Tag: Linguistics

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guāngyīn

guāngyīn (guāng·yīn light · {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy) → [shade]} → [time [available]] 光阴 光陰) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

Rather than dismissively thinking to ourselves that the songs produced by the organization are “just songs”, we should remember that the slave class takes seriously its responsibility to provide spiritual food to God’s people, and so it is going to make sure that the lyrics in its songs are spiritually correct, while also being emotionally moving.—Ezekiel 33:32; Matthew 24:45.

Light and Shade

This week’s MEotW, “guāngyīn (guāng·yīn light · {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy) → [shade]} → [time [available]] 光阴 光陰)”, comes from the second verse of song 56, which is entitled “Make the Truth Your Own” in English and “Jiāng (Take 将 將) Zhēnlǐ (Zhēn·lǐ True · Reasoning → [the Truth] 真理) Zhēncáng (Zhēn·cáng {to Be Treasured} · {to Be Stored Up} 珍藏) zài (in 在) Xīnli (Xīn·li Heart · Inside 心里 心裡/裏)” in Mandarin:

English:

The effort you make and the time you are spending
In service to God and his Kingdom

Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):

📖 📄 📘 Nǐ (you 你) bù (not 不)‐cí ({do take your leave from} → [do shrink from] 辞 辭/辤)‐xīnláo (xīn·láo {pungently → [labouriously]} · working 辛劳 辛勞), jìn ({expend to the limit} 尽 盡) quánlì (quán·lì whole · strength 全力) shànyòng (shàn·yòng {(for) good} · {to be using} 善用) guāngyīn (guāng·yīn light · {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy) → [shade]} → [time available] 光阴 光陰),
Nǔlì (Nǔ·lì exert · strength 努力) xuānyáng (xuān·yáng {to declare} · {to raise → [to make known]} 宣扬 宣揚) Wángguó (Wáng·guó King’s · Nation → [Kingdom] 王国 王國) hǎo (good 好) xiāoxi (xiāo·xi disappearing · news → [news] 消息).

Yin and Yang

While “guāng (light | {[is] bare}; {[is] naked} | {[is] used up} | only 光)” is a well-known Mandarin expression that means “light”, the situation with the other morpheme in this week’s MEotW is a little more complicated. “Yīn ({female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [the moon | covert; concealed; hidden; secret | implicit | negative (electric charge) | [is] overcast; dull; gloomy | shade | [is] sinister; treacherous | of the netherworld | genitalia] 阴 陰/隂)” is now used to effectively mean such common, everyday things as “overcast”, “shade”, or “negative (electric charge, etc.)”, but the meaning of “yīn ({female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [the moon | covert; concealed; hidden; secret | implicit | negative (electric charge) | [is] overcast; dull; gloomy | shade | [is] sinister; treacherous | of the netherworld | genitalia] 阴 陰/隂)” originally comes from Chinese philosophy—it’s the “yīn ({female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [the moon | covert; concealed; hidden; secret | implicit | negative (electric charge) | [is] overcast; dull; gloomy | shade | [is] sinister; treacherous | of the netherworld | genitalia] 阴 陰/隂)” in “yīnyáng (yīn·yáng {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} · {positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [yin and yang; opposites]] 阴阳 陰陽)” (Wikipedia article).

The “yáng ({positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [sun | solar | open; overt | belonging to this world | positive (electric charge) | male]] 阳 陽)” in “yīnyáng (yīn·yáng {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} · {positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [yin and yang; opposites]] 阴阳 陰陽)” also appears in “tàiyáng (tài·yáng highest · {positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} → [sun] 太阳 太陽)”, the Mandarin word for “sun”. The examples of this week’s MEotW and of “tàiyáng (tài·yáng highest · {positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} → [sun] 太阳 太陽)” show us how much Chinese philosophy is woven through the Chinese languages like Mandarin, to the extent that it may be practically impossible to completely avoid using in everyday speech words with allusions to Chinese philosophy. Of course, we know that Chinese philosophy as a whole, having originated with mere humans, is inevitably going to clash at least in some ways with God’s truth, but in this linguistic situation, in which people in general hardly ever think of the connections to Chinese philosophy that some everyday Mandarin words have, the organization has decided that it’s acceptable, or at least tolerable, to use a word like “guāngyīn (guāng·yīn light · {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy) → [shade]} → [time [available]] 光阴 光陰)” in the lyrics of one of its songs.

