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- <tr>
- <td><a href="../welcome.html"><img SRC="../../tingpics/tinggold100.jpg" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=108 width=108></a></td>
- <td>
- <center><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font size=+2><font color="#993366">Ting
- - The Chinese Study Center</font></font><font size=+1>
- <p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#993366">Frequently Asked Questions
- </font></font></font></center>
- </td>
- <td>
- <div align=right><a href="../welcome.html" onMouseOver="eval('home.src=home_c.src'); return true;" onMouseOut="eval('home.src=home_e.src')"><img border="0" name="home" src="../../tingpics/homesmeng.jpg" height=30 width=66></a>
- <br><br>
- <a href="../topics/topics.html" onMouseOver="eval('topics.src=topics_c.src'); return true;" onMouseOut="eval('topics.src=topics_e.src')"><img border="0" name="topics" src="../../tingpics/topicen20blue.jpg" height=30 width=60></a>
- <br><br>
- </div>
- </td>
- </tr>
- </table></center>
- <blockquote><blockquote>
- <p>
- <br>
- <br>
- <a NAME="index"></a>
- <ol>
- <li><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">
- <font size=-1><a href="#main features">What
- are the main features</a>?</font></font></font></b></li>
- <li><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">
- <font size=-1><a href="#How use">How
- do I use the topics pages</a>?</font></font></font></b></li>
- <li><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">
- <font size=-1><a href="#Adjust sound">How
- do I adjust the sound</a>?</font></font></font></b></li>
- <li><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">
- <font size=-1><a href="#Why don't hear">Why
- don't I hear anything</a>?</font></font></font></b></li>
- <li><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">
- <font size=-1><a href="#What is an mp3">What
- is an .mp3 file?</a></font></font></font></b></li>
- <li><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">
- <font size=-1><a href="#Why not see">Why
- can't I see Chinese characters?</a></font></font></font></b></li>
- <br><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099"><font size=-1>
- <a href="funaq.html#chineseversion">I
- have Chinese Windows, how do I see the characters properly?</a></font></font></font></b>
- <li><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">
- <font size=-1><a href="#What type of coding">What
- type of Chinese coding is used?</a></font></font></font></b></li>
- <li><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">
- <font size=-1><a href="#What is the pinyin">What
- is the pinyin for the characters in the index?</a></font></font></font></b></li>
- <li><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">
- <font size=-1><a href="#what is pinyin">What
- is pinyin?</a></font></font></font></b></li>
- <li><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">
- <font size=-1><a href="#Tones and">Tones
- and Pinyin.</a></font></font></font></b></li>
- </ol><a NAME="main features"></a><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000099">1.
- What are the main features?</font></font></b>
- <blockquote>
- <ul>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Each
- entry has 0 to 7 sound files made by friends in Beijing or the United States.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Over sixty different speakers will help you develop your ability to listen and
- understand everyday speech.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Slow
- and fast speakers, but all speakers stay within the normal range of speech.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">An
- infinitely patient group of people who will say things over and over and
- over - instantly.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Individual
- sound files give you the ability play the file again, and again, and again
- without rewinding a tape recorder.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Topics
- pages with groups of related words and phrases.</font></li>
- <ul>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">The
- ability to display English, Chinese characters, Chinese Pinyin, and sound
- files either alone or in combination.</font></li>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Review
- pages where you see only the Character, the English, the Pinyin, or hear
- the words.</font></li>
- </ul>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Search
- the database for words or phrases.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Open
- an account to choose words you wish to learn.</font></li>
- <ul>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">review
- lists</font></li>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">flash
- cards</font></li>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">quizzes</font></li>
- </ul>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Over
- 5,000 sentences illustrate the use of words.</font></li>
- <li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-1">Games and activities to help you
- learn -- learn the numbers using Flash movies with illustrations and then test
- yourself using the number game. </font></li>
- <li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-1">Bilingual stories illustrated in
- Flash allow you to move your mouse to see Character, pinyin, or English.
- Click a sentence to hear the story read by a native speaker.</font></li>
- <li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-1">Download a free flashcard program
- to allow you to study items from your account off-line. It gives you
- control over the words in your lists and makes it possible to organize your
- study time efficiently.</font></li>
- </ul>
- </blockquote><center><a href="#index">
- <img SRC="redcvtrans.gif" ALT="Top" BORDER=0 height=60 width=60 align=TEXTTOP></a></center>
- <p><a NAME="How use"></a><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000099">2.
- How do I use the Topics pages?</font></font></b>
- <blockquote>
- <li><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000000">
- <font size=-1>About
- the Program</font></font></font></b></li>
- <blockquote>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">First,
- adjust the sound on your speakers or headphones. Choose the Pinyin
- page to hear some samples of sound files.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Choose
- one of the topics in the index. The topics are listed in Chinese
- characters, but if you have a recent copy of Netscape, the English will
- appear when you hold the mouse over the icon.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">The
- first page that you will see will be the topic alphabetized by English.
