The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:
Yes, that’s the “huá” in “Yēhéhuá”, Jehovah’s name in Mandarin. What does “huá” actually mean? What does it have to do with Chinese people? Check out this week’s MEotW to find out.
Comments are enabled on this blog, so if you are so inclined, comment away!
A news feed for this blog is available here.
[NOTE: For spiritual food for yourself in your own mother tongue, please go to jw.org. The supplementary material mentioned in this post is for helping you with language learning, so that you will be better equipped 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 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:
Other Pīnyīn Plus web resources will also be enhanced with this ability as time allows.
[NOTE: For spiritual food for yourself in your own mother tongue, please go to jw.org. The supplementary material mentioned in this post is for helping you with language learning, so that you will be better equipped to help others in the Mandarin language field.]
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 practical 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. Also, there is no offline option for accessing those resources when one does not have an Internet connection.
This resource that seeks to help with the above-mentioned challenges has been confirmed to match the text of the 2020-08 official Mandarin version of the “Sing Out Joyfully” to Jehovah (sjj) book on the WOL:
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:
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:
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.]
The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:
Xiǎo Mò is the name used for Jade the Jaded Young Person in this year’s Mandarin convention videos.
“Xiǎo Mò” obviously doesn’t sound like ”Jade”. Why is it used? What does it mean?
Comments are enabled on this blog, so if you are so inclined, comment away!
A news feed for this blog is available here.
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:
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:
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:
(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.)
The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:
Even though generally “pǔtōnghuà” (a previous MEotW) has been the term used in mainland China to refer to Mandarin, usage of the term “Guóyǔ” has reportedly been increasing in the Xinjiang region of China. This week’s MEotW discusses the possible implications of that.
Comments are enabled on this blog, so if you are so inclined, comment away!
A news feed for this blog is available here.
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 17 of the Mandarin Teach Us book is now available here:
In the above resource, the following web material is now available for the Mandarin Teach Us book:
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.)
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. Earlier this year, the revised 2020-05 Printing was released, and now, the current official version on the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (WOL) is the 2020-08 Printing.
The Pīnyīn Plus web material resource for the Teach Us book has been revised to match this latest 2020-08 Printing:
In the above resource, the following web material is now available for the Mandarin Teach Us book:
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.)
The official Mandarin New World Translation Bible (nwt) was recently revised. The latest official version is now the 2019 Edition, 2020 Printing (nwt).
The Pīnyīn Plus web resource below has been revised to match the latest 2019 Edition, 2020 Printing (nwt), with notes on each related page indicating where any material still based on the older major version (2001 Edition, 2007 Printing (bi12)) remains:
In the above resource, fully proofread Pīnyīn Plus web material is now available that matches many often-used scriptures in the current 2019 Edition, 2020 Printing (nwt) of the Mandarin NWT Bible.
The material in the above resource with a grey background has not yet been fully proofread, and may be based on the older 2007 printing (bi12) of the Mandarin NWT Bible. Pīnyīn material in the above resource with a golden-hued background has been proofread to ensure that it is correct Pīnyīn that matches the 2020 Printing (nwt), but not all of its “flashcards” have been added and proofread.
The introduction for the above resource explains why it’s good to use Pīnyīn as a writing system on its own.
More existing material will be revised and more new material will be added in the above resource as time allows, e.g., as part of the process of producing Pīnyīn Plus web material for scriptures for other publications. Also, scripture labels will gradually be revised in such material for other publications, to indicate material that matches the 2020 Printing of the Mandarin NWT Bible (nwt).
(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.)
The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:
Ānnà is the name used for Neeta the self-professed Neat Freak in this year’s Mandarin convention videos.
This week’s MEotW discusses why “Ānnà” is used when it doesn’t sound like ”Neeta”. Another convention connection to “Ānnà” is discussed as well.
Comments are enabled on this blog, so if you are so inclined, comment away!
A news feed for this blog is available here.
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.
This resource that seeks to help with the above-mentioned challenges has been confirmed to match the text of the 2020-03 official Mandarin version of the “Sing Out Joyfully” to Jehovah (sjj) book on the WOL:
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:
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:
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.]