A Distracting “Easter Egg”

In one of those cute “easter egg”-type indulgences connecting visual design with meaning that many seem to enjoy, the Simplified characters for “yīnyáng (yīn·yáng {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} · {positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [yin and yang; opposites]] 阴阳 陰陽)”, “阴阳”, employ the radicals/character components representing the moon (月) and the sun (日) respectively. This relates to “yīn ({female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [the moon | covert; concealed; hidden; secret | implicit | negative (electric charge) | [is] overcast; dull; gloomy | shade | [is] sinister; treacherous | of the netherworld | genitalia] 阴 陰/隂)” literally meaning “female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)” and sometimes being used to mean “moon”, and “yáng ({positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)} [→ [sun | solar | open; overt | belonging to this world | positive (electric charge) | male]] 阳 陽)” literally meaning “positive/active/male principle in nature (Chinese philosophy)” and sometimes being used to mean “sun”.

To try to be the adult in the room, though, here I need to remind everyone that the way Jehovah created us, the primary focus of human language involves using invisible speech—not visible visual elements—to directly represent meaning. As linguists hold, speech is primary, and writing is secondary. Cute “easter egg”-type indulgences involving the visual designs of some characters may be delightful to some on a mental, “that’s clever” level, but unfortunately, they can and do distract people from the basic linguistic truth that speech is primary, similarly to how visible idols distract people from the basic truth that God is actually a powerful but invisible Spirit, not a physical statue or image.—1 Corinthians 14:8–11.

The Time Available

Anyway, on one level of literalness, “guāngyīn (guāng·yīn light · {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy) → [shade]} → [time [available]] 光阴 光陰)” means “light-shade”. This apparently refers to the alternating lightenings and darkenings of the skies as each day—along with its time—passes. The result is that “guāngyīn (guāng·yīn light · {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy) → [shade]} → [time [available]] 光阴 光陰)” is used to effectively mean “time”, or “time available”. (This may be an echo of the truth spoken of at Genesis 1:14, that God set up “luminaries in the expanse of the heavens” to “serve as signs for seasons and for days and years”.) Regardless of the origin of part of “guāngyīn (guāng·yīn light · {female/passive/negative principle in nature (Chinese philosophy) → [shade]} → [time [available]] 光阴 光陰)”, let us be determined to spend well in God’s service whatever time we have available to us. We should especially be careful to do so, since, as dedicated ones, our limited time belongs, not just to ourselves, but to Jehovah.—1 Corinthians 10:31.

In this regard, one thing that we should especially keep in mind as Mandarin field language learners is that the unnecessary, self-indulgent complexities and vagaries of Chinese characters can use up much of our precious available time—which, for us dedicated ones, belongs to Jehovah—if we allow them to. With the above-mentioned linguistic and scriptural information in mind, make sure to only spend whatever time is necessary to spend on Chinese characters, which originated with mere humans and which are imposed merely by tradition. (Hebrews 12:1) Let us focus instead on cultivating God’s gift of speech in the Mandarin field, perhaps with the assistance of the modern, elegant, and efficient Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) writing system.

SVG Technology and Lyrics Links

“guāngyīn” _Pīnyīn_ Plus info, Song 56 (music+_Pīnyīn_), on iPhone 13 mini (landscape orientation)

In the unofficial “Sing Out Joyfully” Bk. (Pīnyīn+Music, Pīnyīn Plus, Web) language-learning resource, some songs now use SVG technology to enable links (rendered in blue) in the musical notation’s Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) lyrics. When tapped/clicked, these will display Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus “flashcards”. For example, as shown above, this resource’s rendition of song 56, from which this week’s MEotW comes, uses this technology. More such links will gradually be added as time allows.

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the “Sing Out Joyfully” book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the “Sing Out Joyfully” book is:

More Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material based on the Mandarin “Sing Out Joyfully” book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.

