Newsgroups: sci.lang
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!bb3.andrew.cmu.edu!newsfeed.pitt.edu!gatech!ncar!uchinews!not-for-mail
From: deb5@midway.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff)
Subject: Re: Pinyin
X-Nntp-Posting-Host: ellis-nfs.uchicago.edu
Message-ID: <E3wtAB.79w@midway.uchicago.edu>
Sender: news@midway.uchicago.edu (News Administrator)
Organization: The University of Chicago
References: <59sqso$n2e@reader.seed.net.tw> <7fn2uzdzmu.fsf@phoenix.cs.hku.hk> <32C892DC.1BDD@scruznet.com> <32D3D691.DE8@lonnds.ml.com>
Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1997 19:10:59 GMT
Lines: 23

In article <32D3D691.DE8@lonnds.ml.com>,
Julian Pardoe  <pardoej@lonnds.ml.com> wrote:
>Mike Wright wrote:
>> The Zhuyinfuhao is certainly usable within China, and might even be more
>> efficient for teaching Mandarin as a second language, since it avoids
>> the problem of students trying to pronounce romanization with the sounds
>> that the letters have in their native languages.
>
>Is this really a problem?  People seem to go on and on about it but is
>learning to pronounce "q" as a kind of /tS/ [I don't know the correct
>ASCII/IPA symbol] really that difficult?  And is it really more difficult
>than learning a whole new set of symbols?  I think not.

	I think it depends a great deal on the learner.  Some would find
it easier just to learn a whole new set of symbols than to learn new
values for all letters of their native alphabet.  At least, I know this is
true for some English -> Japanese learners I know, who have less trouble
pronouncing kana correctly than they do with romanisation.

-- 
	 Daniel "Da" von Brighoff    /\          Dilettanten
	(deb5@midway.uchicago.edu)  /__\         erhebt Euch
				   /____\      gegen die Kunst!
