| Reading Chinese with English Letters. Chinese is written in characters, not in English letters. However, in order to write Chinese words for people who do not know characters, several spelling systems have been invented. The kind of spelling system now used by the Chinese on mainland China is called Pinyin (pronounced peen een, with a silent y). Another, older, spelling system still seen in many
western reference books is called Wade-Giles. Here's how to tell the
difference: Example: Taiwan would be spelled as T'aiwan in Wade-Giles. If Wade-Giles uses a T with no breathmark, it is to be pronounced as a d. The food product Tofu is a Wade-Giles spelling. The T does not have a breathmark, and is pronounced like a d, so the correct way to pronounce it is doe-foo. The Pinyin spelling for it is doufu. (Note, on Taiwan, until recently, the Wade-Giles system was used in street signs and maps for the sake of foreign visitors, although the breathmarks were not included. Now the street signs are being changed to Pinyin) This website will introduce Chinese words using the Pinyin system. Comparisons to Wade-Giles are sometimes included, as they are on the next page. You are invited to read these pages in sequence by
clicking on "go to next page" on the bottom of each page. For your
convenience, here is a table of contents of all the pages. You are now
on page one.
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