Sunday, May 26, 2019

“Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More Available for Songs for May 27–June 9 Mandarin Meetings

(NOTE: While the organization expresses valid general concerns here about posting copies of official publications to the Internet, there are good legal and spiritual reasons for concluding that those concerns do not apply to this particular material, since such material should not be considered to be infringing on copyright, and since such material is specifically designed to be, not spiritual food, but rather, material for language learning. See this disclaimer for more information.)


Thankfully, an official Pīnyīn PDF file for the current songbook “Sing Out Joyfully” to Jehovah (sjj) is now available for download from jw.org. (The short link for the new songbook, tiandi.info/sjj, has been updated accordingly.) Note, however, that the currently available official Pīnyīn PDF file only contains lyrics—it does not contain musical notation 🎼.


While we greatly appreciate the official Pīnyīn songbook PDF file that is available, the PDF format itself 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.


Also, having to share limited display real estate with Chinese characters (and, in the past, musical notation 🎼) can in certain situations force the Pīnyīn text to be rendered in small type that can be difficult to read, especially for older people.


Another difficulty that is encountered, especially when one needs to quickly find the song that is about to be sung at a meeting, is that the official meeting schedules only list the numbers of the songs to be used, and the brothers announcing what song is about to be sung often only mention the song number, but in the current official Pīnyīn songbook PDF file, there is no listing of song links in song number order.


The official Pīnyīn “Sing Out Joyfully” to Jehovah (sjj) web material that is now available on the WOL addresses some of the above challenges, but it still does not put musical notation 🎼 together with Pīnyīn, and it still gives prime display real estate to Chinese characters, at the expense of the Pīnyīn.


Partially proofread Pīnyīn web material (more correct than computer-generated Pīnyīn like that displayed by apps like Equipd, and more mobile-friendly than PDFs) or more for all the songs scheduled to be used during the May 27–June 9 Mandarin Our Christian Life and Ministry and “Watchtower” Study meetings has been posted to this resource that seeks to help with the above-mentioned challenges:

  • “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk.
    (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web)

    (rich information about the Mandarin speech
    used for Kingdom songs,
    as represented by the text of the
    Mandarin “Sing Out Joyfully” book,
    2017-12 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
    Pīnyīn (Pinyin) used as the default writing system,
    links for getting around,
    song links sorted by number;
    Pīnyīn+Music: prezoomed to use full screen width,
    easy-to-read font,
    guitar chords included;
    Pīnyīn Plus: flashcards integrated with the text,
    (tap/click on a Pīnyīn word to reveal its “flashcard”,
    tap/click on a “flashcard” to hide it),
    carefully done human-translated
    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
    song, paragraph, etc.,
    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 > Books >
    “Sing Out Joyfully” Book Links (tiandi.info/sjj)




Screenshots of the above resource being used offline on an iPhone 📱, using the app GoodReader. (Other similar apps can also be used, e.g. Documents.)


Scheduling notes:

  • Mandarin Our Christian Life and Ministry and “Watchtower” Study meetings: Production of at least partially proofread Pīnyīn material (more correct than computer-generated Pīnyīn like that displayed by apps like Equipd, and more mobile-friendly than PDFs) with a few basic Pīnyīn Plus “flashcards” is expected to keep up with all the songs scheduled.
  • Mandarin 2018–2019 circuit assemblies: Proofread Pīnyīn lyrics and musical notation 🎼 are available for all the songs scheduled.
  • Mandarin 2019 Memorial meetings: Proofread Pīnyīn lyrics and musical notation 🎼 are available for the songs recommended.
  • Mandarin 2019 regional conventions: Partially proofread Pīnyīn material (more correct than computer-generated Pīnyīn like that displayed by apps like Equipd, and more mobile-friendly than PDFs) or more is available for all the songs scheduled and named.

The Pīnyīn songbook material in the above unofficial resource has been designed to be mobile-first, so it works well on mobile devices of various shapes and sizes, including tablets and smartphones 📱. Some of the ways in which it does so are:

  • Song material with musical notation 🎼 automatically loads “prezoomed” to take full advantage of the width of your device’s display, so as to render its Pīnyīn lyrics in as large a size as possible.
  • In the song material with musical notation 🎼, the typeface (font) chosen for the Pīnyīn lyrics is one that is especially legible at smaller text sizes.
  • The lyrics-only material uses Pīnyīn Plus technology, so the text automatically reflows according to the width of the display. Also, the text can be set to different sizes by the user, and a Night Theme is available. As time allows, more Pīnyīn Plus “flashcards” will be added, with their English translations, Chinese characters, etc.

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


In the material with musical notation 🎼 in the above resource, the Pīnyīn lyrics do not have Pīnyīn Plus “flashcard” functionality because they need to stay aligned with the musical notation 🎼. As time allows, links will be added to Pīnyīn lyrics in the material with musical notation 🎼, each of which will cause a dialogue box to appear that shows the English translations, Chinese characters, etc. that a corresponding Pīnyīn Plus “flashcard” would show.


