Was Life Created? Br. Proofread Pīnyīn or Pīnyīn Plus Web Material Added for the Beginning to the End of P. 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 Was Life Created? (lc) brochure continues to be useful for discussing whether life was created. In fact, in the JW Library app, the English version of it was recently updated to the December 2022 Printing, and the Mandarin version was recently updated to the February 2023 Printing. To help us Mandarin field language learners to be prepared language-wise to make good use of this brochure without being unnecessarily hindered by the Great Wall of Chinese characters that’s been put in place by mere human tradition and cultural pride, the following unofficial Pīnyīn Plus web material resource, that now matches the current Mandarin 2023-02 Printing, is being made available:

• 
• Was Life Created? Br.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing whether life was created,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure,
  2023-02 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 expression to reveal its “flashcard”,
  tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn expression
  to hide the “flashcard”),
  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 section, 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 >
  Was Life Created? Brochure Links (tiandi.info/lc)

In the above resource, material matching both the current 2023-02 Printing of the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure and the current 2023 Study Edition (nwtsty) of the Mandarin NWT Bible is now available that covers the following:

Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Front Cover to the end of “Introduction”

Proofread Pīnyīn or Pīnyīn Plus Web Material:

• “What Do You Believe?”;
• “Evolution—Myths and Facts”, Par. 1 to the end of the brochure

Pīnyīn material with a golden-hued background has been proofread, but not all of its “flashcards” have been added and proofread.

Links for the old 3-line files can be found at the Was Life Created? Brochure Links (tiandi.info/lc) short link. (The previously-existing Pīnyīn-only resources have been replaced by this next-generation Pīnyīn Plus resource.)

The old 3-line files together with this new Pīnyīn Plus web resource cover the entire Was Life Created? brochure. (The 3-line files were based on an older version of the brochure, though.) Also, this Pīnyīn Plus web resource (which can be used offline in supporting browsers) contains no more Pīnyīn-only material that has only been partially proofread—all the Pīnyīn-only material has now been fully proofread.

More Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus web material based on the Mandarin Was Life Created? 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: suàn buliǎo

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• suàn buliǎo

Critics of Pīnyīn like to talk about the different words in Mandarin that sound the same, but what about the different Mandarin words that are written with the same characters?

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

MEotW: húzi

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• húzi

What do the Bible and the organization show us about the relative importance of beards and Chinese characters?

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

MEotW: tiānzhēn

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• tiānzhēn

How can we avoid being naive about evolution/creation, or about learning Mandarin?

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

Was Life Created? Br. Proofread Pīnyīn or Pīnyīn Plus Web Material Available for P. 18, Par. 1 to the End

[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 Was Life Created? (lc) brochure continues to be useful for discussing whether life was created. In fact, in the JW Library app, the English version of it was recently updated to the December 2022 Printing, and the Mandarin version was recently updated to the February 2023 Printing. To help us Mandarin field language learners to be prepared language-wise to make good use of this brochure without being unnecessarily hindered by the Great Wall of Chinese characters that’s been put in place by mere human tradition and cultural pride, the following unofficial Pīnyīn Plus web material resource, that now matches the current Mandarin 2023-02 Printing, is being made available:

• 
• Was Life Created? Br.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing whether life was created,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure,
  2023-02 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 expression to reveal its “flashcard”,
  tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn expression
  to hide the “flashcard”),
  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 > Brochures >
  Was Life Created? Brochure Links (tiandi.info/lc)

In the above resource, material matching both the current 2023-02 Printing of the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure and the current 2023 Study Edition (nwtsty) of the Mandarin NWT Bible is now available that covers the following:

Proofread Pīnyīn or Pīnyīn Plus Web Material:

• “Evolution​—Myths and Facts”, Par. 1 to the end of the brochure

Pīnyīn material with a golden-hued background has been proofread, but not all of its “flashcards” have been added and proofread.

Links for the old 3-line files can be found at the Was Life Created? Brochure Links (tiandi.info/lc) short link. (The previously-existing Pīnyīn-only resources have been replaced by this next-generation Pīnyīn Plus resource.)

Now, the old 3-line files together with this new Pīnyīn Plus web resource cover the entire Was Life Created? brochure. (The 3-line files were based on an older version of the brochure, though.) Also, this Pīnyīn Plus web resource (which can be used offline in supporting browsers) contains no more Pīnyīn-only material that has only been partially proofread—all the Pīnyīn-only material has now been fully proofread.

More Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus web material based on the Mandarin Was Life Created? 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: Origin of Life 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 Origin of Life (lf) brochure continues to be useful for discussing how life came to exist. In fact, it, along with the Was Life Created? brochure, has been added to the Teaching Toolbox in the JW Library app. To help us Mandarin field language learners to be prepared language-wise to make good use of this brochure without being unnecessarily hindered by the Great Wall of Chinese characters that’s mandated by mere human tradition and cultural pride, the following unofficial Pīnyīn Plus web material resource is being made available:

• 
• Origin of Life Br.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing the origin of life,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Origin of Life brochure,
  2010 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 expression to reveal its “flashcard”,
  tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn expression
  to hide the “flashcard”),
  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 > Brochures >
  Origin of Life Brochure Links (tiandi.info/lf)

In the above resource, material matching both the current 2010 Printing of the Mandarin Origin of Life brochure and the current 2023 Study Edition (nwtsty) of the Mandarin NWT Bible is now available that covers the following:

Fully Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Front Cover to Question 1, Par. 2

Proofread Pīnyīn or Better:

• Question 1, Par. 3 to the End of Question 1

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.

An old Simplified Chinese-Pīnyīn-English 3-line PDF file is also available, which covers the entire brochure, but which is not fully proofread. The link for the download page for this old 3-line PDF file can be found at the Origin of Life Brochure Links (tiandi.info/lf) short link.

More Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus web material based on the Mandarin Origin of Life 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 Threads

There is now an official account for this blog, tiandi.info, and the Mandarin Expression of the Week blog on the Threads social network:

• tiandi.info, Links News, and MEotW on Threads
  (https://www.threads.net/@tiandilinksnews)

The above link has been added to the Chinese Fields Links sidebar on the right side of this blog.

If you use Threads, please check out the above-mentioned account and give it a follow!

Jesus Opposed Wastefulness

Jesus opposed wastefulness.

With their unnecessary, self-indulgent complexity, Chinese characters are wasteful. And since we are dedicated to Jehovah, the time and energy wasted are *Jehovah’s,* not just our own.

Use _Pīnyīn_ when you can; just use characters when you have to. pic.twitter.com/jkYcWGXRO8

— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) December 4, 2023

MEotW: shēn‐lín‐qí‐jìng

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• shēn‐lín‐qí‐jìng

How can we talk in Mandarin about how reading the Bible can seem to transport us to another time and place?

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

Learn From the Bible Bk. Proofread Pīnyīn Web Material or Better for Lesson 61 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.]

Proofread Pīnyīn web material (more correct than computer-generated Pīnyīn like that displayed by apps like Equipd, and more mobile-friendly than PDFs) or better for Lesson 61 of the Learn From the Bible book has been added to the following resource:

• 
• Learn From the Bible Bk.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, 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,
  2021-09 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 expression
  to reveal its “flashcard”,
  tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn expression
  to hide the “flashcard”),
  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 59
• 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.

Proofread Pīnyīn and partially proofread Pīnyīn Plus material:

• Lesson 60 to Lesson 61
• 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. Also, an 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.]

MEotW: kǒngbù huódòng

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• kǒngbù huódòng

What are some of the ways in which the Mandarin equivalents of various English -isms are constructed?

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

MEotW: Yànwén

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• Yànwén

Is Pīnyīn the Hangul of Mandarin?

 metalslick

The Korean text “Joseongeul” and “Hangeul,” written in Hangul, the native Korean script. [source]

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

MEotW: bǎixìng

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• bǎixìng

Why does Mandarin use an expression literally meaning “hundred surnames” to refer to a nation’s people?

An example of the Chinese poem “Hundred Family Surnames” written in Chinese characters and in ʼPhags-pa script (For more information on the ʼPhags-pa script, see the MEotW post on “cuò”.)

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

Use Pīnyīn as a Full Writing System, Serve Jehovah Better in the Mandarin Field

Chinese characters and _Pīnyīn_ both represent Mandarin speech. However, characters demand that attention be focused on their own unnecessarily complex visual designs, while _Pīnyīn_ allows us to focus on Mandarin speech itself, which is the actual primary aspect of Mandarin. pic.twitter.com/3TWOHVFmZK

— Troubadour WW (@troubadourww) November 10, 2023

When employed as a pronunciation aid for Chinese characters, _Pīnyīn_ is made to serve the characters, and the traditional Chinese culture they represent.

When employed as a full writing system for Mandarin, _Pīnyīn_ serves US, helping us reach our full potential with Mandarin. pic.twitter.com/dhh7th2B83

— Troubadour WW (@troubadourww) November 10, 2023

…and as _Pīnyīn_ helps us reach our full potential when it comes to how good our Mandarin can be, we can serve Jehovah and help interested ones better and better in the Mandarin field. https://t.co/ENCM0MsSKc

— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) November 10, 2023

_Pīnyīn_ Plus material uses _Pīnyīn_ as a full writing system, maximizing the ability of _Pīnyīn_ to help us serve Jehovah better in the Mandarin field.

