MEotW: zìmǔ

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• zìmǔ

Where do Chinese characters come from?

Comments are enabled on this blog, so if you are so inclined, comment away!

A news feed for this blog is available here.

Jehovah’s Will Br. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More Available Covering Up to the End of Lesson 9

[NOTE: For spiritual food (which is for you yourself to learn spiritual things from, and which ideally should be in your own mother tongue), please go to jw.org.

The supplementary language-learning material mentioned in this post is for helping you to learn about how the Mandarin language is used in an official publication, so that you will be better able to help others in the Mandarin language field.]

The Jehovah’s Will (jl) brochure has been used on Bible studies for a long time, and it is now part of the Teaching Toolbox in the JW Library app. Unofficial previous-generation Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn-English material for it have been available for years, which material was based on an older version of the Jehovah’s Will brochure. Now, the following current-generation Pīnyīn Plus web material resource, based on the most recent 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure, is available:

• Jehovah’s Will Br.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Scriptures, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing the people, the activities,
  and the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure,
  2016-11 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
  can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  “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,
  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 >
  Jehovah’s Will Brochure Links (tiandi.info/jl)

In the above resource, material matching both the current 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure and the current 2020 Printing (nwt) of the Mandarin NWT Bible is now available that covers the following:

Fully Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Front Cover to the end of Lesson 1

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Lesson 2 to the end of Lesson 9

Also available is the following material matching the current 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure, in which the text of the 2016-11 Printing is different from the text of the previous printing:

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Lesson 14
• Lesson 17

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.

More current-generation Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material matching the current 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure will be made available in the above resource as time allows.

(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.)

MEotW: Pīnyīn

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• Pīnyīn

Many believe that Pīnyīn is just a pronunciation aid. However, Pīnyīn actually qualifies as, and works well as, a full writing system for Modern Standard Mandarin.

What are some other common myths and misconceptions regarding Pīnyīn?

If a Mandarin expression can only be understood when it’s written in characters, then it will lead to a failure to communicate when it’s spoken.

If a Mandarin expression can be understood when it’s spoken, then it can be understood when it’s written in _Pīnyīn_. — Troubadour WW (@troubadourww) October 24, 2020

Comments are enabled on this blog, so if you are so inclined, comment away!

A news feed for this blog is available here.

Jehovah’s Will Br. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More Available Covering Up to the End of Lesson 8

[NOTE: For spiritual food (which is for you yourself to learn spiritual things from, and which ideally should be in your own mother tongue), please go to jw.org.

The supplementary language-learning material mentioned in this post is for helping you to learn about how the Mandarin language is used in an official publication, so that you will be better able to help others in the Mandarin language field.]

The Jehovah’s Will (jl) brochure has been used on Bible studies for a long time, and it is now part of the Teaching Toolbox in the JW Library app. Unofficial previous-generation Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn-English material for it have been available for years, which material was based on an older version of the Jehovah’s Will brochure. Now, the following current-generation Pīnyīn Plus web material resource, based on the most recent 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure, is available:

• Jehovah’s Will Br.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Scriptures, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing the people, the activities,
  and the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure,
  2016-11 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
  can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  “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,
  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 >
  Jehovah’s Will Brochure Links (tiandi.info/jl)

In the above resource, material matching both the current 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure and the current 2020 Printing (nwt) of the Mandarin NWT Bible is now available that covers the following:

Fully Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Front Cover to the end of Lesson 1

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Lesson 2 to the end of Lesson 8

Also available is the following material matching the current 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure, in which the text of the 2016-11 Printing is different from the text of the previous printing:

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Lesson 14
• Lesson 17

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.

More current-generation Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material matching the current 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure will be made available in the above resource as time allows.

(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.)

tiandi.info, Links News, and MEotW on Twitter

If you use Twitter, have you checked out the Twitter account for this blog, and for the tiandi.info and Mandarin Expression of the Week blogs? Not only does it provide notifications about posts on these blogs, it’s also a place for short thoughts that don’t fit into any of these blogs, but that fit with them in spirit. For example:

Honour Jehovah God first. Don’t honour mere human cultural traditions first, no matter how proud that human culture is.

Actually, the more proud and arrogant a human culture is before God, the less we should honour it.

— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) December 14, 2020

One Bible study I had whose mother tongue was Mandarin had previously studied with the English-speaking brothers for 10 years. He wanted to get baptized, but the elders found he wasn’t clear on the immortal soul! I studied that with him in Mandarin for just 1 hour and he got it.

— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) December 13, 2020

There is a link to this Twitter account in the CHINESE FIELDS LINKS section at the top right of this blog’s web pages.

To follow the Twitter account for this blog, and for the tiandi.info and Mandarin Expression of the Week blogs, tap or click on this button:

Follow @TiandiLinksNews

Do you have any comments or questions on the above-mentioned blogs and Twitter account? Are there any other platforms that you would like to see related content on, like Instagram, etc.? Let me know by email or on Twitter!

MEotW: Zhùyīn

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• Zhùyīn

After decades of using Zhùyīn, why did China move on to Pīnyīn?

Comments are enabled on this blog, so if you are so inclined, comment away!

A news feed for this blog is available here.

Jehovah’s Will Br. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More Available Covering Up to the End of Lesson 7

[NOTE: For spiritual food (which is for you yourself to learn spiritual things from, and which ideally should be in your own mother tongue), please go to jw.org.

The supplementary language-learning material mentioned in this post is for helping you to learn about how the Mandarin language is used in an official publication, so that you will be better able to help others in the Mandarin language field.]

The Jehovah’s Will (jl) brochure has been used on Bible studies for a long time, and it is now part of the Teaching Toolbox in the JW Library app. Unofficial previous-generation Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn-English material for it have been available for years, which material was based on an older version of the Jehovah’s Will brochure. Now, the following current-generation Pīnyīn Plus web material resource, based on the most recent 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure, is available:

• Jehovah’s Will Br.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Scriptures, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing the people, the activities,
  and the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure,
  2016-11 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
  can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  “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,
  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 >
  Jehovah’s Will Brochure Links (tiandi.info/jl)

In the above resource, material matching both the current 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure and the current 2020 Printing (nwt) of the Mandarin NWT Bible is now available that covers the following:

Fully Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Front Cover to the end of Lesson 1

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Lesson 2 to the end of Lesson 7

Also available is the following material matching the current 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure, in which the text of the 2016-11 Printing is different from the text of the previous printing:

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Lesson 14
• Lesson 17

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.

More current-generation Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material matching the current 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure will be made available in the above resource as time allows.

(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.)

New Resource: Jehovah’s Will Br. Pīnyīn Plus Web Material

[NOTE: For spiritual food (which is for you yourself to learn spiritual things from, and which ideally should be in your own mother tongue), please go to jw.org.

The supplementary language-learning material mentioned in this post is for helping you to learn about how the Mandarin language is used in an official publication, so that you will be better able to help others in the Mandarin language field.]

The Jehovah’s Will (jl) brochure has been used on Bible studies for a long time, and it is now part of the Teaching Toolbox in the JW Library app. Unofficial previous-generation Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn-English material for it have been available for years, which material was based on an older version of the Jehovah’s Will brochure. Now, the following current-generation Pīnyīn Plus web material resource, based on the most recent 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure, is available:

• Jehovah’s Will Br.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Scriptures, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing the people, the activities,
  and the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure,
  2016-11 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
  can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  “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,
  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 >
  Jehovah’s Will Brochure Links (tiandi.info/jl)

In the above resource, material matching both the current 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure and the current 2020 Printing (nwt) of the Mandarin NWT Bible is now available that covers the following:

Fully Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Front Cover to the end of Lesson 1

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Lesson 2 to the end of Lesson 6

Also available is the following material matching the current 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure, in which the text of the 2016-11 Printing is different from the text of the previous printing:

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Lesson 14
• Lesson 17

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.

More current-generation Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material matching the current 2016-11 Printing of the Mandarin Jehovah’s Will brochure will be made available in the above resource as time allows.

(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.)

MEotW: jiǎntǐ zì

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• jiǎntǐ zì

Are simplified Chinese characters the ultimate writing system for Mandarin and the other Chinese languages?

Comments are enabled on this blog, so if you are so inclined, comment away!

A news feed for this blog is available here.

Good News Br. Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material Matching the 2019-08 Printing Added Covering Up to the End of Lesson 5

[NOTE: For spiritual food (which is for you yourself to learn spiritual things from, and which ideally should be in your own mother tongue), please go to jw.org.

The supplementary language-learning material mentioned in this post is for helping you to learn about how the Mandarin language is used in an official publication, so that you will be better able to help others in the Mandarin language field.]