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Culture Experiences Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

chuīxū

chuīxū (chuī·xū {puff → [boast; brag]} · {sigh → [praise]} → [boast; brag; lavishly praise oneself or others] 吹嘘 吹噓) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

I have long especially liked 1 Corinthians 13. It contains counsel on what really does and doesn’t matter in life, an extensive description and definition of the most important kind of love, and a sublime discussion about the need to become complete, mature, as a person. As these apply to life in general, so too do they apply to our lives as Mandarin field language learners.

As Mandarin field language learners, it can benefit us greatly to consider what we can learn from 1 Corinthians 13, and along the way, we can also consider some of the Mandarin expressions used in that chapter in the current version of the Mandarin New World Translation Bible (nwtsty).

Tooting Your Own Horn?

This week’s MEotW, “chuīxū (chuī·xū {puff → [boast; brag]} · {sigh → [praise]} → [boast; brag; lavishly praise oneself or others] 吹嘘 吹噓)”, is used in verse 4 (WOL) of 1 Corinthians 13:

Screenshot of “_chuīxū_” in 1 Co. 13:4 (nwtsty, CHS+_Pīnyīn_ WOL)

(Dark mode for the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (WOL) website, as shown in the above image, can be enabled in the Safari web browser by using the Noir Safari extension. Other web browsers may also have extensions with similar functionality.)

For comparison, here are the current English and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus renderings of 1 Corinthians 13:4:

English:

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous. It does not brag, does not get puffed up,

Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus:

📖 📄 📘 Ài (love 爱 愛), yǒu (has 有) nàixīn (nài·xīn {being (of/with) enduring} · heart → [patience] 耐心), yòu (also 又) réncí (rén·cí {is kind} 仁慈). Ài (love 爱 愛), bù (not 不) jídù ({is jealous} 嫉妒), bù (not 不) chuīxū (chuī·xū {does puff → [does brag]} · {does sigh → [does praise]} → [does brag] 吹嘘 吹噓), bú (not 不) zìdà (zì·dà {(does consider) self} · {to be big → [to be great]} 自大),

The “chuī (blow; puff [→ [play (a wind instrument) | boast; brag | flatter | break off; break up; fall through]] 吹)” in “chuīxū (chuī·xū {puff → [boast; brag]} · {sigh → [praise]} → [boast; brag; lavishly praise oneself or others] 吹嘘 吹噓)” literally means “blow” or “puff”. For example, it’s used this way in “chuīhào (chuī·hào blow · {brass wind instrument} 吹号 吹號)”, which means “blow a brass instrument”, such as a trumpet. In “chuīxū (chuī·xū {puff → [boast; brag]} · {sigh → [praise]} → [boast; brag; lavishly praise oneself or others] 吹嘘 吹噓)”, “chuī (blow; puff [→ [play (a wind instrument) | boast; brag | flatter | break off; break up; fall through]] 吹)” is used to effectively mean “boast” or “brag”, kind of a Mandarin version of “toot your own horn”.

The “xū (sigh; {breathe out slowly/gently} [→ [praise]] 嘘 噓)” in “chuīxū (chuī·xū {puff → [boast; brag]} · {sigh → [praise]} → [boast; brag; lavishly praise oneself or others] 吹嘘 吹噓)” literally means “sigh” or “breathe out slowly/gently”. It can be used to effectively mean “praise”, and in this week’s MEotW, it’s evidently used to mean “praise oneself”.

Characters for the Bragging Rights?

A while ago, a young brother said to me that he felt that Chinese characters may be a test for us. I suppose he meant that characters may test our resolve and determination to serve Jehovah in spite of the presumably unavoidable difficulties presented by them. I replied to him that I think characters help show whether we are serving God in the Mandarin field out of pride, or out of love.

Why did I say that? Well, the truth is that, especially now, and more and more so as time goes on, the difficulties traditionally presented to us Mandarin field language learners by Chinese characters are usually avoidable—much of the organization’s core published Mandarin material is now available with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), and more and more of its material is becoming available with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) as time goes on. Also, more and more unofficial material with Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is also becoming available.

