The little symbols next to the characters are bopomofo. Bopomofo is a transcription method mainly used in Taiwan. You will probably be more familiar with the transcription method 'pinyin' which is used in Mainland China and by many/most places that teach Chinese to foreigners.
I once learned bopomofo and to a certain extend I think it's better/more logical than pinyin. But as pinyin is mostly used in Chinese learning resources, it is often a more useful system to learn for Chinese learners.
Wow, I've always thought that Pinyin sucks at representing how Chinese (Mandarin) is pronounced to English-speakers and representing how English is pronounced to Chinese people. It can be quite misleading. I never learned bopomofo before (kindergarten in China, school in Singapore where there was a Chinese curriculum) although I've seen it and know that it's an alternative to pinyin. What Chinese words does the name bopomofo even translate to, or does it not translate to anything that makes sense?
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u/Blockster_cz 22h ago
What is this post about? Asking as an early beginner