<![CDATA[Comments on: Introduction to Pinyin]]> pinyin? In this illuminating series, the ChinesePod team will help you to master the Chinese phonetic system. Whether you're just starting to learn Mandarin, or trying to improve your pronunciation, this series is sure to be a big help. Listen to this program and follow along with the ChinesePod Pronunciation Guide and Pinyin Chart, and bring your Chinese to a new level of excellence!]]> 2009-06-24 18:00:00 <![CDATA[By: alexyzye]]> How can Pinyin make it easier for Chinese people to learn Chinese when it requires people to learn another character set, in addition to Chinese characters? I have older relatives who read/write Chinese, but do not know Pinyin. What system was used to teach pronunciation prior to Pinyin?

I used to think that Pinyin was invented to make it easy and quick to type Chinese characters in computer / text messages using standard ASCII keyboards.

 

]]> How can Pinyin make it easier for Chinese people to learn Chinese when it requires people to learn another character set, in addition to Chinese characters? I have older relatives who read/write Chinese, but do not know Pinyin. What system was used to teach pronunciation prior to Pinyin?

I used to think that Pinyin was invented to make it easy and quick to type Chinese characters in computer / text messages using standard ASCII keyboards.

 

]]> <![CDATA[By: RJ]]> alexyzye

it made it possible to describe the sound of a character phonetically. Before that there were other systems but without any system word of mouth was the only way.

Pinyin was invented long before computers and sms.:-) but it did work out rather well didnt it?

]]> alexyzye

it made it possible to describe the sound of a character phonetically. Before that there were other systems but without any system word of mouth was the only way.

Pinyin was invented long before computers and sms.:-) but it did work out rather well didnt it?

]]> <![CDATA[By: pearltowerpete]]> Hi alexyzye

Your questions are more complicated than they may seem. John probably has even more complete answers, but I'll offer a few here.

Before pinyin there was 注音符号 aka bopomofo， which is still used by some Taiwanese. The earlier Romanization system was Wade-Giles, but that was created by a couple of Western scholars. It was intended to help Westerners talk about their experiences in "Fuchow", "Chungking" and "Soochow"--- it was never used by Chinese as they learned to read. Pinyin can be used in this way, too, but that's not its primary purpose.

In terms of difficulty for young students, the important thing about pinyin is that it is not the phonetic system of English or French or any other language. You will not encounter weird exceptions like those that happen in the Latin languages or English.This means that once you have learned the sound for each pinyin letter and combination, you are all set. English may be the king of these weird exceptions--- "bough?" What in the world is that?

So in terms of difficulty, yes, they do have to learn 26 letters and the corresponding sounds. But overall, it's quite a standard way of learning character pronunciation.

]]> Hi alexyzye

Your questions are more complicated than they may seem. John probably has even more complete answers, but I'll offer a few here.

Before pinyin there was 注音符号 aka bopomofo， which is still used by some Taiwanese. The earlier Romanization system was Wade-Giles, but that was created by a couple of Western scholars. It was intended to help Westerners talk about their experiences in "Fuchow", "Chungking" and "Soochow"--- it was never used by Chinese as they learned to read. Pinyin can be used in this way, too, but that's not its primary purpose.

In terms of difficulty for young students, the important thing about pinyin is that it is not the phonetic system of English or French or any other language. You will not encounter weird exceptions like those that happen in the Latin languages or English.This means that once you have learned the sound for each pinyin letter and combination, you are all set. English may be the king of these weird exceptions--- "bough?" What in the world is that?

So in terms of difficulty, yes, they do have to learn 26 letters and the corresponding sounds. But overall, it's quite a standard way of learning character pronunciation.

]]> <![CDATA[By: pearltowerpete]]> By the way,  the word bopomofo comes from the sounds of the first letters in the alphabet. That is also the origin of the English word "alphabet." α + β

]]> By the way,  the word bopomofo comes from the sounds of the first letters in the alphabet. That is also the origin of the English word "alphabet." α + β

]]> <![CDATA[By: wenxinxunjie]]>     拼音的好处在于它你能让人认识更多的中文字。

    I think the advantage of pinyin is that they can make it easy to pronounce Chinese correctly .sorry ,I'm weak in English.

]]>     拼音的好处在于它你能让人认识更多的中文字。

    I think the advantage of pinyin is that they can make it easy to pronounce Chinese correctly .sorry ,I'm weak in English.

]]> <![CDATA[By: changye]]> Hi alexyzye

Hanyu Pinyin was invented mainly for purspose of learning putonghua pronunciations. Conversely speaking, it may be said that Chinese people don't need Pinyin, in so far as they only learn local/dialect pronunciations. That said, Pinyin has already become a very convinient tool for inputting Chinese characters, so, in any case, modern Chinese people need to learn Hanyu Pinyin.

]]> Hi alexyzye

Hanyu Pinyin was invented mainly for purspose of learning putonghua pronunciations. Conversely speaking, it may be said that Chinese people don't need Pinyin, in so far as they only learn local/dialect pronunciations. That said, Pinyin has already become a very convinient tool for inputting Chinese characters, so, in any case, modern Chinese people need to learn Hanyu Pinyin.

]]> <![CDATA[By: bendidelaowai]]> hmm...how to get it on my itunes feed? I chceked the box only now:(

]]> hmm...how to get it on my itunes feed? I chceked the box only now:(

]]> <![CDATA[By: juzi]]> Sorry, if this is a bit off-topic but to answer some questions about other input methods, I know Chinese who use 五笔 (wubi) method for typing Chinese characters which seems more difficult to me but is much faster than pinyin once this technique is mastered. This method is based on radical stroke order: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wubi_method

And those I know from Taiwan, use 注音 as Pete already mentioned. This is also a phonetic system but without the "abc's..." instead "ㄅㄆㄇ..." These are also set on keyboards and cell phones for Chinese people to input.

]]> Sorry, if this is a bit off-topic but to answer some questions about other input methods, I know Chinese who use 五笔 (wubi) method for typing Chinese characters which seems more difficult to me but is much faster than pinyin once this technique is mastered. This method is based on radical stroke order: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wubi_method

And those I know from Taiwan, use 注音 as Pete already mentioned. This is also a phonetic system but without the "abc's..." instead "ㄅㄆㄇ..." These are also set on keyboards and cell phones for Chinese people to input.

]]> <![CDATA[By: jennyzhu]]> Just to add some daily experience to Pete's comment, since Chinese is a language of which the writing doesn't tell you anything about how to read the words, so pinyin is a system that indicates the pronunciation. For school kids, pinyin helps tremendously in the learning of characters by providing a system of sounds which all kids have learned how to pronounce. From reading the pinyin, kids will know what the new characters sound like, then they learn how to write them. Even as an adult, we occasionally run into words that they we don't know, to learn those, we check both pinyin and meaning.

]]> Just to add some daily experience to Pete's comment, since Chinese is a language of which the writing doesn't tell you anything about how to read the words, so pinyin is a system that indicates the pronunciation. For school kids, pinyin helps tremendously in the learning of characters by providing a system of sounds which all kids have learned how to pronounce. From reading the pinyin, kids will know what the new characters sound like, then they learn how to write them. Even as an adult, we occasionally run into words that they we don't know, to learn those, we check both pinyin and meaning.

]]> <![CDATA[By: bendidelaowai]]> hurrayy!!! I have a new toy:)) cpod pinyin chart with settings: tones 1-4:)) Thanks guys!

]]> hurrayy!!! I have a new toy:)) cpod pinyin chart with settings: tones 1-4:)) Thanks guys!

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