So, if a Mandarin field language learner uses characters rather than Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), it is more and more becoming a choice, not a necessity. When faced with this choice of writing systems, pride will cause one to gravitate towards choosing the system that has difficulties—even if they are unnecessary and avoidable—that one can brag about overcoming, and that brings with it widespread social and cultural prestige that one can bask in. As Lǔ Xùn ((Lǔ Stupid; Rash (surname) 鲁 魯) (Xùn Fast; Quick; Swift 迅) (pen name of Zhōu Shùrén, the greatest Chinese writer of the 20th cent. and a strong advocate of alphabetic writing)) explained:

In addition to the limitations of social status and economic means, our Chinese characters present another high threshold to the masses: their difficulty. If you don’t spend ten or so years on them, it’s not easy to cross this threshold alone. Those who cross over it are the scholar-officials, and these same scholar-officials do their utmost to make writing as difficult as possible because it makes them especially dignified, surpassing all other ordinary scholar-officials. …

…If the characters were easy to recognize and everybody could master them, then they would not be dignified, and the scholar-officials would lose their dignity along with them.

So, one of the main reasons why characters are the way they are, and why the Chinese people of the world in general have stuck with characters even though much simpler and more reasonable systems like Zhùyīn (Zhù·yīn {Annotating of} · Sounds → [Zhuyin] 注音 註/注音) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) have been around for decades, boils down to pride. Chinese people may show pride in different ways than Westerners are used to, but, to paraphrase Forrest Gump, “proud is as proud does”. Does one keep using an old, overly complex system that one’s ancestors invented and that one has invested much time and effort into, even though a new system has become available that is objectively much simpler and better, and even though lives are at stake? That’s very evidently foolish human pride in action. If a Mandarin field language learner adopts the possibly Christendom-derived attitude of “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” when it comes to characters, then that one will generally be following what turns out to be a prideful course.

The Great Wall of China

Why keep bashing your head against the Great Wall of characters when Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) makes available a way around it? When all is said and done (and written and read), could it be that the reason many do so boils down to pride?

Choices, Consequences

Of course, some situations call for a nuanced view. For example, one may still encounter situations in the Mandarin field in which certain material is only available in characters, so it’s still the practical course for one to learn as many characters as one reasonably can. However, what writing system does one choose to use when one can, and why?

Also, some in the Mandarin field have already been learning characters for so long that they can already recognize most of the ones they encounter, most of the time. So, such ones may feel that they may as well continue to struggle on with characters. However, with the inhuman number and complexity of characters, unfamiliar characters may still occasionally ambush even highly-experienced native Mandarin-speakers, let alone Mandarin field language learners. Also, even the best of us are still human, so we are all susceptible to occasionally being struck by character amnesia because of the aforementioned inhuman number and complexity of the characters.

Even more seriously, as even the young brother mentioned above acknowledged, experience shows that those who focus on learning characters often end up neglecting their Mandarin speech. This can, and often does, result in their not being able to speak Mandarin very powerfully or persuasively when trying to preach to or teach Mandarin-speaking people. However, linguistics (language science) and the Bible itself both testify that being able to “use speech that is easily understood” is a primarily important requirement in the preaching and teaching work that God has assigned to us.—1 Corinthians 14:8–11.

“Love…Does Not Brag”

In contrast to the prideful course chosen by many in the world, and perhaps unwittingly adopted by some in the Mandarin field, love will move one to, when possible, use the system that through its simplicity and elegance enables one to serve Jehovah and one’s Mandarin-speaking neighbours better, faster, regardless of how it is still often looked down on in the traditional popular culture. As the scripture says, “ài (love 爱 愛)…bù (not 不) chuīxū (chuī·xū {does puff → [does brag]} · {does sigh → [does praise]} → [does brag] 吹嘘 吹噓)”.—1 Corinthians 13:4 (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus).

