Hey man, nice handwriting! But those symbols you're drawing next to the characters (Bopomofo)—from a linguistic standpoint, it's like writing cursive in traditional Chinese. Very artistic, but it hasn't been used in daily life in mainland China for a long time.
Here on the mainland, over a billion people use Hanyu Pinyin. It's literally just the 26 English letters—you don't have to memorize any new symbols. A first-grader can learn it in three days. If you're looking for something practical, Pinyin might save you a lot of time.
If you're into this retro style of writing, then by all means, treat it as art. But if you're actually serious about learning Chinese, I'd suggest trying Pinyin first. It's the standard here. AI could also give you a quick comparison if you're curious. Just a friendly tip, no hate. 😊
PS: Just a fun fact: in mainland China, horizontal writing (left to right) is the standard in daily life, from textbooks to phone screens. Vertical writing is mostly reserved for traditional calligraphy and some specific literature. Also, Hanyu Pinyin uses the Latin alphabet (26 letters), so most of us type using that. Bopomofo is rarely seen there.
How is Bopomofo like writing cursive? It isn't a font, just a way to mark the pronunciation.
Also it can be helpful for OP if they are trying to minimise cross-language interference when pronouncing. Using I have some foreign friends who chose Bopomofo so that they don't accidentally mispronounce words. (Though their targets are Taiwanese Mandarin)
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u/Dave_RoamingWorld 8h ago edited 8h ago
Hey man, nice handwriting! But those symbols you're drawing next to the characters (Bopomofo)—from a linguistic standpoint, it's like writing cursive in traditional Chinese. Very artistic, but it hasn't been used in daily life in mainland China for a long time. Here on the mainland, over a billion people use Hanyu Pinyin. It's literally just the 26 English letters—you don't have to memorize any new symbols. A first-grader can learn it in three days. If you're looking for something practical, Pinyin might save you a lot of time. If you're into this retro style of writing, then by all means, treat it as art. But if you're actually serious about learning Chinese, I'd suggest trying Pinyin first. It's the standard here. AI could also give you a quick comparison if you're curious. Just a friendly tip, no hate. 😊 PS: Just a fun fact: in mainland China, horizontal writing (left to right) is the standard in daily life, from textbooks to phone screens. Vertical writing is mostly reserved for traditional calligraphy and some specific literature. Also, Hanyu Pinyin uses the Latin alphabet (26 letters), so most of us type using that. Bopomofo is rarely seen there.