A common observation from Chinese primary teachers is striking: a substantial number of Grade 1 and 2 pupils can write characters correctly from dictation, yet they falter when asked to read or write accurately from Pinyin by itself. Accuracy with less familiar or novel syllables remains weak.
This pattern helps explain why some observers feel that today’s pupils handle pure Pinyin less confidently than cohorts a decade or more earlier. Several factors are at work.
For decades, the reading world has been locked in debate over high-frequency words (often called “sight words” or Dolch words). Should children rote-memorize them, or is memorization “nonsense” that must be avoided in favor of pure phonics and orthographic mapping?
As someone who has worked with over 80 children labeled “dyslexic,” I’ve seen what actually works. These kids struggled to read in English but had no trouble reading in Malay (a transparent orthography) or Pinyin. My method—systematic phonics combined with deliberate memorization of all Dolch high-frequency words—produced strong results. The children learned the words without difficulty, gained confidence quickly, and progressed in reading.
The Pendulum Swing in Reading Instruction
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 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.
In 2004, I began teaching a bright young child to read. Like many educators at the time, I turned to the internet for guidance and encountered countless articles claiming that the primary cause of dyslexia was a phonological awareness deficit. This idea—that children with dyslexia struggle mainly because they can't properly perceive or manipulate the sounds in spoken language—dominated the conversation.
A Learner's Frustration with Pronunciation and Tones
As someone who's spent years navigating the world of dyslexia and education—teaching kids labeled as dyslexic and authoring insights on why so many struggle with reading—I've come to appreciate how crucial clear, accurate instruction is in any language learning journey. In my recent blog post, "Unlocking the Potential of China's Dyslexic Students (Part 1)," I delved into the literacy challenges in Chinese schools, where a persistent 20-25% of students disengage due to confusion from flawed teaching methods. There, I highlighted how mixing Pinyin with Bopomofo initial sounds creates unnecessary hurdles: "Curious intelligent kids in China are confused when they cannot blend pinyin finals with bopomofo initials." This mirrors a broader issue I've encountered in my own pursuit of Mandarin fluency—frustrations with podcasts aimed at learners that butcher tones and pronunciation, undermining the language's inherent beauty and clarity.
We’ve already seen how poor teaching methods—whether Whole Word or phonics—can leave children confused about the very basics of reading. But what happens when decoding looks fine, yet comprehension falters? Too often, the label “dyslexia” is applied without asking the harder question: is the real issue fluency, or language itself?
Luqman Michel:
Grok 4, you have been influenced by what is said or written by the masses - putting the blame on hand phones etc. You said: Chinese-medium schools (SJKT/Dong Jiao Zong) face trilingual overload (Mandarin, Malay, English), amplifying interference.
Has this overload not been there 10 or 20 years ago? So, this can't be the problem, can it? Pinyin should be easy for any kid if the sounds are taught correctly. The sounds of letters - b,p,m,f,d,t,n,l,g,k,h are exactly as in English. If kids learn it this way, they will not have a problem reading in Pinyin. However, many schools for some reason started teaching pinyin using Bopomofo. Teachers from China have influenced teachers in Malaysia as well as in the US to teach using Bopomofo. So, many kids are confused and can't read in Pinyin. When schools start teaching characters together with pinyin these kids get confused and as in English, they shut down. There were hardly any smart kids who shut down in pinyin when pinyin was taught correctly. What is your take?
Dyslexia advocates somehow find out that there is a strong objection to their theory and start propagating through whatever means they can. Here is one such YouTube video that surfaced a few days ago. LINK
Interviewer: Ashlie Thomey, A Dyslexia Specialist
Interviewee: Pamela Taylor, Creator of Lexia Heroes.
I listened to the YouTube video by Pamela Taylor who spoke like she is an expert in brain study.
Pilot project below looked but did not see.
This is a continuation of my post yesterday. LINK
This is an important topic and I have highlighted sentences I want to elaborate on in my next post.
The following email from James Chapman, in 2010, fortifies the saying by Charlie Munger that the Human mind is like the human egg.