The most recent official version of the Mandarin Good News brochure is now the 2019-08 (2019 Nián 8 Yuè) version. It uses significantly revised wording compared to the previous 2018-03 version, similarly to how the recent nwt version of the Mandarin NWT Bible uses significantly revised wording compared to the previous major version of that publication.

The Pīnyīn Plus resources based on the Mandarin Good News brochure are in the process of being revised to match the most recent 2019-08 version, with notes indicating where any material remains that is still based on the older 2018-03 version:

• 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,
  2019-08 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,
  2019-08 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
  can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  icon can be added to the home screen
  with supporting browsers,
  “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)

In the above resources, material matching both the current 2019-08 Printing of the Mandarin Good News brochure and the current 2020 Printing (nwt) of the Mandarin NWT Bible is now available that covers the following:

Fully Proofread:

• Front Cover to the end of Lesson 5

Partially Proofread:

• Lesson 12 to the end of Lesson 13

More such revised Pīnyīn Plus material will be made available as time allows.

The above-mentioned resources also contain previously prepared material based on the previous 2018-03 Printing of the Mandarin Good News brochure, some of which has been updated as indicated above:

Partially proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material:

• Lesson 6 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

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

• Up to the end of Lesson 12

(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.)

MEotW: fántǐ zì

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• fántǐ zì

How are Chinese characters kind of like guitars?

Comments are enabled on this blog, so if you are so inclined, comment away!

A news feed for this blog is available here.

MEotW: Hànzì

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• Hànzì

What is the Korean connection? Do the Chinese languages need to be written using the extraordinarily complex Chinese characters? Will we be tourists or missionaries?

Comments are enabled on this blog, so if you are so inclined, comment away!

A news feed for this blog is available here.

MEotW: fāngyán

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• fāngyán

Are Mandarin, Cantonese, etc. just dialects of “Chinese”? What‘s the difference between a dialect and a language? Why does it matter?

Comments are enabled on this blog, so if you are so inclined, comment away!

A news feed for this blog is available here.

MEotW: Yīngyǔ

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• Yīngyǔ

Are you unintentionally saying “I speak English writing” when you are trying to say “I speak English” in Mandarin?

en is the ISO 639-1 code and the IETF language tag for English.

Comments are enabled on this blog, so if you are so inclined, comment away!

A news feed for this blog is available here.

Teach Us Bk. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More Available for the Whole Book

[NOTE: For spiritual food (which is for you yourself to learn spiritual things from, and which ideally should be in your own mother tongue), please go to jw.org. The supplementary language-learning material mentioned in this post is for helping you to learn about how the Mandarin language is used in an official publication, so that you will be better able to help others in the Mandarin language field.]

The Mandarin Teach Us (bhs) book is now being studied at Mandarin Congregation Bible Study meetings, and it is also featured as an ongoing part of the Teaching Toolbox in the JW Library app. In other ways too, it has recently received much official attention.

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 the whole Mandarin Teach Us book is now available here:

• 
• Teach Us Bk.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Scriptures, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing important Bible teachings,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Teach Us book,
  2020-08 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
  can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  icon can be added to the home screen
  with supporting browsers,
  “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
  chapter, paragraph, etc.,
  links for getting around,
  picture thumbnails & links, 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 > Books >
  Teach Us Book Links (tiandi.info/bhs)

In the above resource, the following web material is now available for the Mandarin Teach Us book:

Proofread Pīnyīn Plus material:

• Beginning to the end of Ch. 1, Par. 13

Partially proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material, or more:

• Ch. 1, Par. 14 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.

Production of partially proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material or more has stayed ahead of the Mandarin Congregation Bible Study schedule. Work to advance the above resource towards having full coverage with proofread Pīnyīn Plus material will continue to be done as time allows.

Note that like several of the other Pīnyīn Plus web material resources, the above resource has the following features of progressive web apps (PWAs):

• It can be used offline in supporting browsers.
• Its icon can be added to the home screen with supporting browsers.

(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 Br. Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material Matching the 2019-08 Printing Added Covering Up to the End of Lesson 5, Question 4

[NOTE: For spiritual food (which is for you yourself to learn spiritual things from, and which ideally should be in your own mother tongue), please go to jw.org. The supplementary language-learning material mentioned in this post is for helping you to learn about how the Mandarin language is used in an official publication, so that you will be better able to help others in the Mandarin language field.]