While the original intention re the above resource was to prioritize production of material with musical notation 🎼 and leave off production of Pīnyīn Plus lyrics-only material indefinitely, further analysis has led to the realization that since proofread Pīnyīn lyrics must be produced in some form for the musical notation 🎼 material anyway, and since Pīnyīn Plus technology is a time-effective way to record proofread Pīnyīn text, it would be efficient to first produce proofread Pīnyīn lyrics in Pīnyīn Plus format for a particular song, and then to use those proofread Pīnyīn lyrics to speed up the production of musical notation 🎼 material for that song. So, that will be the production workflow going forward for the above resource.


Previously, musical notation 🎼 in the above resource was taken from screenshots of an official PDF file. Note (and make it a musical note ♪, at that 😄), though, that the musical notation 🎼 for song 77 marked the debut in the above resource of musical notation 🎼 produced “from scratch” to be mobile-first in design. This should provide for better and more consistent user experiences going forward, especially on smaller mobile devices like smartphones 📱.


Wednesday, May 01, 2019

Good News Br. Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material Up to the End of Lesson 5, Question 2 Added

(NOTE: While the organization expresses valid general concerns here about posting copies of official publications to the Internet, there are good legal and spiritual reasons for concluding that those concerns do not apply to this particular material, since such material should not be considered to be infringing on copyright, and since such material is specifically designed to be, not spiritual food, but rather, material for language learning. See this disclaimer for more information.)


Good News brochure proofread Pīnyīn Plus material covering up to the end of Lesson 5, Question 2 has been added to:

  • Good News Br.
    (Pīnyīn Plus, Scriptures, EPUB)

    (rich information about Mandarin speech
    for discussing basic Bible teachings,
    as represented by the text of the
    Mandarin Good News brochure,
    2018-03 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
    flashcards integrated with the text,
    (tap/click on a Pīnyīn word to reveal its “flashcard”,
    tap/click on a “flashcard” to hide it),
    Pīnyīn (Pinyin) used as the default writing system,
    carefully done human-translated
    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 lesson, paragraph, etc.,
    links for getting around,
    picture thumbnails & links, audio links,
    video thumbnails & links,
    supports offline use & annotation)
  • Good News Br.
    (Pīnyīn Plus, Scriptures, Web)

    (rich information about Mandarin speech
    for discussing basic Bible teachings,
    as represented by the text of the
    Mandarin Good News brochure,
    2018-03 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
    flashcards integrated with the text,
    (tap/click on a Pīnyīn word to reveal its “flashcard”,
    tap/click on a “flashcard” to hide it),
    Pīnyīn (Pinyin) used as the default writing system,
    carefully done human-translated
    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 lesson, paragraph, etc.,
    links for getting around,
    picture thumbnails & links, audio links,
    video thumbnails & 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 > Brochures >
    Good News Brochure Links (tiandi.info/fg)

Partially proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material:

  • Lesson 5, Question 3 to the end
  • 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.

Pīnyīn Plus “flashcards” added for all expressions:

  • Up to the end of Lesson 6, Question 3

Pīnyīn Plus “flashcards” added for the more advanced expressions:

  • Up to the end of Lesson 12

More “flashcard” material will be added and proofread as time allows, and I will continue to seek ways to produce greater quantities of material in the time available while maintaining high quality. The web material is updated first, and eventually changes are grouped together and integrated into the EPUB material. (FYI, EPUBs are largely made of web material.)


Pīnyīn Plus material pages now default to the 📄 Reveal Advanced mode, which by default reveals the “flashcards” of some of the more advanced expressions. This makes it easier for new users to get a taste of the available information. If they wish, they can then select the 📘 Reveal None mode, which by default displays only Pīnyīn that’s been optimized for readability, so that it’s easy to use to follow along when the text is read aloud or discussed in Mandarin.


For more information about the thinking behind the design of Pīnyīn Plus material, check out:

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 2018-03 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 and video links which point to official pictures or videos on jw.org or the WOL. Thumbnail images help identify the pictures or videos linked to.
  • The above resources contain links to the official Mandarin MP3 audio files on jw.org.
  • On the web pages, there is a drop-down list at the top left for setting the desired text size.
  • On the web pages, the ☀️/🌙 button at the top right can be used to turn Night Theme on or off.
  • Like PDF files, EPUB files can be downloaded for offline viewing.
  • In common EPUB-reading apps like Apple’s Books (previously named iBooks), EPUB files can be annotated, meaning that notes, highlighting, etc. can be added.
  • In common EPUB-reading apps like Apple’s Books (previously named iBooks), the text size of the EPUB material can be adjusted to be quite large.
  • Apple Books (previously named 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.