Skip to main content

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". 

Popular posts from this blog

Filipino Manufacturing's Golden Age ENDED Because of the Filipino First Policy

Here's a picture from the Dose of Disbelief Page on Facebook. Here's something that it wrote: Filipinos once trusted locally made products more than imports. Before World War II, the label "Made in the Philippines" carried prestige, not stigma, reflecting a strong sense of national confidence in domestic production. Local products such as shoes, cigars, textiles, furniture, and food were often preferred over imports. This preference was rooted in the belief that local goods were better adapted to local conditions, tastes, and were often of comparable, if not superior, quality. This period showcases a strong historical era of consumer nationalism and thriving local industries. We need to look into the context of Filipino history  If we look at the Philippine history timeline , we must account for 1935-1940, during which the Philippines was under the Commonwealth government. Independence was declared from Spain on June 12, 1898. However, there was a transition period w...

Having the BADLY NEEDED Tenacity to Hold My PSEi Related Investments During INEVITABLE Paper Losses

I decided to do a portfolio review, especially because Christmas to New Year is around the corner . I thought about checking my AXA Chinese Tycoon Fund. For the sake of confidentiality , I wouldn't give out the exact loss. I was tempted to sell my AXA Chinese Tycoon Fund (which was at a paper loss , not an actual loss) and go for cryptocurrency . However, after looking at the ghost of Quadriga-CX Crypto Scam  made I said, "I need to stick to what Warren Buffett said about the stock market." Buffett's advice doesn't require an MBA or even a PhD in business administration to understand them. Instead, I was looking at these lessons that Buffett such as: If I'm not willing to open to own a stock for 10 minutes, I shouldn't think of owning it for ten years! Definitely no day trading for me! The stock market is a device that transfers money from impatient people to patient people. I have to be more patient as the stock market inevitably corrects itself, unless t...

External Validations, like Masters and Doctorate, Mean NOTHING with a LOUSY Education System

I have the tendency to use my MBA as a license to avoid criticism. It's a real problem that some people use their credentials and/or academic achievements to try and win an argument. One incident I wrote about was Rep. Raoul Abellar Manuel flexing his "smarts" by using his cum laude degree to win the argument . It was all about how I would often say, "You're the moron because I have the MBA and you don't." There are times I felt like taking an MBA would make up for my "moral shortcomings" during high school when I was barely passing (and the passing rate was 80% , which is rather high), that I wasn't having honors, and that there was this saying, " Thou grades shalt determine thy future! " That, of course, has led to the reality where cheating is prevalent .  I wanted to make a review. I took my MBA in 2011 and graduated in 2014. I always felt that the MBA program was what I needed to become "invincible". It was also at ...

COMMUNIST Vietnam Has Defeated DEMOCRATIC Philippines Again This 2025

Cổng thông tin Trung ương Đoàn TNCS Hồ Chí Minh A few days ago, I wrote about warning Filipinos that they shouldn't wait for more unmitigated typhoon disasters, before realizing that the Filipino First Policy isn't working ! There's a statement that says, "Just because being tanga (inattentive) is libre (free), doesn't mean you should be tanga!"  Analyzing the different policies: why policies  matter I found a Business World article, written by Cesar Polvorosa, Jr., on my Facebook news feed discussing the Vietnamese economy . In fact, it would be better to share some hard truths that the article offers about what really went wrong with the  democratic Philippines compared to Communist Vietnam : DIVERGENT ECONOMIC MODELS  Vietnam pursued an export-oriented manufacturing strategy which has proven significantly more successful over the past half century than the Philippines’ service-heavy, remittances-dependent model . Export performance alone tells a compe...

Alice Guo's Conviction Should NEVER be a Call to Shut Down Constitutional Reform

The Alice Guo saga seems to have come to an end, right? That's, unless of course something happens and she escapes again. This always made me laugh when I realized that, as I was writing my articles, I came across a Vietnamese girl named Ha Thi Thu Trang, aka Ha Trang, who resembles Alice. Right now, Ha Trang could come to the Philippines for a vacation and not get mistaken for the same person. Back on the topic, I would like to point out that I actually wrote a post on whether or not using Alice's controversy should be a call to shut down constitutional reform . Alice's now in jail, what's next?! I would like to let people know in advance, I'm not here to demolish Senator Maria Theresa "Risa" Baraquel-Hontiveros' efforts in getting Alice arrested. In fact, I feel grateful (in part) that Risa managed to expose Alice's lies, along with Senator Sherwin "Win" Ting Gatchalian in exposing Alice's dubious records. However, I'm going to...