Hi! I’m a Taiwanese who grew up in Taiwan before moving to the United States. When helping my kids learn Mandarin Chinese, I noticed they developed this peculiar accent. The cause? They were learning with Pinyin (拼音) in school, the romanization system that’s standard in mainland China.
Here’s what I discovered: Pinyin affects native and second-language learners differently. While it doesn’t impact native speakers’ Mandarin pronunciation much, it can significantly influence how second-language learners pronounce Mandarin Chinese.
That’s why I created this site focusing on Bopomofo (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ), also known as Zhuyin (注音) – the phonetic system widely used in Taiwan. Unlike Pinyin’s Roman alphabet, Bopomofo uses unique symbols that aren’t tied to any other language’s pronunciation habits. This often leads to more authentic Mandarin Chinese pronunciation.
If you’re learning Mandarin Chinese as a second language and want to sound more natural, I hope this free resource site helps you build a strong foundation through Bopomofo.
I’ll keep adding good tools or info I found related to BoPoMoFo. If you have any feedback, feel free to contact me: contact [at] bopomofo.cc.
Happy learning!