有些人说要真正的掌握华文，唯一的办法就是要先学习拼音。我不赞成这观点。就从查字典的角度来谈吧。查字典不只是必须先懂得看汉语拼音才能学到很多知识的。汉语拼音的基本用途是让非华族同胞（像我这种族）能认得到如何读汉字。

Some people say that in order to master Mandarin language, the only way is to first learn Han Yu Pin Yin. I disagree with this viewpoint. Let’s talk about using the dictionary. It is not necessary to know Han Yu Pin Yin in order to learn from the dictionary. Han Yin Pin Yin basic purpose is to provide a method for non-native speakers of the Chinese language (like myself) to recognise how to read Chinese characters.

但我从小开始学华文时却是先学汉字，直到小六，老师才开始教汉语拼音。我写汉字的技巧都是从多读、多写、多听和多讲的学习方式，才达到一定的成绩，没有什么字典能帮我。我学会汉语拼音后，老师才介绍字典给我们。到时那以后，字典只不过是用来加强我的语文能力而已，考试也不能把字典带着。

Since primary level, I started learning Chinese from reading Chinese words. It was not until Primary 6 when my teacher started teaching Han Yu Pin Yin. I relied on reading, writing, listening and speaking Chinese language to achieve the minimum standard required as a student. I did not have any use or help from the dictionary. After I learnt Han Yu Yin,the teacher introduced us to the dictionary. By then, the dictionary was only used to augment my learning potential. It was not allowed to be brought into the exam hall.

可是现在的学生初期（小一）先学汉语拼音，书本上写的汉字都有拼音。到了小五小六，老师介绍电子字典给学生。通过这种方法，和我小时候学华语对比，认识到的汉字显得比较少，讲华语的机会是更少。这是因为书本上已经有了汉语拼音包括在内，在课堂上训练聆听老师在讲华语和认识汉字的机会自然越来越少。如果像我目前这样的家境，一家人都是讲英语和马来语的，学汉语当然是很幸苦。尽管再多学汉语拼音，也应该知道笔画才能在字典上查到文字。幸好我学到的技巧能帮我教导女儿，让我有信心地通过一个好渠道，发挥她的潜能。

Presently, at the start of Primary One, students are required to learn Han Yu Pin Yin first. The textbooks are strewned with lots of Han Yu Pin Yin text. The teacher introduced the electronic dictionary to the students in Primary 5 and 6. Compared to my time, this method give the students very less opportunity to learn Chinese characters and speak the language. This is because of the Han Yu Pin Yin in the textbooks. The opportunity for students to intentionally listen attentively to the teacher’s lessons and recognise Chinese characters naturally becomes lesser also. If we are going to factor in my present home environment, where the family speak only English and Malay, this is going to be very difficult to learn Chinese properly. No matter how much Han Yu Pin Yin has been learnt, it is important to know writing strokes in order to use the Chinese dictionary effectively. Fortunately, the skills that I have acquired with regard to learning have helped me in tutoring my daughter all these years. It provides me with a good channel to confidently harness her langauge learning potential.

学习华文确实不是那么简单。汉语拼音不能代替汉字写法和语体。想掌握华文，必定要多读、多写、多听和多谈，没有短路捷径可行。

Frankly, it is not easy to learn Mandarin. Han Yu Pin Yin cannot replace writing and structure of the language. To learn Mandarin well, one has to read, write, listen and speak more, there is no short cut to the this learning journey.