Categories
Culture Experiences History Language Learning Names Science Theocratic

Lǎhé

Lǎhé (Raʹhab 喇合) 👈🏼 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.]

A few years back, I wrote up a brief web page listing reasons for producing Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), etc. material for the Imitate (ia) book. Some, especially some who grew up in the West, may have felt that this book is made up of “just stories”, and ones that they were already quite familiar with, at that. However, we must remember that Chinese Bible students may often have a different perspective regarding the Bible accounts that are made to come to life in the Imitate book. As that web page said:

  • Many Chinese people in the world have not been exposed to Bible accounts the way many Westerners have.
  • Also, I have heard that some, perhaps many, Chinese Bible students tend to approach their Bible studies like intellectual exercises for accumulating chōuxiàng (abstract) head knowledge as if for a school exam, rather than as training for their hearts for their own real lives.

Later, the web page touches on how some of the real-world benefits of good storytelling like that found in the Imitate book involve empathy:

    • The actress Natalie Portman once said, “I love acting. I think it’s the most amazing thing to be able to do. Your job is practicing empathy. You walk down the street imagining every person’s life.”
  • The Imitate book helps build Bible students’ empathy towards Bible characters, which in turn helps Bible students realize that others would feel empathy towards them as well if they imitated these Bible characters—not everyone will just think they’re crazy, like many worldly friends or family members might think.

While even fictional stories can have the benefits described in the links and the quote above, true stories from the Bible can have even greater benefits, including spiritual ones.

Besides the Imitate book, another book from Jehovah’s organization that relates Bible accounts is the Learn From the Bible (lfb) book. The letter from the Governing Body in this book says that, similarly to the Imitate book, the Learn From the Bible book also “brings the Bible accounts to life and captures the feelings of those depicted”, while, unlike the Imitate book, it “tells the story of the human family from creation onward”. While the Learn From the Bible book is especially suitable for children, the letter from the Governing Body in this book says that “it can also be used to help adults who desire to learn more about the Bible”. So, it would be good to consider on this blog some of the expressions used in the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book.

Same Characters, Different Pronunciations

This week’s MEotW, “Lǎhé (Raʹhab 喇合)”, appears in the title of Lesson 30 of the Mandarin Learn From the Bible book:

English:

Rahab Hid the Spies

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

📖 📄 📘 Lǎhé (Raʹhab 喇合) Ràng (Made) Tànzi (Tàn·zi {(Ones) Trying to Find Sth. Out → [Spies]} · [suf for nouns] 探子) Cáng ({to Be Hidden} 藏) Qilai (Qi·lai Up · {to Come} 起来 起來)

The Mandarin Learn From the Bible book here uses “Lǎhé (Raʹhab 喇合) to correspond with “Rahab” in English. The current Mandarin version of the New World Translation Bible (Study Edition) also uses “Lǎhé (Raʹhab 喇合) this way. For example, here is how it renders Joshua 2:1, which mentions Rahab:

Joshua 2:1 in the Mandarin _NWT_ Study Bible, in the JW Library app

Joshua 2:1 in the Mandarin NWT Study Bible, in the JW Library app

Note, though, that the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) for this used to be “Lāhé (Raʹhab (old pronunciation) 喇合)”, with the same characters, as can be seen in this screenshot of Joshua 2:1 in the PDF for the old printed Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) NWT Bible:

Joshua 2:1 in the PDF for the old printed _Pīnyīn_ _NWT_ Bible

Joshua 2:1 in the PDF for the old printed Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) NWT Bible

Why was this pronunciation changed, even though the same characters are used? Perhaps this was done to align with the common pronunciation of this name. For example, in CC-CEDICT, a public-domain Chinese-English dictionary, the entry for this expression says that the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) for it is “Lǎhé (Raʹhab 喇合)”, and that the definition is “(Protestantism) Rahab, mother of Boaz”. In turn, perhaps there is some connection with the ABC Dictionary’s definition of “lǎ ({prostitute (slang)} | horn; bugle; trumpet; loudspeaker | lama 喇) as “(slang) prostitute”, which, as many know, is what Rahab worked as before she joined Jehovah’s people.

Context Is King, Not Characters

Anyway, what we have here are homographs, different expressions that are written the same way. In fact, my dictionaries say that the character “喇” that’s used in “Lǎhé (Raʹhab 喇合) can represent different expressions which can be pronounced “lā”, “lá”, “lǎ”, or “la”. If one encounters the character “喇” then, which of its multiple possible pronunciations is the right one? And, which of its multiple possible meanings is the right one? It depends on the context, which is the same as the situation with homophones written in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音). (Actually, in a way, a character like “喇” is more ambiguous than a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression like “lǎ ({prostitute (slang)} | horn; bugle; trumpet; loudspeaker | lama 喇)”, because at least the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression literally spells out its pronunciation, whereas with a character like “喇”, both its meaning and its pronunciation are ambiguous, even if one knows and can remember the character.)