- This might be a little confusing at first because I didn't used the English
- that you see, but rather a grouping code. This allowed me to put
- related items together -- laser jet printer is under "p" for printer. I
- suggest that if you are looking for a particular word, use the Edit/Find
- feature in your browser.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">There
- is also a list alphabetized by Pinyin to make it easier to find an item
- when you can't remember the English. This is also alphabetized by
- related words.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">When
- you see an entry, click on either the name of the speaker or the icon.</font></li>
- </blockquote>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Studying</font></li>
- <blockquote>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Listen.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Click
- again.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Listen
- again. One of the purposes of this program is to allow you to listen
- repeatedly with minimal delay, so listen again . . .</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Then
- maybe you are ready to try to say it. Don't worry if you aren't.
- Listening and understanding PRECEDE speech.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Try
- saying short words first, then double syllables, then triples. At
- the beginning you won't be able to tell the difference between the tones,
- much less produce them accurately. Later, that will be easy, but
- you will be frustrated by combinations of sounds. After a few months you
- will work on lengthening the phrase or sentence you can say -- it's as
- good as a computer game with lots of levels of challenge.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">In
- the beginning, don't try to learn all the vocabulary in a phrase or sentence.
- Just try to listen and see if you can pick out the word you know.
- That's enough.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Speakers
- are roughly ordered by sentence speaking speed. By listening to each
- speaker successively you should increase your listening comprehension of
- normal speech.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Work
- on a few items at a time. Distributed practice means that you will learn
- better with short sessions.</font></li>
- <li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-1">Some sound players open a new
- window for each sound. This is good for going back over the different
- sound without downloading again. Be careful though. Most have a
- limitation on the number of windows open, so if you cannot download, close a few
- of the previous sound windows and continue.</font></li>
- </blockquote>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Review
- and Guessing</font></li>
- <blockquote>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Choose
- Pinyin, Character, English, or Listening at the top of the topic page.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Each
- of the review pages includes the sound files, so you can check your memory
- immediately. In the future, there will be English speakers in addition
- to the Chinese speakers - this will make your review even easier and make
- the site useful for my Chinese friends.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">It
- is important to build associations from English -> Character, Character
- -> English, Pinyin -> Character, etc. Try to balance your studying.
- On the English page try to write the character as well as saying the Chinese,
- on the Pinyin page try to write the Character as well as translating to
- English.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">In
- addition, you can increase your listening skills on the Listening page.
- Even if you don't know the meaning of what you are hearing, try to write
- down the Pinyin with the tone marks. Understanding tones will gradually
- become second nature....at least that is the theory.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">The
- review pages are randomized to decrease the order effect, like shuffling
- your index cards. Look for the visited links to identify those items
- you have studied. Just hunting for the item will help you become
- more aware of the distinctive features of the item. For instance,
- if you are looking for characters, just recognizing which characters
- are NOT the ones you are seeking helps build a recognition of the characters
- you <u>have</u> studied.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">I
- am sorry that the review pages are not useful for those who do not or cannot
- use graphics or who have a version of Netscape before 4.5. The idea
- is that those who do use graphics and have Netscape 4.5 or above, can instantly
- check their accuracy by holding the mouse over the appropriate button.</font></li>
- </blockquote>
- </blockquote><center><a href="#index">
- <img SRC="redcvtrans.gif" ALT="Top" BORDER=0 height=60 width=60 align=TEXTTOP></a></center>
- <p><a NAME="Adjust sound"></a><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000099">3.
- How do I adjust the sound?</font></font></b>
- <blockquote>
- <blockquote>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">I
- will assume that you are asking because you don't have a knob on your speakers
- or a slider on your headphones . . .</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Windows
- 95/98/NT - Go to Start, click Settings, click Control Panel, click Multimedia,
- then click the Audio tab and change the playback level, checking the level
- with the sample sounds given on the home page.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Use
- the sound adjustment on your sound player. If you are using Windows
- Media Player2, there is a slider on the left hand side or you can use the
- up arrow to increase the sound and the down arrow to decrease it.</font></li>
- </blockquote>
- </blockquote><a NAME="Why don't hear"></a><b>
- <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">4.
