mandarin language ability. Knowledge of characters, though, at best would be decorative or fashionable exterior paint, siding, trim, etc. that is visible on the outside. First prioritizing fashionable, visible characters can thus lead to Mandarin language ability that does not stand up well to real-world usage because of lacking a strong foundation and a good basic structure. In contrast, children in China generally have a good foundational knowledge of Mandarin speech before they learn characters, and they continue to learn and constantly use Mandarin speech even as they learn characters.

So, for each of us language learners in the Mandarin field, the first priority should be to learn Mandarin speech. This will enable us to actually understand and benefit from Mandarin meetings, and it will enable us to actually talk to Mandarin-speaking people in Mandarin from the heart. It will also make it easier for us to gradually learn characters later, as time allows.