So, while advocates of characters often make a fuss about the homophones in Mandarin that Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) would write the same way, the corresponding problem of homographs plagues the characters!


For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Learn From the Bible book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Learn From the Bible 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 Learn From the Bible book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.

Categories
Culture Experiences Language Learning Science Theocratic

fǎn’ér

fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning [(it/that…)] over → [on the contrary; instead]} · {but (rather); yet; on the other hand} 反而) 👈🏼 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.]

We in the Mandarin field should keep in mind that many Mandarin-speaking people were taught to believe in evolution, and thus tend to not believe in God. The Shēngmìng Láizì Chuàngzào Ma? ((Shēngmìng Life 生命) (Lái·zì Came · From 来自 來自) (Chuàng·zào Initiating · {Making, Creating} → [Creating] 创造 創造) (Ma [? ptcl for “yes/no” questions])? [Was Life Created? (lc)]) (Was Life Created? (lc)) brochure and the Shēngmìng de Qǐyuán—Zhíde Sīkǎo de Wǔ Ge Wèntí ((Shēngmìng Life 生命) (de ’s 的) (Qǐ·yuán {Rising → [Starting]} · Source → [Origin] 起源/原)—(Zhí·de Worth · Getting → [Worth] 值得) (Sī·kǎo {Thinking About} · Examining 思考) (de ’s 的) (Wǔ Five 五) (Ge [mw]個/个) (Wèn·tí Asking · Subjects → [Questions] 问题 問題) [The Origin of Life—Five Questions Worth Asking (lf)]) (The Origin of Life—Five Questions Worth Asking (lf)) brochure were originally published back in 2010, but they are still considered current publications, and relatively recently, the English version of the Was Life Created? brochure was updated to the December 2022 Printing, and the Mandarin version of it was updated to the February 2023 Printing. So, it would be good for us to consider some of the expressions used in the Mandarin versions of the Was Life Created? and Origin of Life brochures, which can be so helpful when discussing the fundamentally important question of whether life was created.

Being Contrary

This week’s MEotW, “fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning [(it/that…)] over → [on the contrary; instead]} · {but (rather); yet; on the other hand} 反而)”, occurs in the 13th paragraph in the QUESTION 1 section of the Origin of Life brochure, which section is entitled, in English, “How Did Life Begin?”:

English:

Similarly, if scientists ever did construct a cell, they would accomplish something truly amazing—but would they prove that the cell could be made by accident? If anything, they would prove the very opposite, would they not?

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

📖 📄 📘 Tóngyàng (Tóng·yàng (in the) same · {form → [way]} 同样 同樣), jiǎrú (jiǎ·rú {being artificial} · {as if} → [supposing] 假如) kēxué‐jiā ((kē·xué {branches of study} · learning → [science] 科学 科學)‐(jiā -ists 家) [scientists]) zhēnde (zhēn·de really · ’s 真的) néng ({were able} 能) zàochū (zào·chū {to build} · out 造出) (one 一) ge ([mw]個/个) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · womb → [cell] 细胞 細胞), (that 那) dāngrán (dāng·rán should · -ly → [of course] 当然 當然) shì ({would be} 是) (one 一) xiàng ({item of}) wěijǔ (wěi·jǔ great · {raising → [act]} → [magnificent feat] 伟举 偉舉), dàn (but 但) zhè (this) kěyǐ (kě·yǐ could · [suf] 可以) zhèngmíng (zhèng·míng prove · {to be clear} 证明 證明) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · womb → [cell] 细胞 細胞) néng (could 能) pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance] 碰巧) chǎnshēng (chǎn·shēng {be given birth to → [be produced]} · {be given birth to → [be caused to exist]} → [be brought into being] 产生 產生) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions])? Qíshí (Qí·shí its · {being solid → [actuality]} → [actually] 其实 其實), zhè (this) fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning (it) over → [instead]} · {on the other hand} 反而) zhèngmíng (zhèng·míng {would prove} · {to be clear} 证明 證明) xìbāo (xì·bāo tiny · womb → [cell] 细胞 細胞) (not 不) shì (is 是) pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance] 碰巧) chǎnshēng (chǎn·shēng {given birth to → [produced]} · {given birth to → [caused to exist]} → [brought into being] 产生 產生) de ({’s (thing)} 的), duì (towards → [correct]) ma ([? ptcl for “yes/no” questions])?

The “fǎn ({turn over [→ [reverse | returned; countered | revolted; rebelled | oppose; combat | upside down; inside out; in the reverse direction | on the contrary; instead | anti-]]} 反) in “fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning [(it/that…)] over → [on the contrary; instead]} · {but (rather); yet; on the other hand} 反而) literally means “turning (it/that…) over”, and it effectively means “on the contrary; instead”. The “ér (and; {and yet} | {but (rather)}; {on the other hand} | thus | {so as to} 而) here means “on the other hand”.