The most recent official version of the Mandarin Good News brochure is now the 2019-08 (2019 Nián 8 Yuè) version. It uses significantly revised wording compared to the previous 2018-03 version, similarly to how the recent nwt version of the Mandarin NWT Bible uses significantly revised wording compared to the previous major version of that publication.

The Pīnyīn Plus resources based on the Mandarin Good News brochure are in the process of being revised to match the most recent 2019-08 version, with notes indicating where any material remains that is still based on the older 2018-03 version:

• 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,
  2019-08 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,
  2019-08 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
  can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  icon can be added to the home screen
  with supporting browsers,
  “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)

In the above resources, material matching both the current 2019-08 Printing of the Mandarin Good News brochure and the current 2020 Printing (nwt) of the Mandarin NWT Bible is now available that covers the following:

Fully Proofread:

• Front Cover to the end of Lesson 5, Question 4

Partially Proofread:

• Lesson 12 to the end of Lesson 13, Question 2

More such revised Pīnyīn Plus material will be made available as time allows.

The above-mentioned resources also contain previously prepared material based on the previous 2018-03 Printing of the Mandarin Good News brochure, some of which has been updated as indicated above:

Partially proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material:

• Lesson 5, Question 5 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

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

• Up to the end of Lesson 12

(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.)

MEotW: guānhuà

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• guānhuà

Why is Mandarin called “Mandarin” in English? Also, is Mandarin just a dialect?

Nope, it wasn’t because of mandarin oranges.
SirSadiq

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A news feed for this blog is available here.

Pīnyīn Plus Expressions Web Resource Icon Can Now be Added to the Home Screen

[NOTE: For spiritual food (which is for you yourself to learn spiritual things from, and which ideally should be in your own mother tongue), please go to jw.org. The supplementary language-learning material mentioned in this post is for helping you to learn about how the Mandarin language is used in an official publication, so that you will be better able to help others in the Mandarin language field.]

Nowadays, when we want to get a certain job done, many of us will reach for a smartphone or other computing device and look for a particular icon on the device’s home screen, since “there’s an app for that”. Now, Pīnyīn Plus web resources are beginning to adopt the ability of a Progressive Web App (PWA) to be installed on a user’s computing device and to add an icon to its home screen.

Combined with the ability to be used while offline (not connected to the Internet), this allows a suitably upgraded Pīnyīn Plus web resource to be launched from an icon on a computing device’s home screen and then just work like we have come to expect an app to work, even when the device is not connected to the Internet.

Installing a PWA and adding its website icon to your device’s home screen is simple. Instructions on how to add a PWA website’s icon to the home screen of an iPhone can be found here (at the bottom of the web page), and instructions on how to add a PWA website’s icon to the home screen of an Android phone using the Google Chrome web browser can be found here. On that same web page, instructions on how to add a PWA website’s icon on a Windows, Mac, or Linux PC-type computer using Google Chrome can be found here. (Recent desktop/laptop versions of the Microsoft Edge web browser work similarly, since they are now based on the same Chromium technology that desktop/laptop versions of Google Chrome are based on.) A chart showing what web browsers support this Add to home screen feature can be found here.

So far, the following Pīnyīn Plus web resources have been given the PWA-style ability to be installed on a computing device and to add an icon to its home screen:

• 
• Pīnyīn Plus Expressions
  (Pīnyīn (Pinyin) used as the default writing system,
  proofread, mobile-friendly,
  can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  icon can be added to the home screen
  with supporting browsers,
  “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
  English translations with literal & effective meanings,
  Simplified & Traditional characters,
  📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced,
  and 📘 Reveal None controls for
  all the “flashcards” in a paragraph, etc.,
  sorted mainly by Pīnyīn,
  links for index headings,
  Night Theme that can be turned on or off
  using the ☀️/🌙 button at the top right,
  adjustable text size)
  (Notes on offline usage)
• Short Links:
  Links > Vocabulary Lists >
  Pīnyīn Plus Resources (tiandi.info/pyp)

• 
• “God’s Love” Bk.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Scriptures, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing applying Bible truth,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin “God’s Love” book,
  2017-02 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
  can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  icon can be added to the home screen
  with supporting browsers,
  “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 chapter, paragraph, etc.,
  links for getting around,
  picture thumbnails & links, 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 > Books >
  “God’s Love” Book Links (tiandi.info/lv)