Categories
Culture Experiences Language Learning Science Theocratic

shūtú‐tóngguī

shūtú‐tóngguī ((shū·tú {[are] different} · ways; roads; routes 殊途)‐(tóng·guī {[are the] same} · {coming together} 同归 同歸) → [[are] different roads/routes/etc. to the same place/destination/goal/etc.]) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

One of the publications that is now recommended to be used on Bible studies is the Yǒngyuǎn Xiǎngshòu Měihǎo de Shēngmìng—Hùdòng Shì Shèngjīng Kèchéng ((Yǒng·yuǎn Eternally · {Far (in Time)} 永远 永遠) (Xiǎng·shòu Enjoy · Receive 享受) (Měi·hǎo Beautiful · Good 美好) (de ’s 的) (Shēngmìng Life 生命)—(Hù·dòng {Each Other} · Moving → [Interactive] 互动 互動) (Shì (Type 式) (Shèng·jīng Holy · Scriptures → [Bible] 圣经 聖經) (Kè·chéng Lessons · Procedure → [Course] 课程 課程) → [Enjoy Life Forever!—An Interactive Bible Course (lff)]) (Enjoy Life Forever! (lff)) book. This week’s MEotW, “shūtú‐tóngguī ((shū·tú {[are] different} · ways; roads; routes 殊途)‐(tóng·guī {[are the] same} · {coming together} 同归 同歸) → [[are] different roads/routes/etc. to the same place/destination/goal/etc.])”, appears in lesson 13, point 4 of this book:

English:

Many people believe that religions are like different roads that all lead to God. But is that true?

Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):

📖 📄 📘 Xǔduō (Xǔ·duō numbers · many 许多 許多) rén (people 人) rènwéi (rèn·wéi identify · {(it) to be} 认为 認為), suǒyǒu (suǒ·yǒu {(all) which} · {(there) are having → [(there) are]} → [all] 所有) zōngjiào (zōng·jiào {schools of thought} · teachings → [religions] 宗教) dōu (all 都) shūtú‐tóngguī ((shū·tú {are different} · roads 殊途)‐(tóng·guī {are the same} · {coming together} 同归 同歸) → [are different roads to the same place]), dàn (but 但) zhè (this 这 這) shì (is 是) zhēn (true 真) de ({’s (thing)} 的) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions] 吗 嗎)?

Morphemic Breakdown

The first morpheme in this week’s MEotW, “shū (different [→ [special; outstanding; remarkable]] 殊)”, literally means “different”. It can in some contexts effectively mean “special; outstanding; remarkable”, which helps explain its appearance in such expressions as “tèshū (tè·shū {[is] special; particular; unusual; exceptional} · {[is] different [→ [[is] special; outstanding; remarkable; unusual]]} 特殊)” and “shūróng (shū·róng {different → [special; outstanding; remarkable]} · honour; glory 殊荣 殊榮)”.

The next morpheme, “tú (road; route; journey; way; path; course 途/涂 途/塗)”, means “road; route; journey; way; path; course”. Other Mandarin expressions that make use of it include “mítú (mí·tú lost · way; road; route [→ [lost one’s way]] 迷途)”, “qítú (qí·tú {[(wrong)] branch} · road; route; journey; way 歧途)”, and, notably, “qiántú (qián·tú ahead · road → [future; prospects] 前途)”.

The third morpheme, “tóng (same; similar | {together [with]}; {in common} 同 同/仝)”, is an often-used one that basically means “same”, as it does in “tóngyàng (tóng·yàng {[(in the)] same} · kind; type; appearance; shape; {pattern; form [→ [way]]} [of] 同样 同樣)”, for example.

The last morpheme, “guī ({return to} | {belong to} | {turn over to} | converge; {gather/come together} 归 歸)”, can mean “return to”, “belong to”, “turn over to”, or “converge; gather/come together”, as it does in this week’s MEotW. Other Mandarin expressions in which it appears include “guīhuí (guī·huí return · {to circle back [to]} 归回 歸回)” and “wú‐jiā‐kě‐guī ((wú without 无 無/无)‐(jiā home 家)‐(kě {(that) can} 可)‐(guī {be returned to} 归 歸) → [homeless])”.

