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I'm Prone to Calling Pinyin "Bopomofo"


I was introduced to more of Pinyin in college. It was a Chinese language electorate class for at least one semester. I wished that the course required two consecutive foreign language classes to build the basics even more. The teacher taught us Pinyin with the Bopomofo sequence. Until now, I still prefer to use the Bopomofo sequence because it's more rhythmic and easier to memorize. I don't like the new method which uses the 23 initials-24 finals method (read here). Because of that, I still call Pinyin "Bopomofo" in almost every conversation, even with Chinese language teachers!



One of the things I would say is, "We have a new kind of Bopomofo." The older ones said, "Did the Zhuyin table change?" My answer is. "No, I'm talking about Pinyin." A Chinese language teacher might say, "We don't use Bopomofo. We use Pinyin now. Say Pinyin, not Bopomofo." Yet, I can't resist calling it Bopomofo because Pinyin is basically transliterated Bopomofo. You simply assign a Latin equivalent to each and every symbol of the Zhuyin table to make it more accessible to non-Chinese speakers. It prepares to teach Chinese as a secondary language especially when Chinese schools, in non-Chinese countries, get assimilated.


I expect to sound funny if I'm going to buy a bilingual 華語書/华语书 (Huáyǔ shū) or a modern Chinese language textbook. Chances are I might say, "Do you have a bilingual Chinese book that's also written with the modern Bopomofo?" The saleslady might say, "No, but we have one with Pinyin and English." I might say, "That's exactly what I'm looking for." Since I'm so prone to calling Pinyin "Bopomofo", I can imagine myself in that awkward situation. 

What I'd say is that I guess some things never change. I'm still prone to wanting to have traditional Chinese characters and calling Pinyin "Bopomofo". 

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