• 
• 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,
  2019-08 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
  can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  icon can be added to the home screen
  with supporting browsers,
  “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)

• 
• Teach Us Bk.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Scriptures, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing important Bible teachings,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Teach Us book,
  2020-08 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
  can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  icon can be added to the home screen
  with supporting browsers,
  “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
  chapter, paragraph, etc.,
  links for getting around,
  picture thumbnails & links, 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 > Books >
  Teach Us Book Links (tiandi.info/bhs)

As time allows, other Pīnyīn Plus web resources will also be enhanced with the ability to be installed on a computing device and to add an icon to its home screen.

Another change that has been made to the Pīnyīn Plus Expressions web resource is that it has been split into an index page and a data page. Now, this resource will load faster when a link to it is clicked/tapped.

MEotW: Zhōngwén

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• Zhōngwén

What’s on first? Should Chinese characters be the focus of our efforts to learn Mandarin or any other Chinese language? Says who? Who says what about this?

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A news feed for this blog is available here.

MEotW: Zhōngguó

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• Zhōngguó

Does China consider itself the middling, average, unremarkable “Middle Kingdom”? Or is it a nation that actually calls itself the centre of the world?

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A news feed for this blog is available here.

MEotW: Hányǔ

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• 
• Hányǔ

How much difference can a single Mandarin tone make? This week’s MEotW discusses the importance of putting in the effort to get Mandarin tones right.

Comments are enabled on this blog, so if you are so inclined, comment away!

A news feed for this blog is available here.

Teach Us Bk. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More Available Covering Up to the End of Ch. 18

[NOTE: For spiritual food (which is for you yourself to learn spiritual things from, and which ideally should be in your own mother tongue), please go to jw.org. The supplementary language-learning material mentioned in this post is for helping you to learn about how the Mandarin language is used in an official publication, so that you will be better able to help others in the Mandarin language field.]

The Mandarin Teach Us (bhs) book is now being studied at Mandarin Congregation Bible Study meetings, and it is also featured as an ongoing part of the Teaching Toolbox in the JW Library app. In other ways too, it has recently received much official attention.

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 covering up to the end of Chapter 18 of the Mandarin Teach Us book is now available here:

• 
• Teach Us Bk.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Scriptures, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing important Bible teachings,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Teach Us book,
  2020-08 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
  can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  icon can be added to the home screen
  with supporting browsers,
  “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
  chapter, paragraph, etc.,
  links for getting around,
  picture thumbnails & links, 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 > Books >
  Teach Us Book Links (tiandi.info/bhs)

In the above resource, the following web material is now available for the Mandarin Teach Us book:

Proofread Pīnyīn Plus material:

• Beginning to the end of Ch. 1, Par. 10

Partially proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material, or more:

• Ch. 1, Par. 11 to the end of Ch. 18;
  All the Endnotes
• 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.

Production of partially proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material or more has been staying ahead of the Mandarin Congregation Bible Study schedule. Additional work such as adding more Pīnyīn Plus inline flashcards and additional proofreading will be done as time allows.

Note that like most of the other Pīnyīn Plus web material resources, the above resource can be used offline in supporting browsers. Also, the above resource’s icon can be added to the home screen with supporting browsers.

(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.)

Learn From the Bible Bk. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More for Lesson 50 Added

[NOTE: For spiritual food (which is for you yourself to learn spiritual things from, and which ideally should be in your own mother tongue), please go to jw.org. The supplementary language-learning material mentioned in this post is for helping you to learn about how the Mandarin language is used in an official publication, so that you will be better able to help others in the Mandarin language field.]

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 Lesson 50 of the Learn From the Bible book has been added to the following resource:

• Learn From the Bible Bk.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Scriptures, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing Bible lessons and accounts,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Learn From the Bible book,
  2018-04 Printing, proofread, mobile-friendly,
  Can be used offline in supporting browsers,
  “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,
  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 >
  Learn From the Bible Book Links (tiandi.info/lfb)

In the above resource, the following web material is now available for the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book:

Proofread Pīnyīn Plus material:

• Beginning to Lesson 4

Partially proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material:

• Lesson 5 to Lesson 50
• 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.

Note that like most of the other Pīnyīn Plus web material resources, the above resource can be used offline in supporting browsers.

[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.]