Teach Baby Chinese: December 2007

Zhuyin and Pinyin are functionally equivalent.

Each has its advantages:

1. It's usually easier for foreigners to type and write Pinyin, as it
uses the western alphabet we're familiar with. However, you will
still learn how to pronounce the Pinyin symbols in a different way as
how you pronounce in your native language. For bilingual kids who is
learning Chinese at the same while they are learning English, the
advantage actually becomes disadvantage since same alphabets are
pronounced differently in learning different language. They will be
confused.

2. The advantage of Zhuyin is that there are a lot of reading
materials annotated with Zhuyin that can be very helpful for
beginners. Zhuyin is widely used to teach Mandarin pronunciation to
school children in Taiwan. Children's books published in Taiwan
typically display Zhuyin characters next to Chinese characters in the
text. If you learn Pinyin, you will miss the chance to read the Zhuyin
materials which has no Pinyin on it.

So which is better? It depends.

If you are teaching your baby to learn Chinese, you can start with
Zhuyin. It is much easier for kids to associate the Zhuyin symbols
with the sound. This should be done before they reach age of four.
About the same time when they are in preschool, they can learn
phonetics and learn how to talk and spell English.

Only until they become familiar with English phonetics, you start to
help them associate the Pinyin with Zhuyin. This can be done about
the same time you introduce Chinese input method to them. Personally
I will go for Hanyu Pinyin instead of Tongyong Pinyin.

If your kids cannot learn Zhuyin in an early age, I will skip that
stage. they can learn English complete all phonetics first, then stat
learning Pinyin. It will be difficult for them to learn Zhuyin after
age of four. If you put them into a "Chinese School", they will not
enjoy learning Chinese.

Starting early is the key.

See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuyin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongyong_Pinyin