Taken together, the constituent morphemes in “shūtú‐tóngguī ((shū·tú {[are] different} · ways; roads; routes 殊途)‐(tóng·guī {[are the] same} · {coming together} 同归 同歸) → [[are] different roads/routes/etc. to the same place/destination/goal/etc.])” effectively mean “[are] different roads/routes/etc. to the same place/destination/goal/etc.” As the Enjoy Life Forever! book points out, many believe that this concept applies to the different religions, but the Bible, for example, at Matthew 7:13, 14, plainly teaches otherwise.

One True Religion, Exclusive Devotion

Sadly, some people allow this to become a big issue for them. Years ago, I had a call who in many ways seemed like a good call. He was unusual in that he was young, but was a devout Buddhist who was seriously into Buddhism, not just someone who was merely going along with his Buddhist parents. We had a few long, seemingly good discussions, but one thing that he firmly believed was that it was acceptable for us to practise different religions and worship different gods. After a while, he attended a public talk that I gave in which I used the illustration that God requires his true worshippers to practise the one true religion and to be exclusively devoted to him, just like a husband requires exclusive devotion from his wife, and unfortunately, he lost interest after that. I felt bad because of what happened, but a brother reminded me that not everyone has the right heart condition to progress in the truth.—Acts 13:48.

Indeed, for one to make real spiritual progress, one must be willing to take to heart God’s clearly stated views, rather than stubbornly sticking to one’s own preferred ideas regardless of what God has said about them. Such acceptance of God’s direction is the only way for one to truly have a good relationship with him, as opposed to one just viewing and treating Almighty God like a butler who exists (if one even really believes he exists) merely to satisfy one’s whims.

Different Ways to Learn Mandarin?

Just as many find the idea that different religions are just different roads to the same place to be appealing, many also like to believe that there are different acceptable ways to learn Mandarin, including focusing on learning Chinese characters, as encouraged by many traditionally-minded Mandarin teachers. It may be true to an extent that different ways of learning Mandarin can produce acceptable results. However, if we truly want to make best use of our dedicated, limited time and resources in the Mandarin field, we should keep some basic, objective truths in mind, as pointed out in the article “SPEECH is Top Priority, Not Characters”:

It’s good if some have already learned to use characters, but for those of us who are learning Mandarin for the Mandarin field, our focus should really be on understanding Mandarin speech and speaking Mandarin understandably:

Your first linguistic goal should be to “utter speech easily understood.” [emphasis added] (1 Corinthians 14:8-11) Though people may be tolerant, mistakes or a heavy accent may distract them from listening to your message. Giving attention to proper pronunciation and grammar right from the start will prevent you from forming bad habits that are hard to break.
—“Serving With a Foreign-Language Congregation”, in the March 15, 2006 Watchtower.

8 For if the trumpet sounds an indistinct call, who will get ready for battle? 9 In the same way, unless you with the tongue use speech that is easily understood [emphasis added], how will anyone know what is being said? You will, in fact, be speaking into the air. 10 It may be that there are many kinds of speech in the world, and yet no kind is without meaning. 11 For if I do not understand the sense of the speech, I will be a foreigner to the one speaking, and the one speaking will be a foreigner to me.
—1 Corinthians 14:8–11.

…

…just like it’s an established fact that the earth is round, according to modern linguistics (the scientific study of language) this is also an established fact: “Speech is primary, writing is secondary and is always derivative of speech.” This scientific truth about language, that Jehovah built us and wired us to primarily communicate meaning through speech, supports what 1 Corinthians 14:8–11 (quoted above) says about understandable speech being of prime importance to Christian evangelizers. …

…publishers need to learn to understand Mandarin speech to benefit spiritually from Mandarin meetings, because the talks, comments, etc. at such meetings are made of Mandarin speech, not characters. In fact, focusing on characters makes this problem worse because it makes learning Mandarin speech harder and slower. At the very least, it distracts from learning Mandarin speech.

…

Characters focus mainly on themselves, and are at best a scenic route to learning Mandarin speech, while Pīnyīn is a fast, direct route to learning Mandarin speech. As rescue workers in the Mandarin field, rather than tourists, we must give top priority to the fastest, most effective way to help those in the field, not to the way that features cultural attractions for us to see.

Different roads indeed!

For convenience:

The direct link for the current generation Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Enjoy Life Forever! book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Enjoy Life Forever! book is:

More Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material based on the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.