MEotW: qiāndòng
The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:
What are some Mandarin expressions that involve “moving”?
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Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
MEotW: Yètèluó
The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:
What can happen when a hard-to-recognize Chinese character is encountered? Can a person who is knowledgeable and experienced with characters reliably figure out its pronunciation?
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Friday, March 17, 2023
“Worship with…Truth”
Today’s daily text reminds us that Jehovah’s true worshippers worship with TRUTH. Us Chinese fields language learners need to keep in mind that many people have been led to believe things about the Chinese languages, Chinese characters, etc. that are actually not true. Beware!
— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) March 17, 2023
Some untrue things about Chinese languages, characters, etc.:
— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) March 17, 2023
“Mandarin, Cantonese, etc. are just dialects.”
(Actually, they are separate languages.)
“Characters are primary.”
(SPEECH is primary.)
“_Pīnyīn_ is just a pronunciation aid.”
(_Pīnyīn_ is a full writing system.)
…
Why do so many people believe, and even promote, so many untruths about Chinese languages, characters, etc.? There are several generally bad reasons:
— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) March 17, 2023
* Tradition/inertia/apathy
* Pride
* Valuing political, social, etc. power, prestige, etc. over truth
* Sunk cost fallacy
* …
Avoid Linguistic Idolatry!
Jehovah deserves from us Mandarin field language learners the best Mandarin-speaking ability we can cultivate.—Mal. 1:6–8.
— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) March 16, 2023
To achieve this, avoid linguistic idolatry involving human-designed Chinese characters. Instead, use the abilities Jehovah built in to us to learn SPEECH. pic.twitter.com/JvyhCR6sms
Literal idolatry involves focusing on physical idols that are visible, instead of on the true God Jehovah, who is invisible.
— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) March 16, 2023
Linguistic idolatry with Chinese characters involves focusing on these characters that are visible, instead of on Mandarin speech, which is invisible.
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
MEotW: bìnàn suǒ
The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:
How are a couple of Mandarin expressions that mean “refuge” related to the expression that means “Kingdom Hall”?
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Monday, March 13, 2023
Whose Rules Are We Following?
By traditional Chinese rules, using _Pīnyīn_ when possible and not always using characters is “cheating”. But, who said we had to follow those rules?
— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) March 14, 2023
JEHOVAH’s rules are that sanctifying his name and advancing Kingdom interests are the top priorities, not human traditions. pic.twitter.com/bCpWh5egRr
Sunday, March 12, 2023
Seriously, What Would Jesus Do?
When he was on earth, Jesus showed that he HATED human traditions that made it harder than necessary to serve God.
— tiandi, Links News (@TiandiLinksNews) March 12, 2023
Today, language learners in the Chinese fields face the Great Wall of Characters, emplaced by tradition. Seriously, faced with this situation, what would Jesus do? pic.twitter.com/Iw4bnLus1n
Wednesday, March 08, 2023
MEotW: fā yǔyīn
The Mandarin Expression of the Week is:
What does the popularity among WeChat users of sending voice messages tell us about Chinese characters?
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