Part 2: The Chinese Dilemma – Face Saving and the Pinyin/Bopomofo Standoff

The core issue isn't just phonics or romanisation—it's a deep cultural and political reluctance to admit that a system introduced decades ago might need refinement, especially when outsiders (or even internal reformers) point it out. China created Hanyu Pinyin in the 1950s by adapting Western systems like Yale romanization. It deliberately moved away from Bopomofo (Zhuyin) for mainland use because pure alphabetic initials (b, d, etc., without added vowel sounds) were cleaner and more consistent. 

The Chinese Dilemma – Part 1: Face-Saving Culture and the Pinyin Problem

 

I have been learning Mandarin and have attained survival Mandarin and continuing my journey. Along the way, I have also spent considerable time researching dyslexia, reading difficulties, and effective language teaching methods. What started as a personal learning experience has opened my eyes to a deeper cultural and educational issue that I call The Chinese Dilemma.

Why Teachers, PhDs, and Even Skilled Readers Struggle to See the Real Cause of Reading Shutdowns

 

The Hidden Damage of Extraneous Sounds

For years, I've argued that one of the main reasons many intelligent children shut down or disengage from learning to read is the widespread practice of teaching letter sounds with extraneous sounds (e.g., "buh" for /b/, "duh" for /d/, "fuh" for /f/). These kids aren't "dyslexic" in the neurological sense—they're victims of confusing early input that their logical brains reject. A majority of such children get wrongly labeled as dyslexic. 

Teaching a 5 1/2 year old boy to read

Lena Loganathan, a dedicated teacher, started her reading program with a 5½-year-old boy. Inspired by his excellent progress in Lessons 1 and 2, she expanded her research to include a 4½-year-old girl.

Below is her Lesson 3 session with the 5½-year-old boy, building on the success of the previous lessons.

 

Bersama’s Bold Education Vision: Building Thinking Citizens from the Ground Up

 

Parti Bersama’s 12 agendas are ambitious, but three stand out immediately:  

Agenda 3 (Universal Early Education), Agenda 5 (Dual‑Track Higher Education), and Agenda 7 (STEM & PISA Performance). These aren’t just policy items — they treat education as the foundation of nation‑building.

QR Code in 'Teach your Child to Read'.

Each chapter in my book, Teach your Child to Read, has a QR Code as shown above.

Click on the QR Code and the lessons will be read for any child to follow without any assistance from an adult.

Get a copy of Teach Your Child to Read at only $16/-. LINK.  

Here is a sample from lesson 1. 

Note that the last page is without pictures. Orthographic mapping would have occurred by the time the child comes to the last page.  

                                                                     

 

 

Rethinking “3-Cueing” as a Bridge to Independent Reading

 

Get a copy from Amazon. LINK. 

(Note: This will be my last post until the end of the month) 

For decades, debates around reading instruction have been mired in dogma and vested interests. One lightning rod is the “3-cueing” system. Critics dismiss it as mere “guessing.” But when used thoughtfully — alongside strong phonics foundations — it can be a powerful confirmation tool, not a replacement.

Proof That Early Reading Works: A 4½-Year-Old’s Success Story

 

In 2020, before my book 'Teach Your Child to Read' was officially published, I decided to send a printed copy to a dear teacher friend of mine in Perth, Australia. Ms. Lena Loganathan had recently retired from full-time classroom teaching but was still actively tutoring senior high school students in Years 11 and 12. Knowing her passion for education, I was curious to hear her thoughts on the method. To my surprise and delight, Lena didn’t just read the book — she photocopied it and immediately put it into action. She encouraged her older tutoring students to use the lessons to teach younger children how to read. At that time, I had already been using the same structured approach successfully with dyslexic children in Grades 1 to 3, watching them gain confidence and make rapid progress.

The Brain’s Innate Power to Learn Reading: Why Clean Early Input Matters More Than Heavy Phonics Drills

 

Get a copy of Teach your Child to Read a complete programme for only $16. (LINK)

For years I have argued that the human brain has an innate capacity for reading, just as it does for spoken language. The difference is not in the brain’s ability, but in the quality of input it receives.

Think of it this way: A Malaysian child will not speak Japanese without hearing Japanese. The capacity is innate; the specific language is learned through exposure. Reading works the same way. The brain is pre-wired with potential (as shown by newborn connectivity to the future visual word form area), but it needs accurate, consistent print and sound input to wire the connections efficiently.

China’s Face-Saving Culture: Even “helpful” replies reveal the same pattern.

After more than a year of polite, evidence-based outreach to leading Chinese learning platforms, Purple Culture has stayed completely silent.

Dig Mandarin at least replied — but said nothing of substance.

On 2 August 2024, they wrote: “To make the instructions clearer... we often add a vowel afterward when pronouncing the initials to strengthen the pronunciation in our traditional Pinyin teaching method. For example, ‘b’ is pronounced as ‘b+o’... This method does not affect the spelling... but helps learners better understand the pronunciation.”

Purple Culture: A Leading Chinese Learning Platform

 

Why the Silence on Questions That Could Slash Illiteracy?

Purple Culture (purpleculture.net) positions itself as a go-to educational website for Chinese learners worldwide. It offers excellent free tools: Pinyin charts with audio, text-to-Pinyin converters, practice sheet generators, dictionaries, and resources for teachers and students. Headquartered with ties to Hong Kong and Beijing, it serves millions seeking accurate Mandarin mastery. 

Do We Really Need Peer Review for Common Sense in Reading Instruction?

 

 In a recent LinkedIn discussion, Professor Graham Kendall and Dr. Alice Hughes (University of Melbourne) emphasised the importance of formal peer review for any claim to become part of the scientific record. I pushed back firmly: when it comes to teaching children to read, some problems are glaringly obvious from real classroom experience. Real results with real children should drive immediate change — not be delayed for years by academic gatekeeping.

中国正在冲走最聪明的孩子？ (“Is China flushing out its smartest children?”)

 

Flushing Out the Top Brains: U.S. and China’s Shared Tragedy

The U.S. has already shown us how to cripple its brightest children: teach letters with extraneous sounds. Logical kids hear buh for b, muh for m, and immediately detect the inconsistency. They shut down, not because they are “dyslexic,” but because the system itself is broken. The result? Curious, analytical children are flushed out of classrooms, mislabeled, and silenced.

The "Silent" Crisis: Why Thousands in China are Looking for Answers to "Man-Made" Dyslexia

 

 

Since 2004, I have been teaching children labelled "dyslexic" to read English by stripping away the "noise." I have seen time and again that when you remove extraneous sounds—like teaching 'b' as "buh"—the "dyslexia" often vanishes within weeks.

Now, we are seeing the exact same disaster unfold with Pinyin.

The Death of Clean Pinyin

Classroom Chaos, Covid, and Automatic Promotion: Why So Many “Disruptive” Kids Are Actually Victims of Broken Teaching

 

In a recent discussion on Twitter (Now X) a teacher Jen@jenteach13 said:

You want to fix education?

Let teachers remove kids who make it impossible for everyone else to learn.