- Why don't I hear anything?</font></font></b>
- <ul>
- <ul>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">You
- don't have a sound card. Can't help you there.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">There
- is something wrong with your computer. Can't help you there.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">You
- don't have the ability to play .mp3 files. Ahhh. There I can
- help you.</font></li>
- <ul>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Get
- a new free version of
- <a href="http://home.netscape.com/download/index.html" TARGET="_blank">Netscape
- Communicator (TM)</a>. The sound files have been tested with Netscape
- Navigator 3.1 and above as well as Internet Explorer.</font></li>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">(and)
- <a href="http://hua.umf.maine.edu/Chinese/faq/l3codec.zip">Download
- the MPEG3 L3CODEC</a> (164,314 bytes) unzip it and run it, it will install
- itself. Both Netscape audio player and Windows Media Player 2 recognize
- the CODEC - you will have to try other sound players to test them.
- I do not know what sound players may be preferred for Linux, Apple, or
- Unix but the Netscape audio player will work.</font></li>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">(and
- maybe) Download
- <a href="http://www.irfanview.com/">Irfanview</a> or
- <a href="http://www.winamp.com/">Winamp</a>. Both are free and have
- excellent decoding capabilities. They also are nice and small so you can
- still see the web page while you are listening.</font></li>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Some
- versions of Quick Time Player (TM) associate themselves with .wav files.
- This will make life uncomfortable because each time you click on a sound
- you will be taken to another page with a grey bar on it -- and the sound
- will play. But you will no longer be able to see the Chinese or English,
- so learning will be delayed. There are several solutions. Uninstall
- Quicktime or change the program associated with sound files to either naplayer.exe
- (Netscape) or Window Media Player (IE).</font></li>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">There
- are several shareware programs for playing sound files which do not properly
- support .mp3 files or compressed .wav files. They are unable to utilize
- the L3Codec.</font></li>
- <br> </ul>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">If
- you want to know more about mpeg3 or find another sound player, these sites
- will give you a good start.</font></li>
- <ul>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">(or)
- Explore mpeg3 software at
- <a href="http://www.mpeg.org/MPEG/MPEG-audio-player.html" TARGET="_blank">mpeg.org</a></font></li>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">(or)
- Look around
- <a href="http://www.simtel.net/simtel.net/win95/sound.html" TARGET="_blank">Simtel</a>
- Win 95 sound files</font></li>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">(or)
- Go to
- <a href="http://www.iis.fhg.de/amm/techinf/layer3/index.html" TARGET="_blank">Fraunhofer
- IIS</a> for an explanation of mpeg3 compression - they developed it</font></li>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">(or)
- Go to
- <a href="http://www.opticom.de/" TARGET="_blank">Opticom</a> for
- a full sound editor/player</font></li>
- <li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">(or)
- Do what I did and get <a href="http://www.goldwave.com" TARGET="_blank">Goldwave</a>,
- a great editor and player.</font></li>
- </ul>
- </ul>
- </ul><center>
- <p><br><a href="#index">
- <img SRC="redcvtrans.gif" ALT="Top" BORDER=0 height=60 width=60 align=TEXTTOP></a></center>
- <p><a NAME="What is an mp3"></a><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000099">5.
- What is an .mp3 file?</font></font></b>
- <blockquote>
- <ul>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Basically,
- it is a method to compress .wav files to unbelievably small file sizes
- without decreasing quality.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">It
- was invented by
- <a href="http://www.iis.fhg.de/amm/techinf/layer3/index.html" TARGET="_blank">Fraunhofer
- IIS</a> and is particularly good at maintaining speech quality (my interest)
- and is widely used on the Internet to store stereo CD quality music.
- Mp3 players are now so common that little more needs to be said.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">With
- mpeg Layer3 compression you have a choice of CD sound quality with greater
- file sizes (compression ratios of about 10 to 1) or to decrease the size
- of the file with a decrease in sound quality. I chose to use larger
- files and maintain every byte while still making files of about 8k.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Mpeg
- Layer3 sound files can either have a .wav extension or a .mp3 extension.
- Usually when the files have a .wav extension that means that they can be
- played on a regular sound player, such as Netscape's audio player or the
- Windows Media Player 2, if you install the MPEG3 L3CODEC. The Mpeg
- Layer3 .wav files have additional information in their header which allows
- players to decode them as .wav files.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">A
- pure mpeg layer3 file, which does not include the header information, must
- be played on a dedicated mpeg3 player. These files generally carry
- the .mp3 extension.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">The
- sound files on this site include the .wav header information so that they
- can be played on various sound players, and will work with most programs that
- play either .wav or .mp3 files. RealPlayer does not include the CODEC to
- decode the files on this site. I recommend Irfanview or Winamp. Both
- are free and have excellent decoding capabilities. They also are nice and
- small so you can still see the web page while you are listening.</font></li>
- </ul>
- </blockquote><center><a href="#index">
- <img SRC="redcvtrans.gif" ALT="Top" BORDER=0 height=60 width=60 align=TEXTTOP></a></center>
- <p><a NAME="Why not see"></a><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000099">6.