The Pinyin Typist app that I developed helps us use _Pīnyīn_ as a full writing system on the iPhone, iPad, & iPod touch. pic.twitter.com/fmuAzTkZYw

— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) November 10, 2023

Like Jeremiah, Make Your Own Choice—Reject Linguistic Idolatry

Most of the Israelites of Jeremiah’s time stuck to their literal idolatry, and most of the Chinese world of our time will likely stick to the linguistic idolatry of prioritizing visible Chinese characters over invisible speech, which is actually the primary aspect of language.

— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) November 10, 2023

In spite of what most around him were doing, Jeremiah chose to reject idolatry and to stick to the invisible true God.

Similarly, we can choose to reject the linguistic idolatry of prioritizing visible Chinese characters, and instead rightly focus on invisible Mandarin speech.

— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) November 10, 2023

MEotW: yì‐xiāng‐qíngyuàn

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• yì‐xiāng‐qíngyuàn

How does the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure express that the idea that mutations can produce new species has no connection with reality?

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

MEotW: Hāmǐjíduōdùn

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• Hāmǐjíduōdùn

Do Chinese characters bypass speech to directly represent meaning?

Table from p. 129 of the book The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy, by John DeFrancis

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

MEotW: jiéle hūn

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• jiéle hūn

Should we Chinese field language learners view the Learn From the Bible book as being “just stories for children”?

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

New Resource: Short Link for the Bearing Witness Book

Next week, we will begin studying the Bearing Witness (bt) book at the Congregation Bible Study. A list of resources related to this book, that may be helpful to Chinese field language learners, is now available at:

• Bearing Witness Book Links (tiandi.info/bt)

Besides listing some great new official resources that are now available, this short link also lists the refreshed and re-uploaded web page for downloading the 3-line XLP-iPhone-A5 LN-A PDF files that had been made for the Bearing Witness book years ago, when it had previously been studied at the CBS. Perhaps some will find the particular features of these files helpful. (It should be noted, though, that the material in these files was based on an older printing of the Mandarin Bearing Witness book.)

The Enjoy Life Forever! Bk. Pīnyīn Plus Web Resource Now Matches the 2023-07 Official Mandarin Version on the WOL

[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 Enjoy Life Forever! (lff) book is now officially recommended for use on Bible studies, and it is now part of the Teaching Toolbox in the JW Library app. To help us Mandarin field language learners to be prepared language-wise to make good use of this new book without being unnecessarily hindered by the Great Wall of Chinese characters that’s mandated by mere human tradition and cultural pride, the following unofficial Pīnyīn Plus web material resource is being made available, which matches the 2023-07 Printing now on the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY:

• 
• Enjoy Life Forever! Bk.
  (Pīnyīn Plus, Web)
  (rich information about Mandarin speech
  for discussing basic Bible teachings,
  as represented by the text of the
  Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book,
  2023-07 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 expression to reveal its “flashcard”,
  tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn expression
  to hide the “flashcard”),
  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, & transcripts,
  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 >
  Enjoy Life Forever! Book Links (tiandi.info/lff)

Videos are used extensively in the Enjoy Life Forever! book, and a noteworthy feature of the above resource is Pīnyīn Plus video transcripts. These should help us Mandarin field language learners to analyze and understand the Mandarin speech used in the many videos referenced in the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book. This in turn should help us make more effective use of these videos while participating in Mandarin Bible discussions using this book.

Also, using the Pīnyīn Plus video transcripts while watching and listening to the corresponding Mandarin videos gives us good practice at listening to Mandarin speech, with help when needed so that we can actually follow along and understand it, and learn to use it ourselves in the future.

(Tapping/clicking on the above image will take you to the web page represented.)

In the above resource, material matching both the current 2023-07 Printing of the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book and the current 2023 Study Edition (nwtsty) of the Mandarin NWT Bible is now available that covers the following:

Fully Proofread Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Front Cover to the end of Lesson 02

Partially Proofread Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus Material:

• Lesson 03 to Lesson 12, Point 5;
• Lesson 25, up to Point 2;
• Get Started Reading the Bible;
• Track Your Bible Reading

(Even in the latter category above, headings and relatively short paragraphs are typically rendered with fully proofread Pīnyīn Plus material.)

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 Pīnyīn and Pīnyīn Plus web material based on the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book 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: bàogào

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• bàogào

What does changing field service reports have to do with changing technologies?

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

Readiness to Follow Can Be Good, But Not Always

Readiness to follow the Japanese emperor & armed forces during World War II:
BAD

Readiness to follow Jehovah and his organization:
GOOD

Readiness to follow human traditions like those involving Chinese characters:
BAD

Readiness to use new, better ways to serve God:
GOOD pic.twitter.com/pekFXSpeAJ

— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) October 11, 2023

MEotW: mìmì

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• mìmì

Ultimately, in the Chinese fields, how valuable or not valuable is knowledge of the secrets of Chinese characters?

