| "And to think that I learnt Chinese using ZhuYingFuHao, which is like learning another language in itself. That was tough!" The Taiwan Zhuyinfuhao, Wade-Giles, Yale romanization and since the late 70's pinyin have all been learnt by any English-speaking foreign student of Chinese since the 1950's. As of today my Nokia cell phone uses zhuyinfuhao, my Chinese language software uses pinyin, my classical dictionaries and older references use Wade-Giles and I myself use a shorthand version of Yale romanization to jot down new vocabulary. There is no "inexplicable phobia to the language" among overseas Chinese kids under the age of 13 and living in Western culture because the language, if not the spoken then surely the written, is eventually lost unless other kids speak and use the same language. Parents and grandparents have not influence enough to impress the language upon a young child because most of what the child learns comes from and with its peers. That's why we have our children attend Chinese language school on weekends; that's why by the age of 15 they've drifted away from the language and the culture. |
Pinyin is Not Chinese