- Why can't I see Chinese characters?</font></font></b>
- <p>
- <b><font color="#000099" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Windows XP</font></b><blockquote>
- <ul>
- <li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-1">Windows XP has
- the ability to read Asian fonts and to input Asian characters.
- </font></li>
- <li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-1">To see Asian fonts,
- go to Control Panel --> Regional and Language Options. Choose the
- tab for languages.</font></li>
- <li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-1">Make sure that the
- box in front of "Install Files for East Asian Languages" is checked.
- Then click OK or Apply. You will probably see a screen asking you
- to put your Windows XP installation disk into the drive. Do so,
- and follow instructions.</font></li>
- <li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-1">If you don't have
- your Windows XP disk handy, you can go onto the Internet and search for
- MS Song. That is the primary font that you will want. Just
- download it and install it in your fonts directory and you will be able
- to see Chinese.</font></li>
- <li><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-1">Once the Asian fonts
- are installed, you should be able to see Chinese characters in programs
- and bowsers. At this point you cannot yet input Chinese
- characters. To do this you have to install what is called an IME
- from your installation disk.
- The IME included with Windows XP supports all applications. The
- old one installed with Office was limited.</font></li>
- </ul>
- </blockquote>
- <p> <p><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">
- Windows 98, Millennium, 2000, NT -- English versions</font></font></b>
- <p> <center>
- <table BORDER COLS=3 WIDTH="60%" BGCOLOR="#000099" id="table1" >
- <tr BGCOLOR="#993366">
- <td COLSPAN="3"><center><b>
- <font color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Starter
- Kit</font></b></center></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td bgcolor="#000066"><center><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Feature</font></b></center>
- </td>
- <td bgcolor="#000066"><center><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Software</font></b></center>
- </td>
- <td bgcolor="#000066"><center><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Download</font></b></center>
- </td>
- </tr>
- <tr BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF">
- <td><b><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">1.
- Browser</font></b></td>
- <td><b><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Netscape
- 4+</font></b></td>
- <td BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Arial,Helvetica">
- <a href="http://home.netscape.com/download/index.html">Netscape
- Communicator's</a></font> <br><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">newest
- version</font></b></td>
- </tr>
- <tr BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF">
- <td><b><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">2.
- Sound</font></b></td>
- <td><b><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">MPEG
- l3 codec</font></b></td>
- <td BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"><font face="Arial,Helvetica">
- <font size=-1 color="#FFFFFF">
- <a href="http://hua.umf.maine.edu/Chinese/faq/l3codec.zip">MPEG
- l3codec.zip</a>,</font><font color="#000066"> </font></font><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Download,
- unzip, and run the l3codec.exe - it self-installs.</font></b></td>
- </tr>
- <tr BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF">
- <td><b><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">3.
- Chinese Viewer</font></b></td>
- <td><b><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Go
- to download page for trial copy</font></b></td>
- <td BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <a href="http://www.njstar.com/" TARGET="_blank">NJ
- Star</a></font></b> <br><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">NJWIN
- CJK Viewer 2.23</font></b></td>
- </tr>
- <tr BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF">
- <td COLSPAN="3" BGCOLOR="#000066"><center><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Windows
- 98, Millenium, 2000, NT users</font></b></center></td>
- </tr>
- <tr BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF">
- <td><b><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">5.
- Netscape 4.7+ and Internet Explorer 5+</font></b></td>
- <td><b><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Fonts
- are available for Windows 98, 2000, NT which let you view Chinese without
- a viewer</font></b></td>
- <td><b><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Install
- Chinese Language Pack from your Windows CD or download it from
- <a href="http://download.cnet.com/downloads/0-10016-100-6158528.html">CNET</a>.</font></b></td>
- </tr>
- </table></center>
- <p> <ul>
- <ul>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">If
- you are using Windows 98, Millenium, 2000, or NT you can download the Simplified
- Chinese Language Pack from CNET, Microsoft, or a number of other sources.
- Newer installation CD's include the language pack as an option. The
- Simplified Chinese Language Pack will allow you to see the Chinese characters.
- If you also want to be able to enter Chinese characters in a word processing
- program, you will need a software package called a Chinese system.
