Sunday, February 28, 2021

Jehovah’s Will Br. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More Available Covering Up to the End of Lesson 21

[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 web icon
  • 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,
    PWA Logo can be used offline in supporting browsers,
    PWA Logo 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,
    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;
  • Lesson 14

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

  • Lesson 2 to the end of Lesson 13;
  • Lesson 15 to the end of Lesson 21

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

Fully Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material:

  • Lesson 14

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

  • Lesson 17;
  • Lesson 21

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.)


Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Good News Br. Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material Matching the 2019-08 Printing Added Covering Up to the End of Lesson 6, Question 3

[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 web icon
  • 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,
    PWA Logo can be used offline in supporting browsers,
    PWA Logo 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 6, Question 3

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, 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.)


Monday, February 22, 2021

MEotW: fǎlǜ

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

What is one type of change reflected in how certain Bible words are now translated in the current version of the Mandarin New World Translation Bible?


In the movie _The Princess Bride_, Inigo Montoya says something to Vizzini
Also, a precautionary admonition for us Mandarin-learners


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


A news feed for this blog is available here.


Sunday, February 21, 2021

Jehovah’s Will Br. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More Available Covering Up to the End of Lesson 20

[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 web icon
  • 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,
    PWA Logo can be used offline in supporting browsers,
    PWA Logo 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,
    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;
  • Lesson 14

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

  • Lesson 2 to the end of Lesson 13;
  • Lesson 15 to the end of Lesson 20

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

Fully Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material:

  • Lesson 14

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

  • 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.)


Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Jehovah’s Will Br. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More Available Covering Up to the End of Lesson 19

[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 web icon
  • 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,
    PWA Logo can be used offline in supporting browsers,
    PWA Logo 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,
    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;
  • Lesson 14

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

  • Lesson 2 to the end of Lesson 13;
  • Lesson 15 to the end of Lesson 19

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

Fully Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material:

  • Lesson 14

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

  • 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.)


Monday, February 15, 2021

MEotW: yǔzú

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

Is a language family divided first into groups or branches? Are Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc. just dialects of “Chinese”?


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


A news feed for this blog is available here.


Saturday, February 13, 2021

Bible Teach Bk. Pīnyīn Plus 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 in the process of adopting 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.


PWA Logo


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 Icon to the Home Screen

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/iPad can be found here/here (at the bottom of each 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.


Installable Pīnyīn Plus Web Resources with Icons

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:


  • Bible Teach Bk. Pīnyīn Plus web icon
  • 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,
    PWA Logo can be used offline in supporting browsers,
    PWA Logo 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 >
    Bible Teach Book Links (tiandi.info/bh)

  • Jehovah’s Will Br. Pīnyīn Plus web icon
  • 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,
    PWA Logo can be used offline in supporting browsers,
    PWA Logo 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,
    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)

  • Pīnyīn Plus Expressions web icon
  • Pīnyīn Plus Expressions
    (Pīnyīn (Pinyin) used as the default writing system,
    proofread, mobile-friendly,
    PWA Logo can be used offline in supporting browsers,
    PWA Logo 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 web icon
  • “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,
    PWA Logo can be used offline in supporting browsers,
    PWA Logo 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 web icon
  • 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,
    PWA Logo can be used offline in supporting browsers,
    PWA Logo 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 web icon
  • 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,
    PWA Logo can be used offline in supporting browsers,
    PWA Logo 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.


Tuesday, February 09, 2021

Bible Teach Bk. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More Available Covering Up to the End of Ch. 15

[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 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 15 of the Mandarin Bible Teach book (2017-03 Printing) 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,
    PWA Logo 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. 12

Partially proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus material:

  • Ch. 1, Par. 13 to the end of Ch. 15;
  • Appx. 1 to Appx. 9;
  • Appx. 12
  • 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.)


Monday, February 08, 2021

MEotW: yǔxì

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

What is Mandarin’s place in its language family tree? It’s a simple question—or is it?


The Pinwheel Galaxy, another kind of xì
The Pinwheel Galaxy, another kind of


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Saturday, February 06, 2021

Jehovah’s Will Br. Partially Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or More Available Covering Up to the End of Lesson 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 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 web icon
  • 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,
    PWA Logo can be used offline in supporting browsers,
    PWA Logo 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,
    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;
  • Lesson 14

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

  • Lesson 2 to the end of Lesson 13;
  • Lesson 15 to the end of Lesson 18

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

Fully Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material:

  • Lesson 14

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

  • 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.)


Wednesday, February 03, 2021

Good News Br. Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material Matching the 2019-08 Printing Added Covering Up to the End of Lesson 6, Question 2

[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 web icon
  • 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,
    PWA Logo can be used offline in supporting browsers,
    PWA Logo 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 6, Question 2

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, 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

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.)


Monday, February 01, 2021

MEotW: Xībānyá Yǔ

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

How many people speak Spanish, compared to how many people speak other languages? What is Spanish’s place in its language family tree?


ES Spanish Language Symbol ISO 639-1 IETF Language Tag Icon
es is the ISO 639-1 code and the IETF language tag for Spanish.


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