To Obey or Not to Obey

While we as God’s people should be “ready to obey”, especially when it comes to direction from him, his Word, and his organization, we should do our obeying intentionally and thoughtfully, with our “power of reason”. (James 3:17; Romans 12:1) We should not just obey from nothing more than habitual or mindless reflex, otherwise, in this world that is filled with misinformation and controlled by Satan the Devil, we may become “like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and blown about”, and we may allow ourselves to be “molded by this system of things”.—James 1:6; Romans 12:2.

Interestingly, when it comes to obedience, scientific studies suggest that having a naturally agreeable personality may make one more likely to go along with someone’s instructions to do something harmful:

In a previous post I discussed Stanley Milgram’s famous obedience experiments and what they say about the conditions that lead people to make destructive, harmful choices. It turns out they’re the same conditions that most of us experience in everyday life when it comes to making choices more or less damaging to the environment—and they prompt us to take the more destructive path.

Now a new study using a variation of Milgram’s experiments shows that people with more agreeable, conscientious personalities are more likely to make harmful choices. In these new obedience experiments, people with more social graces were the ones who complied with the experimenter’s wishes and delivered electric shocks they believed could harm an innocent person. By contrast, people with more contrarian, less agreeable personalities were more likely to refuse to hurt other people when told to do so.

Yes, when faced with wrong or harmful directions or information, it would actually be good for us to be “contrarian” or even “disobedient” in order to ultimately be more truly obedient to and in harmony with Jehovah and his right ways. In this, we have Jesus’ example to guide us. Jesus absolutely did not just “go along to get along” when it came to human ideas and traditions that were contrary to God’s principles and ways. While the Pharisees, etc. viewed Jesus as “contrarian” and “difficult”, Jehovah approved of him.

Going Along with the World

Often, in the world’s media, some exquisitely designed thing in the natural world will be featured, and then the comment will be something like “Isn’t it amazing what evolution produced?” Such comments are classic examples of the subtle brainwashing that repeatedly, persistently occurs in Satan’s world to plant in people preconceived notions that cause them to not give Jehovah the glory he deserves as the Creator.—Revelation 4:11

To illustrate, suppose that a man composes a poem and draws a picture to express his love for a woman. However, when the woman receives these, she assumes that he had just copied them from a greeting card—even though the man had actually done the composing and drawing out of love for her, because of her preconceived notions that no one she could conceivably meet actually does such things for real, the woman fails to appreciate the man’s exceptional heartfelt expression of love, and she fails to give him the credit he deserves for what he actually did. Similarly, even though Jehovah actually out of love created all the wonderful things in the natural world, because of the preconceived notions that Satan has industriously and on an industrial scale worked to implant in people’s minds, many just attribute these wonderful things to evolution, to blind chance, and they fail to give Jehovah the glory he deserves as the Creator. They are like the Israelites mentioned in Isaiah 65:11:

But you are among those forsaking Jehovah,
Those forgetting my holy mountain,
Those setting a table for the god of Good Luck,
And those filling up cups of mixed wine for the god of Destiny.

Actually, though, despite the deeply ingrained preconceived notions that Satan has spread that cause many to assume that evolution produced the wonders found in nature, the obvious logical conclusion is really that the amazingly designed things in the natural world are—fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning (that) over → [on the contrary]} · {on the other hand} 反而)—clear evidence of an amazing Designer. As the Was Life Created? brochure quotes microbiologist Michael J. Behe as saying:

The strong appearance of design [in nature] allows a disarmingly simple argument: if it looks, walks and quacks like a duck, then, absent compelling evidence to the contrary, we have warrant to conclude it’s a duck. …Design should not be overlooked simply because it’s so obvious.

Preconceived Notions About Learning Mandarin

Us Mandarin field language learners also have to contend with erroneous preconceived notions that are widespread in Satan’s world. For example, Chinese characters are traditionally considered by many to be the primary, most important aspect of the Mandarin language. However, linguists (language scientists) understand that actually, writing fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning (that) over → [on the contrary]} · {on the other hand} 反而) is only secondary, and that speech is actually the primary aspect of any human language. Also, while most have been conditioned to view Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) as just a pronunciation aid, it fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning (that) over → [on the contrary]} · {on the other hand} 反而) qualifies as and functions well as a full writing system for Modern Standard Mandarin.

Accepting these linguistic truths will help us Mandarin field language learners to be better equipped to help honest-hearted Mandarin-speakers to get past the evolution-normalizing conditioning and brainwashing from Satan’s world, and to come to appreciate that the wonderfully designed things in the natural world fǎn’ér (fǎn’·ér {turning (that) over → [on the contrary]} · {on the other hand} 反而) are actually the obvious evidence of a wonderful Designer.