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

Proofread Musical Notation 🎼 with Pīnyīn Lyrics Available for All the Songs for Mandarin 2023–2024 Circuit Assemblies

[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.]

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.

Unofficial language-learning materials for all the songs for Mandarin 2023–2024 circuit assemblies, in the forms of proofread musical notation 🎼 with Pīnyīn lyrics and proofread Pīnyīn web material (more correct than computer-generated Pīnyīn like that displayed by apps like Equipd, and more mobile-friendly than PDFs) or better, 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,
  2020-08 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 expression to reveal its “flashcard”,
  tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn expression
  to hide it the “flashcard”),
  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, verse, 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 web resource on iPhone and on iPad 📱. (It can also be used offline with apps like GoodReader, Documents, etc.) Tap/click on a screenshot to see it full-size.

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 better is available for all the songs in the “Sing Out Joyfully” (sjj) songbook.
• Mandarin 2023 conventions: Proofread Pīnyīn lyrics or better and proofread musical notation 🎼 with Pīnyīn lyrics are available for all the songs scheduled, including the 2023 convention song “It Will Not Be Late!”.
• Mandarin 2023–2024 circuit assemblies: Proofread Pīnyīn lyrics or better and proofread musical notation 🎼 with Pīnyīn lyrics are available for all the songs scheduled.

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 📱 running iOS, iPadOS, Android, etc. 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.]

BREAKING NEWS: The Latest Update of the JW Library App Supports Pīnyīn

BREAKING NEWS:

In the latest update of the JW Library app (iOS/iPadOS):

“14.1
Sep 29, 2023

Display pinyin and furigana pronunciation guides for Chinese and Japanese, when available.”

I haven’t found anything yet with _Pīnyīn_—updated files may need to be downloaded first.

— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) September 30, 2023

A friend who uses Android confirmed to me that this new version of the JW Library app with support for _Pīnyīn_ is now available for Android too. Publication updates with support for _Pīnyīn_ are required for _Pīnyīn_ to be visible, and these are starting to be available as well.

— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) September 30, 2023

The JW Library app’s **Display Pinyin** setting is similar to the **Pinyin** checkbox in the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY.

In the JW Library app, when you navigate to a chapter/lesson/etc. that supports this setting, a menu item for it will appear in the **More (…)** menu: pic.twitter.com/c8arfkMhpf

— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) October 8, 2023

At the time of this writing, the JW Library page on Apple’s App Store and the JW Library page on the Google Play store both show this new version 14.1, dated September 29, 2023, as being available in my location. (Due to the technical challenges involved in making apps available for download worldwide, an app version may become available in different parts of the world at slightly different times.) Pīnyīn thus becoming available in the JW Library app is good news for us Mandarin field language learners, since it represents additional ongoing real-world official support for us from Jehovah’s organization!

MEotW: tūbiàn

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• tūbiàn

How can we talk in Mandarin about mutations, which are the focus of Myth 1 about evolution?

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

MEotW: huánjìng

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• huánjìng

What are some things we can say when talking to people in the Mandarin field about the environment?

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

MEotW: áizhèng

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• áizhèng

How does the Mandarin word for “cancer” illustrate the best way to deal with Mandarin’s many homophones?

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

MEotW: tiānxià

The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:

• tiānxià

What do the Chinese cultural concepts translated as “Heaven” and “All Under Heaven” refer to?

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

A news feed for this blog is available here.

Proofread Pīnyīn Lyrics or Better Available for All the Songs for Mandarin 2023–2024 Circuit Assemblies

[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.]

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.

Unofficial language-learning materials for all the songs for Mandarin 2023–2024 circuit assemblies, in the forms of proofread Pīnyīn web material (more correct than computer-generated Pīnyīn like that displayed by apps like Equipd, and more mobile-friendly than PDFs) or better, 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,
  2020-08 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 expression to reveal its “flashcard”,
  tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn expression
  to hide it the “flashcard”),
  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, verse, 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 web resource on iPhone and on iPad 📱. (It can also be used offline with apps like GoodReader, Documents, etc.) Tap/click on a screenshot to see it full-size.

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 better is available for all the songs in the “Sing Out Joyfully” (sjj) songbook.
• Mandarin 2023 conventions: Proofread Pīnyīn lyrics or better and proofread musical notation 🎼 with Pīnyīn lyrics are available for all the songs scheduled, including the 2023 convention song “It Will Not Be Late!”.
• Mandarin 2023–2024 circuit assemblies: Proofread Pīnyīn lyrics or better are available for all the songs scheduled.

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 📱 running iOS, iPadOS, Android, etc. 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.]