- Several are listed <a href="#software">below</a>.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">After you
- download and install the Chinese Language Pack:<br>In Firefox go to Tools -->
- Options --> Content -- at the bottom there is a font dialog. You can click
- advanced to specify fonts for Simplified Chinese.</font><li>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">In
- Netscape go to Edit --> Preferences --> Fonts,</font></li>
- <br><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">and
- in Internet Explorer go to Tools --> Internet Options --> Fonts</font> <br>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">to
- specify the font to use for Simplified Chinese.</font>
- <li>
- <p align="center"><br>
- <img SRC="nscpfont.jpg" height=458 width=544 align=TEXTTOP> <br>
- <br>
- <br>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Then on the main
- tool bar of the browser window go to:</font></li>
- <p><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">In Firefox go to
- View -->
- Character Encoding--> Auto-Detect --> Simplified Chinese.</font><br><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Netscape:
- View --> Character --> choose "Simplified Chinese (GB2312)"</font> <br>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Internet
- Explorer: View --> Font --> choose "Chinese Simplified
- (GB2312)" and <strong>uncheck AutoSelect</strong> at the top of the menu list.</font>
- <br>
- <br>
- <br>
- </p>
- <p><a NAME="chineseversion"></a><b>
- <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">Windows
- 95, 98, 2000, NT -- Chinese versions</font></font></b>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">If
- the Chinese characters are not visible, or do not look right, go to:</font></li>
- <ul><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Netscape:
- View --> Character --> choose "Simplified Chinese (GB2312)"</font> <br>
- <font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Internet
- Explorer: View --> Font --> choose "Chinese Simplified
- (GB2312)"</font></ul><center>
- <p><br><a href="#index">
- <img SRC="redcvtrans.gif" ALT="Top" BORDER=0 height=60 width=60 align=TEXTTOP></a></center>
- <p><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">Windows
- 95, Apple, Linux, Unix -- English versions</font></font></b>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">If
- you are using Windows 95, you will need a Chinese interpreter, a system
- which converts computer codes into characters. This can be either
- a full system which allows you to read and write characters or a just a
- reader for the Internet. Some sources are given below.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">If
- you want to <u>enter</u> Chinese characters into word processors or other
- programs, you will need a Chinese system which allows you to read and write
- characters. Some sources are given below.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">If
- you are unfamiliar with Chinese characters on the computer, read the all
- instructions carefully because there will be unfamiliar terms used.</font></li>
- <br><a NAME="software"></a><br>
- <br>
- <center>
- <table BORDER COLS=3 WIDTH="50%" >
- <tr BGCOLOR="#993366">
- <td COLSPAN="3"><center><b>
- <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>Chinese
- Software for Windows</font></font></font></b></center></td>
- </tr>
- <tr BGCOLOR="#000099">
- <td bgcolor="#000066"><center><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Software</font></b></center>
- </td>
- <td bgcolor="#000066"><center><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Type</font></b></center>
- </td>
- <td bgcolor="#000066"><center><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Downloads</font></b></center>
- </td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.twinbridge.com/" TARGET="_blank">Twinbridge</a></font></font></font></b>
- <br><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>Chinese
- Partner</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>Full
- system</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.twinbridge.com/" TARGET="_blank">Windows
- 95+, NT 4</a></font></font></font></b></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.twinbridge.com/" TARGET="_blank">Twinbridge</a></font></font></font></b>
- <br><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>AsianViewer</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>Reader</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.twinbridge.com/" TARGET="_blank">Windows
- 3.x, 95+, NT</a></font></font></font></b></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.twinbridge.com/" TARGET="_blank">Twinbridge</a></font></font></font></b>
- <br><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>AsianBridge</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>Full
- system</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.twinbridge.com/" TARGET="_blank">Windows
- 3.x, 95</a></font></font></font></b></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.njstar.com/" TARGET="_blank">NJ
- Star</a></font></font></font></b> <br><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>NJWIN
- CJK Viewer 2.23</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>Reader</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.njstar.com/" TARGET="_blank">Windows
- 3.x, 95, 98, 2000 NT 4</a></font></font></font></b></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.njstar.com/" TARGET="_blank">NJ
- Star</a></font></font></font></b> <br><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>NJSTAR
- Communicator 2.2</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>Full
- system</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.njstar.com/" TARGET="_blank">Windows
- 3.x, 95, 98, 2000 NT 4</a></font></font></font></b></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.richwin.com/" TARGET="_blank">Stone
- Rich Sight</a> RichWin for the Internet</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>System</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.richwin.com/download/index_e.html" TARGET="_blank">Windows
- 3.x, 95</a></font></font></font></b></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.richwin.com/" TARGET="_blank">Stone
- Rich Sight </a>RichWin for Windows</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>Full
- system</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.richwin.com/download/index_e.html" TARGET="_blank">Windows
- 3.x, 95+, NT 3.51, 4</a></font></font></font></b></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.richwin.com/" TARGET="_blank">Stone
- Rich Sight</a></font></font></font></b> <br><b>
- <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000000">
- <font size=-1>RichViewer</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>Reader,
