Etymology of characters by wupeiyu 10. Dec 2007
First I'd like to say I really like your website. I like the fact that you send me a sentence to learn (nearly) every day. Also, I like that you show both, pinyin and bopomofo. I'm a big fan of bopomofo, but I appreciate that I'll have to learn pinyin (for computer input etc). The 'Related Words' feature is also very helpful, as it allows me to maximise my reading and writing skills with characters that I've already learned - and ignoring those words for the time being where I don't know the characters yet.
But what would also really help to remember the characters is if you could give their etymology, how they have evolved or what the different parts of the characters mean. | oliver2223  10. Dec 2007
Thanks for your suggestion. However I think that would be a lot of work. I've seen some websites have a section where user enter how they remember characters (mnemonic), not sure if that would work. | jjfsamuel 22. Dec 2007
Just a random side note...you don't have to learn pinyin to put characters into a computer...Taiwanese people mostly use 注音 for typing. 注音 is superior to pinyin on so many levels it isn't even funny. | wupeiyu 8. Jan 2008
Thinking about it, I do still have an old bopomofo keyboard in the loft. Unfortunately, the computer and software that go with it, are kind of out of date (40 MB harddisk, PE2 was a programme that used lots of Function keys, ALT, CTRL, SHFT, etc. - not a mouse in sight! Remember those?) But as I no longer live in Taiwan, I think it's easier if I just learn pinyin. | alecsalter 9. Jan 2008
It's a very common misconception (mainly fed by Taiwanese) that 注音is superior to 拼音. I have learned both because I live in Taiwan, but, in terms of accuracy, they are exactly the same. Pinyin is probably a lot easier to learn for most foreigners. | zahornadskyj 24. Jan 2008
For me as a foreigner, 注音 was much better tool for my studies -- if nothing else, one won't confuse the sounds of latin letters encoded so deeply in the brain. I also like the bopomofo input method, not even having a bopomofo keyboard! The layout is so logical that I remembered it after an hour or so. |
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