For convenience:

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

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Origin of Life brochure 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 Origin of Life brochure will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.

Categories
Culture Experiences Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

wūdú

wūdú (voodoo 巫毒) 👈🏼 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. An outstanding feature of this book is its extensive use of the post-paper technology of video, which enables information to be presented much more vividly than could be done with paper. Also, at this time, one of the unique features of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material is Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus video transcripts. These can help us Mandarin field language learners to analyze and understand the Mandarin speech used in the many videos referenced in the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book. This in turn can help us make more effective use of these videos while participating in Mandarin Bible discussions using this book.

This week’s MEotW, “wūdú (voodoo 巫毒)”, occurs in subtitle 3 of the transcript for the video for lesson 14, point 5 of the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book:

English:

At a tender age, I had a troubled mind

as to how I would be pleasing to God

and also at the same time be pleasing in the eyes of the voodoo.

Mandarin:

1
00:00:02,952 → 00:00:06,556
📖 📄 📘 Cóngxiǎo (Cóng·xiǎo from · {being little → [being young]} → [from childhood] 从小 從小) (I 我) jiù (then 就) yìzhí (yì·zhí one · {being straight} → [all the while] 一直) zài ({had been in} → [had then been] 在) xiǎng (thinking 想)

2
00:00:06,556 → 00:00:11,461
📖 📄 📘 (I 我) zěnyàng (zěn·yàng (in) what · {pattern → [way]} → [how] 怎样 怎樣) zuò ({would do} 做) kěyǐ (kě·yǐ {to be able} · [suf] 可以) tóngshí (tóng·shí {(at the) same} · {(particular) time} 同时 同時) ràng ({to make}) Shàngdì (Shàng·dì Above’s · {Emperor → [God]} → [God] 上帝) xǐyuè ({to be pleased} 喜悦 喜悅),

3
00:00:11,461 → 00:00:14,964
📖 📄 📘 yòu (also 又) ràng ({to make}) wūdú (voodoo 巫毒) de (’s 的) shénlíng (shén·líng gods · spirits 神灵 神靈) xǐyuè ({to be pleased} 喜悦 喜悅).

Speech Is Primary!

The individual morphemes of “wūdú (voodoo 巫毒) have interesting meanings (“witch/wizard/shaman” and “poison”), but ultimately, “wūdú (voodoo 巫毒) is a loanword from the English word “voodoo”, which in turn comes, via Louisiana French, from the Fon word “vodun”, meaning “god; deity”.

How similar these loanwords sound reminds us that, as linguists say, speech, with its invisible sounds to represent meaning, is actually the primary aspect of language, as opposed to writing, which is secondary, no matter how intricate its visual symbols are.

Power-Hungry?

As Jehovah’s people, we have been taught to seek to imitate him and cultivate and display a healthy balance and combination of Jehovah’s four cardinal attributes: power, justice, wisdom, and love. (Ephesians 5:1, 2) However, those who are devoted to voodoo and other forms of spiritism seek power over all else. This unbalanced thirst for power over all else, ignoring and even actively fighting against wisdom, justice, and love, is common in Satan’s world, which is made in Satan’s deformed spiritual image.

The perceived voodooesque power of characters—including their mythical idol-like power to represent invisible meaning with their mesmerizing visual designs, and also the cultural power, social status, and glamour associated with them—is of course appealing to those who conform to the power-hungry template of those infected with the spirit of Satan’s world.

When such ones are presented with the simple, humble effectiveness of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), they recoil at this this threat to their precious characters-based power, much as the Pharisees, etc. recoiled at the threat Jesus and his back-to-spiritual-basics teachings posed to their traditions-based power. On the other hand, Mandarin field language learners who are truly motivated by love for God and neighbour see in Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) an excellent tool for helping them to effectively use Mandarin speech—the actual primary aspect of the Mandarin language—to help them praise and glorify Jehovah and give spiritual assistance to honest-hearted people in the Mandarin field.

汉字 / 漢字? Pīnyīn?

Indeed, whereas some feel that characters present a test of our determination to serve God in the face of difficulties, it is evident that characters can actually present a test of our motivations as Mandarin field language learners, especially when Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) is available (as it often is now). Are we in our pride hungry for the voodooesque power often associated with the characters? Or are we truly motivated by love of God and neighbour to look for ways to get past the unnecessarily obstructive Great Wall of characters, and to make good use of Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音), in many situations the evidently better tool for glorifying God and helping our Mandarin-speaking neighbours, when it is available?—1 Corinthians 13.

The Great Wall of China

How do we respond to the seemingly powerful Great Wall of characters?


For convenience:

The direct link for the 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.