- free for individuals</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.richwin.com/download/index_e.html" TARGET="_blank">Windows</a></font></font></font></b></td>
- </tr>
- </table></center>
- </ul>
- </ul>
- <ul>
- <ul>
- <center>
- <table BORDER COLS=3 WIDTH="50%" >
- <tr>
- <td COLSPAN="3" BGCOLOR="#993366"><center><b>
- <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>Chinese
- Software for Apple</font></font></font></b></center></td>
- </tr>
- <tr BGCOLOR="#000099">
- <td bgcolor="#000066"><center><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Source</font></b></center>
- </td>
- <td bgcolor="#000066"><center><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Type</font></b></center>
- </td>
- <td bgcolor="#000066"><center><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Information</font></b></center>
- </td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td> </td>
- <td> </td>
- <td> </td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.asiasoft.com/" TARGET="_blank">Asia
- Soft</a></font></font></font></b> <br><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>Chinese
- System</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>System</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.asiasoft.com/details_APOS85CS.html" TARGET="_blank">System
- 7.1+</a></font></font></font></b></td>
- </tr>
- </table></center><br>
- <br>
- <center>
- <table BORDER COLS=3 WIDTH="50%" >
- <tr BGCOLOR="#993366">
- <td COLSPAN="3"><center><b>
- <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>Chinese
- Software for Unix/Linux/X-Win</font></font></font></b></center></td>
- </tr>
- <tr BGCOLOR="#000099">
- <td bgcolor="#000066"><center><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Source</font></b></center>
- </td>
- <td bgcolor="#000066"><center><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Type</font></b></center>
- </td>
- <td bgcolor="#000066"><center><b>
- <font size=-1 color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Information</font></b></center>
- </td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td> </td>
- <td> </td>
- <td> </td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.cnd.org" TARGET="_blank">CND</a></font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>Software</font></font></font></b></td>
- <td><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000000"><font size=-1>
- <a href="http://www.cnd.org/software/LINUX.html" TARGET="_blank">Linux
- Chinese Utilities - download</a></font></font></font></b></td>
- </tr>
- </table></center><center>
- <p><a href="#index">
- <img SRC="redcvtrans.gif" ALT="Top" BORDER=0 height=60 width=60 align=TEXTTOP></a></center>
- </ul>
- </ul><a NAME="What type of coding"></a><b>
- <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">7.
- What type of coding is used on the pages?</font></font></b>
- <blockquote>
- <ul>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">All
- of the characters are coded in GB (Guo2 Biao1) simplified form.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">To
- maintain the integrity of the characters, all pages were coded by hand
- in a text editor. If you open a page of Chinese characters in Netscape
- Composer or another WYSIWYG HTML editor, the coding is converted to another
- coding form and cannot be interpreted out of Netscape. So don't try
- to use Netscape Composer to choose a sample of the vocabulary.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">You
- should be able to highlight sections of the pages with characters and copy
- them into Notepad or another text editor and still be able to see the characters.</font></li>
- </ul>
- <p> </p>
- </blockquote>
- <ul><center><a href="#index">
- <img SRC="redcvtrans.gif" ALT="Top" BORDER=0 height=60 width=60 align=TEXTTOP></a></center>
- </ul><a NAME="What is the pinyin"></a><b>
- <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#000099">8.
- What is the pinyin for the characters in the index?</font></font></b> <br>
- <br>
- <center>
- <table BORDER COLS=6 WIDTH="70%" BGCOLOR="#000066" >
- <caption><font size="-1" color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">For
- those who have made it this far...</font></caption>
- <tr ALIGN=CENTER BGCOLOR="#993366">
- <td><center><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>Character</font></font></font></center></td>
- <td><center><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>Pinyin</font></font></font></center></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>Literal</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>Character</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>Pinyin</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>Literal</font></font></font></td>
- </tr>
- <tr ALIGN=CENTER>
- <td><center>
- <img SRC="../topics/phrases.gif" ALT="Phrases" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></center>
- </td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>duan3yu3</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>short
- words</font></font></font></td>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/travel.gif" ALT="Traveling" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>lu~3xing2</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>travel</font></font></font></td>
- </tr>
- <tr ALIGN=CENTER>
- <td><center>
- <img SRC="../topics/time.gif" ALT="Time" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></center>
- </td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>shi2jian1</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>time
- duration</font></font></font></td>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/clothes.gif" ALT="Clothes" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>yi1fu</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>clothes</font></font></font></td>
- </tr>
- <tr ALIGN=CENTER>
- <td><center>
- <img SRC="../topics/pinyin.gif" ALT="Pinyin" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></center>
- </td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>pin1yin1</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>put
- together sound</font></font></font></td>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/money.gif" ALT="Money" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>huo4bi4</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>currency</font></font></font></td>
- </tr>
- <tr ALIGN=CENTER>
- <td><center>
- <img SRC="../topics/numbers.gif" ALT="Numbers" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></center>
- </td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>shu4zi4</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>number
