New Feature: Ability to Add the Icon of a Pīnyīn Plus Web Resource to the Home Screen

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 website’s icon is simple. Instructions on how to add a PWA website’s icon to an iPhone’s home screen can be found here, and instructions on how to add a PWA website’s icon to an Android phone’s home screen 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. (Those instructions also work on recent desktop/laptop versions of Microsoft Edge, which 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 add an icon to a computing device’s home screen:

• 
• 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,
  2020-05 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)

Other Pīnyīn Plus web resources will also be enhanced with this ability as time allows.

Teach Us Bk. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More Available Covering Up to the End of Ch. 14

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 14 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,
  2020-05 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
  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. 14;
  Endnotes 1 to 30
• 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.

(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 4

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 most recent 2019 (nwt) version of the Mandarin NWT Bible uses significantly revised wording compared to the previous 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,
  “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 most recent 2019-08 Printing of the Mandarin Good News brochure and the most recent 2019 Printing (nwt) of the Mandarin NWT Bible is now available that covers the following:

Fully Proofread:

• Front Cover to the end of Lesson 4

Partially Proofread:

• Lesson 12 to the end of Lesson 13, Question 1

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:

Proofread Pīnyīn Plus material:

• Up to the end of Lesson 5, Question 3

Partially proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material:

• Lesson 5, Question 4 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.)

Learn From the Bible Bk. Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Web Material Added Covering Up to the End of Lesson 4

Proofread Pīnyīn Plus web material for the Learn From the Bible book covering up to the end of Lesson 4 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 the end of Lesson 4

Partially proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material:

• Lesson 5 to Lesson 46
• 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.)

Teach Us Bk. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More Available Covering Up to the End of Ch. 13

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 13 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,
  2020-05 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
  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:

• Ch. 1, Par. 11 to the end of Ch. 13
• 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.

(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.)

Bible Teach Bk. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More Available Covering Up to the End of Ch. 14

The Bible Teach (bh) book has been an important book for conducting Bible studies for a long time. 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 14 of the Mandarin Bible Teach book is now available here:

• Bible Teach Bk.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Scriptures, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing important Bible teachings,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Bible Teach book,
  2017-03 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
  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 >
  Bible Teach Book Links (tiandi.info/bh)

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

Proofread Pīnyīn Plus material:

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

Partially proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material:

• Ch. 1, Par. 11 to the end of Ch. 14;
• Appx. 1 to Appx. 9
• 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 work on the above resource had to be diverted for a while to focus on the Teach Us book Pīnyīn Plus web material resource, but fortunately, there is much overlap and synergy between these two resources. E.g., it seems that the scriptures used are basically the same. So, going forward, work on one of these resources will have an unusual amount of applicability to the other one as well.

(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.)

“Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. Proofread Pīnyīn Lyrics and Musical Notation Available for All the Songs Except the Last One for Mandarin 2020 Conventions

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 current songbook, tiandi.info/sjj, has the link and additional information.) Note, however, that the currently available official Pīnyīn PDF file (2020 Nián 3 Yuè Printing) 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 jw.org and 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.

Proofread Pīnyīn web material (more correct than computer-generated Pīnyīn like that displayed by apps like Equipd, and more mobile-friendly than PDFs) and proofread musical notation 🎼 with Pīnyīn lyrics for all the songs (except the last one) scheduled for Mandarin 2020 conventions have 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,
  2019-11 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:

• 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 in the “Sing Out Joyfully” (sjj) songbook.
• Mandarin 2019–2020 circuit assemblies: Proofread Pīnyīn lyrics and musical notation 🎼 are available for all the songs scheduled.
• Mandarin 2020 conventions: Proofread Pīnyīn lyrics and musical notation 🎼 are available for all the songs scheduled, except for the last one.

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, expressions in the Pīnyīn lyrics do not trigger a Pīnyīn Plus “flashcard” to appear next to them as usual, because the lyrics 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 these links will cause a Pīnyīn Plus “flashcard” to appear near the top of the display.

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 📱.

[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.]