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Why Use English Phonics to Learn Mandarin?

Simply because it's the fastest and most easy way!

Phonics is the branch of language study that deals with specific speech sounds, their production and combination, and their written symbols, or phonograms, (what we commonly refer to as letters). Linguists classify these sounds into a number of abstract categories called phonics, which are a family of closely related speech sounds regarded as a single sound and represented in phonetic transcription with specific, learned symbols (again, referring to letters). An example would be the family sounds of "r" in bring, red and round. Any differences between such sounds are due to the modifying influence of the adjacent sounds.

Phonemes are the building blocks of early reading. As children, we were all taught how to decode written language - breaking them into parts that make each sound. There's an entire study of this broad subject, and plenty of written by men and women far more knowledgeable on the subject than myself, the likes of Priscilla Griffith, Marilyn Jager Adams, Theodore Harris and many others.

My point is that the English alphabet is a sound/symbol system, not a pictographic one like Chinese. At an early age, we were all programmed to break words into syllables and then into individual speech sounds (phonemes). We have been taught a specific system that is very difficult to by-pass in later years. It's not impossible to re-wire our inner programming; it simply takes a lot of time and specific effort.

When China adopted the Pinyin alphabet as the Romanization of their traditionally pictographic alphabet, they were unintentionally requiring native English learners to associate their Pinyin phonemes with their own unique sounds... Can you see where the wires cross here?

What this means is that the native English reader/speaker must unlearn English phonetics in favor of relearning phonics based on Chinese Pinyin. In other words, native English speakers normally need to spend months unlearning one system (programmed into us since early childhood) to relearn another.

In addition, Pinyin is based on a system that English readers find extremely confusing because some of the phonemes are phonetically pronounced similar to those used in English, and others are not!

With SPEAK E-Z CHINESE In Phonetic English, you can simply by-pass the complex Pinyin system with user-friendly words, phrases and sentences in phonetic English. And in addition to simplifying the learning process, we hope we've made both the book and the downloadable lessons fun and practical. Let us know what you think!

Words and Phrases for the Day-to-Day

Listed below are some high frequency words and phrases that are fun to know:

Are you hungry?

Uh luh mah?

Be careful!

Shee-aow shing dee-ar!

I'm trying.

Wuh jung-zye shir.

It's alright.

May gwahn shee.

It's just right.

Jung hao.

This is mine.

Juh shir wuh-duh.

What are you doing?

Gahn mah-nuh?

What are you thinking?

Shee-ahng shen muh nuh?

Go Fly a Kite!
Weifang Kite Festival

The city of Weifang, located in the middle of the Shandong peninsula, (about a 3 hour bus ride from Qingdao), is the birthplace of the Chinese kite. It also boasts a 500 year history of crafting kites to the degree of making it an art form, and since 1984, the city has hosted the annual Weifang International Kite Festival.

Traditional kites from Weifang are world famous, their trademark being the delicate bamboo frames and silk sails painted in bright colors. Hand-made and hand-painted, the main styles are bird and animal types, or the renowned dragon kite. Of late, their fiberglass and nylon stunt kites have also become extremely popular.

Held from April 20th to April 25th, the Weifang International Kite Festival attracts large crowds of kite experts and enthusiasts from around the world. On the 20th, the grand opening of the festival is marked with a ceremony where contestants and exhibitors march through a crowded arena amidst a cacophony of firecrackers, gongs and drums. On the 21st, a kite match is held on Fuyan Mountain or on the beach of the Bohai Sea. Afterwards, many of the most noteworthy kites are exhibited in the Weifang Kite Museum, the largest kite museum in the world.

While you’re at the Kite Festival, be sure to visit any of the numerous kite factories; some are warehouse size operations, yet others are crowded little workshops owned by individual craftsmen. As you’ll see, the kites make for exquisite flying machines on an outing to the park, or unique gifts to friends and relatives back home. So if you’re in the Qingdao neighborhood in late April, be sure to make an excursion to Weifang!

What's New at the Cathay Cafe?

Please be sure to check out our latest additions at the Cathay Cafe. We've added "Essentials for the Traveler - What to Have" under our Travel Tips link; we've updated our Beijing Olympics link with a "Schedule of the 2008 Olympic Games," and we've added a new video under "Cool Stuff" entitled: Sexy Beijing. You'll find it both fun and informative! As always, you can find a lot of other helpful information under the following topics: Teaching in China, Adopting in China, Backpacking, as well as some very informative news clippings gleaned from Chinese newspapers under our In the News section.

Lastly, just a reminder to keep a copy of SPEAK E-Z CHINESE In Phonetic English handy while traveling throughout China. With our survival phrasebook, you can simply by-pass the complex Pinyin system of learning Mandarin in favor of user-friendly words, phrases and sentences provided in phonetic English. And in addition to simplifying the learning process, we hope we've made both the book and the free downloadable audio lessons fun and practical. Let us know what you think!

In the News...

Spam Text Scandal Sparks Angry Response

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-April 02

BEIJING - A scandal which has seen half China's mobile phone users spammed with unwanted text messages has drawn the ire of the government, which has vowed to fight against the spam texters and promises to expose more of them in the future.

China's State Council said on Sunday it is making a thorough investigation.
The State Council also pointed the finger at greed as the motivating force behind the spammers. "We urge parties concerned to beef up self-scrutiny to correct their wrongdoing, which is profit driven in defiance of public interests," said deputy head of the State Council Office for Rectifying Malpractice Liu Yue.

"Despite of the difficulties, we are determined to sort the problem out, which is closely linked with people's interests regardless of the stakeholder behind it" he said.

The comment came days after China Mobile apologized for its management loopholes that allowed the spread of spam text messages to nearly half of the country's mobile phone users.

The country's largest mobile operator has vowed to block short messages originating from the seven condemned online advertising firms last Wednesday.

The Ministry of Information Industry (MII) is working with other related departments to spell out rules to standardize the online and text advertising market, said the official in charge of information security in MII, Zhong Zhihong.

On the technical front, it is not difficult for mobile operators to block the rogue messages, Zhong said, reiterating the telecom operators should play their part in the clean-up campaign.

The seven online advertising firms, which included the Nasdaq-listed Focus Media, arbitrarily sent commercial text messages to over 200 million mobile phone users whose personal information was fully controlled by the companies, through the two operators, China Mobile and China Unicom.

This aroused anger among the target consumers and drew fierce public complaints and condemnation in the annual exposure program on China entral Television (CCTV) on March 15, World Consumer Rights Day.

"As the mobile operator, we have the obligation to block spam text messages. We hold an unavoidable responsibility in this case," marketing operations manager Xu Ming said in response to the CCTV show.

China has 555 million mobile phone subscribers whose personal information is easily traded between sellers who require buyers to leave their personal information and online ad companies who can send junk messages to a target group using this information.