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Tongyong versus Hanyu

With complete amazement I read the article by Hsu Wen-lian (許聞廉) implying that adopting Tongyong Pinyin (通用拼音) would be "reckless" ("Rush to Tongyong Pinyin reckless," July 19, page 8).

One of the arguments he uses is that " ... foreigners would consider it too much trouble to come to Taiwan, which would harm the nation's image" if Tongyong is adopted instead of Hanyu Pinyin (漢語拼音), which he apparently favors. Well, being a foreigner who has been to Taiwan frequently for the past 30 years, I can tell you that is totally ludicrous.

We come to Taiwan because of business, because we like the people, art and culture, and we like Taiwan's freedom, democracy and independence. If the people of Taiwan wish to adopt a new Romanization system that is more up-to-date, they should be free to do so, and adopt their own system.

Taiwan has a proud history of romanization of Hoklo, Hakka and the Aboriginal languages and needs to maintain its own system, which is best suited for those languages. We in the Netherlands are proud to have our own language, which is quite different from English, German or French, and still foreigners come to our country in droves, because they like the country, people, tulips, windmills, etc.

One of the secrets is of course that we speak many foreign languages and it would certainly help for Taiwan's international image if more people would learn English (or French, Spanish or German) at an early age. I understand President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration is pushing for early English-learning. I wholeheartedly applaud this.

Hsu also tries to imply that from an information technology point of view, it would be better to adopt Hanyu Pinyin and uses the example of Internet Web pages meant for an international audience. Well, if one intends to have Web pages for an international audience, it would be much better to use English. That argument is thus equally silly.

If Taiwan wants to retain its own identity and culture, go full steam ahead with Tongyong Pinyin. We will continue to come to Taiwan to visit your beautiful island, Ilha Formosa.

Gerrit van der Wees
The Hague, The Netherlands

In a world of increasing globalization, I would hope that languages would promote increased understanding and communication. I have heard many times non-native Chinese speakers butcher Chinese words because they pronounce Romanized versions of them. Wade-Giles is a major culprit in confusing non-native speakers and obstructing communication and learning.

Outside of Taiwan, everyone learns Hanyu Pinyin. To introduce another system now would only muck things up.

To those who favor Tong-yong Pinyin, don't you want foreigners to be able to speak Mandarin Chinese? Why make a very difficult language even more difficult!

I'm in full favor of the Romanization of Hakka and Hoklo, but Mandarin Romanization should conform to international standards. People in Taiwan don't learn Romanization anyway, as the schools teach Zhuyin Fuhao (注音符號), so by adopting Tongyong, you are only penalizing those foreigners who come to Taiwan to learn Mandarin. As a result, I believe Taiwan would become a less attractive place to study and to do business. And don't give me the argument that "Well, everyone can speak English anyway" because it's not true!

Alex Hill
St. Louis, Missouri
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