- character</font></font></font></td>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/tones.gif" ALT="Tones" BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>si4sheng1</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>four
- sounds</font></font></font></td>
- </tr>
- <tr ALIGN=CENTER>
- <td><center>
- <img SRC="../topics/calendar.gif" ALT="Calendar" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></center>
- </td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>ri4li4</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>day
- to count</font></font></font></td>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/people.gif" ALT="People" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>ren2men</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>people</font></font></font></td>
- </tr>
- <tr ALIGN=CENTER>
- <td><center>
- <img SRC="../topics/directions.gif" ALT="Directions" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></center>
- </td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>fang1xiang4</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>direction
- turn towards</font></font></font></td>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/computer.gif" ALT="Computers" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>dian4nao3</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>electronic
- brain</font></font></font></td>
- </tr>
- <tr ALIGN=CENTER>
- <td><center>
- <img SRC="../topics/eating.gif" ALT="Eating Out" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></center>
- </td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>chi1fan4</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>eat
- meal</font></font></font></td>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/dynasties.gif" ALT="Dynasties" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>chao2dai4</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>period
- dynasty</font></font></font></td>
- </tr>
- <tr ALIGN=CENTER>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/buying.gif" ALT="Buying Things" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=72></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>mai3
- dong1xi</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>buy
- east-west</font></font></font></td>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/food.gif" ALT="Food" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1> shi2pin3</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1> food
- stuff</font></font></font></td>
- </tr>
- <tr ALIGN=CENTER>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/faq.gif" ALT="Frequently Unasked Questions" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=96></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>chang2jian4wen4ti2</font></font></font></td>
- <td ALIGN=CENTER><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>often
- met question</font></font></font></td>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/exclamations.gif" ALT="Exclamations" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=72></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>gan3tan4ci2</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>feeling
- exclaim word</font></font></font></td>
- </tr>
- <tr ALIGN=CENTER>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/weather.gif" ALT="Weather" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=48></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>tian1qi4</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>day
- air</font></font></font></td>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/jokes.gif" ALT="Jokes" NOSAVE height=24 width=48></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>wan2xiao4</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>play
- laugh</font></font></font></td>
- </tr>
- <tr ALIGN=CENTER>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/tongue.gif" ALT="Tongue Twisters" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=72></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>rao4kou3ling4</font></font></font></td>
- <td BGCOLOR="#000066"><font face="Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#FFFFFF"><font size=-1>tangled
- mouth cause</font></font></font></td>
- <td>
- <img SRC="../topics/questions.gif" ALT="Questions" NOSAVE BORDER=0 height=24 width=72></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>yi2wen4
- ju4</font></font></font></td>
- <td><font face="Arial,Helvetica"><font color="#FFFFFF">
- <font size=-1>uncertain
- ask (interrogative) sentence</font></font></font></td>
- </tr>
- </table></center><center>
- <p><a href="#index">
- <img SRC="redcvtrans.gif" ALT="Top" BORDER=0 height=60 width=60 align=TEXTTOP></a></center>
- <p><br><br><br><br>
- <p><a NAME="what is pinyin"></a><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000099">9.
- What is pinyin?</font></font></b> <br>
- <blockquote>
- <blockquote>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Pinyin
- is a standard of pronunciation symbols. It is not a language.
- It is one of several systems collectively called Romanization of Chinese.
- When the East met the West, the West couldn't read the characters and transcribed
- the pronunciation onto Western language. Many Western history books
- about China are written with the Wade-Giles system of Romanization.
- The most modern system is the Pinyin system developed after years of study.
- It is the official system of mainland China and is used on street signs,
- in brochures, and in schools. Yes, children in China use pinyin to
- begin to read characters. Dictionaries are organized by pinyin as
- well as by character. School children have to look up unfamiliar
- characters using pronunciation, just as we do - or they can ask their parents
- - which we can't.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Take
- a look at the basic <a href="../topics/pinyin/pinyin.html">pinyin
- pronunciation table</a>. Pinyin is fantastically predictable when
- compared to English. George Bernard Shaw would be jealous.
- It is easy to slip into bad habits when learning a foreign language, so
- return to this page periodically to check your pronunciation.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">There
- are very few rules and many conflicting conventions for writing pinyin
- in sentences. At the purest level, each character would have one
- pronunciation syllable separated by a space. However, the convention
- is to join syllables where the characters are combined to form a word.
- This got really interesting when I was working on computer language --
- some 'words' are six to eight characters in length. That is, they
- always appear together. The translation of the words would include
- modifiers in English such as super computer - so the pinyin was separated
- into components based on root and modifier. But not always.