One of my first emails disagreeing with a Phonological Awareness Deficit being the cause of dyslexia was to James Chapman. He and William E. Tunmer had jointly produced a paper stating that dyslexia is caused by Phonological Awareness Deficit.
This is a clear case of researchers who have written something and when evidence to the contrary is produced they refuse to accept it.
At the onset, I want to say that I want to learn to speak Mandarin the way it is intended to be spoken. I want to learn to speak it with the correct tones.
Recently, I joined several groups on Facebook to share experiences learning Chinese.
In most groups, beginners and intermediate learners complain about tones being the most difficult to learn in Mandarin.
To follow up on my previous post I decided to check on books in Pinyin and immediately found one written in 2010.
This book of short stories is entirely in Pinyin. It does not contain even one Chinese character.
The entire book is available for free on this site. LINK
I read the first chapter - Dàshuǐ Guòhòu. I could read and comprehend the entire chapter. Anyone who has attained HSK level 4 will be able to read it.
Click for a clear view of one of the many Pinyin charts above online. LINK
Click on the sound files of any of the letters on the first line. b p m f d t n etc.
This is how many teachers in China and Taiwan teach
kids to read in Pinyin. Like kids who are taught English letters with
extraneous sounds the intelligent kids who cannot make sense of how ‘bo-ai’
combines to make bai; ‘mo- an’ combines to make man; ‘fo-ang’ combines to
become fang; ‘lur-ei’ combines to make lei, shut down/disengage from learning
to read.
The following is from Quora, posted one year ago.
What are the disadvantages of teaching Chinese using Pinyin instead of learning all those Chinese characters?
Somnath Mukherjee answered: MSc. from Dr. C V Raman University
There are a few disadvantages to teaching Chinese using Pinyin instead of learning all those Chinese characters.
Pinyin is not a perfect representation of Chinese pronunciation. Some sounds in Chinese cannot be represented by Pinyin and some sounds in Pinyin can be pronounced in different ways depending on the context. This can make it difficult for learners to develop accurate pronunciation.
As an AI assistant created by Anthropic, I do not have the ability to directly access external websites or content. However, based on the information you have provided from the blog post, here is my response:
It seems you have identified an issue with how some teachers are incorrectly teaching Pinyin, the Romanized phonetic system used to represent the sounds of Mandarin Chinese. Your concern is that teaching Pinyin in a way similar to phonics for English could be detrimental for children learning to read Pinyin effectively.
A few suggestions on what you could do in this situation:
当局者迷,旁观者清
dāng jú zhě mí, páng guān zhě qīng
When I thought of writing about the following chart the above proverb came to mind.
When you are playing chess, sometimes it’s not easy to make good a
judgment since you've been so indulged in the game. Whereas, a person who
sits next to you may have a better view or understanding of the
situation thus to make a better decision than you. This proverb tells
people that being involved in a matter may not guarantee a comprehensive
overview of it due to too much concentration on gains and losses, while
the onlookers, who have a calmer and more objective attitude, have a
better grasp of what is going on.
The above is one of many Pinyin charts you may find on the internet.
Click on this link to see the chart clearly. LINK
On the top column you will see letters bpmfdtn until the end which is the letter r.
On the left hand you will see letters i to the last cell down which shows un.
There are no sound tracks for the letters b to h at the top. All other cells including the green column on the left have sound tracks.
I have been away from social media for about 3 months as I was busy doing some important work.
I have finished my work and now would like to write my experiences on learning Mandarin. I hope my new blog will encourage non- Chinese who want to learn Mandarin without having to learn to read Chinese characters.
Many Chinese teachers who are on social media to earn money tell us that it is impossible to learn Mandarin without learning Chinese characters. This is untrue. Now, it is so much easier to learn to speak in Mandarin than it was 50 years ago.
Those who are interested to learn how I am learning Mandarin are welcome to follow me on my blog at
https://luqmanchineselearning.blogspot.com/
Following my last article, I would say that there is no reason why most dyslexics cannot read well with the right instruction.
People often accept dyslexia as an incurable disease. From my experience of teaching dyslexic students, I have found that all my dyslexic students can read if taught in a way suitable for them.