- That is a rule. Not always.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Several
- textbooks join the syllables of numbers. I chose to separate the
- numbers from the marker words - hundred, thousand, billion - to make it
- easier to read. Listen carefully to the speakers, numbers are said
- with few pauses, just as we say a hundred thousand in one breath the same
- is done in Chinese.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">For
- the most part I tried to write the pinyin to conform to dictionary entry.
- For instance, 'zhe4' (this) and 'ge4' (item) are separate entries in a
- dictionary, so for the most part they are separated. But there are
- places where zhe4ge4 is combined rather than separate because I didn't
- catch them - they are said as one word and my writers in China write them
- as one word. There are also places where 'le', the past tense syllable,
- is combined with the verb, rather than separate. I hope this is not
- too confusing for the beginner. It is not fun to spend a lot of time
- with a dictionary looking up an entry that doesn't exist. There are
- advantages to combining the syllables that are said together. You
- are much more likely to say them as a unit and after all that is what pinyin
- is supposed to be, a pronunciation guide.</font></li>
- </blockquote>
- </blockquote><center><a href="#index">
- <img SRC="redcvtrans.gif" ALT="Top" BORDER=0 height=60 width=60 align=TEXTTOP></a></center>
- <a NAME="Tones and"></a><b><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">
- <font color="#000099">10.
- Tones and Pinyin</font></font></b>
- <ul>
- <blockquote>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">There
- are four inflection tones and the neutral tone. Get a good textbook
- for an explanation.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Don't
- memorize tones. Say them. Listen to them. Get to the
- point where shi4 means 'to be' and shi2 means 'time'. If you get
- in the habit of memorizing the tones you will never get a word out.
- You will be thinking of a list of things each time you see a character
- - what is the translation?, what is the pinyin?, what is the tone?
- Just say it, until the character <u>is</u> the sound. When you see
- the word 'bed' you don't break it down into consonants and vowels - you
- just say bed. When you say the word 'something' you automatically
- stress the first syllable and swallow the last. You don't sit around
- and think about those dictionary stress marks they taught you in school.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">The
- tones are given in numbered form. 1 = first tone, 2 = second tone,
- etc. If the tone is neutral, no number follows the syllable.
- The character ü is symbolized as ~ followed by the tone number.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Certain
- tones change depending on what tone follows. When a third tone follows
- a third tone, the first syllable is said almost as a second tone. Some
- books change the tone of the first syllable to indicate the change of pronunciation
- - I have not. Since learners tend to think of leng3 in association with
- a meaning, changing it to leng2 increases confusion. It is better to just
- get in the habit of changing the pitch of the voice when you are going
- to be saying double third tones. Since you have speakers right at your
- fingertips, it should be easier than when working with a text. I have changed
- the tone marks on yi1 (one) to conform to the convention of saying it as
- a second tone before a fourth tone and as a fourth tone before the other
- tones. When you look yi1 up in a dictionary, you will find that it is always
- given as the first tone to aid in alphabetizing the pinyin. Finally, bu4
- (not) also changes its pronunctiation depending on its place in the sentence
- or the syllable which follows it. I have tried to indicate where it changes
- to neutral, but have left almost all other entries as bu4.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Don't
- be intimidated by the tones. English is a highly inflected language,
- where the complete meaning of a sentence is changed by a slight change
- in tone and emphasis. Chinese just has a different song underlying
- the structure.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Numbered
- pinyin has been used throughout since people who do not have GUI interfaces
- can
- read them. Plans are in process to provide regular pinyin symbols
- as well, but that is in the future.</font></li>
- <li><font size=-1 color="#000000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Pinyin
- is a transitional tool. When you are working with the tones the idea
- is to hear the differences among them. The pinyin is merely a check
- on your listening. <a href="../topics/tones/tones.html">Tones
- pages</a> are designed to give you experience in pronunciation as well
- as to learn to listen to the differences in tone. I included the
- meanings of the words in the master page to give you focus. The practice
- pages have no reference to meaning because all you are meant to learn is
- to recognize the difference between 'chang' and 'chuang' and 'shi2' and
- 'shi4'.</font></li>
- </blockquote>
- </ul><center><a href="#index">
- <img SRC="redcvtrans.gif" ALT="Top" BORDER=0 height=60 width=60 align=TEXTTOP></a></center>
- <p><hr SIZE=3 WIDTH="30%"><br><hr SIZE=3 WIDTH="60%">
- <p><font size=-2><font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">http://hua.umf.maine.edu/Chinese/faq/funaq.html<br>Last update: March, 2006<br>©
- <a href="../credits.html#copyright">Marilyn Shea</a>, 1996, 2000, 2001,
- 2006</font></font><br> </p>
- </blockquote></blockquote>
- </body>
- </html>
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