You can read Chinese with pinyin, especially when you're still learning how familiar spoken words look in writing. Keep it available, but try reading familiar sentences with it hidden first. Check a pronunciation when you need it, then return to the characters. You don't need to give up pinyin completely to practice reading without it.
If a page looks easy with pinyin and suddenly feels impossible without it, try a short passage to find out what's missing. You might know a word when you hear it but not recognize its characters yet. Or you might be able to pronounce a word without knowing what it means. Those need different kinds of help.
Try this passage with pinyin hidden
Here's an original example written for this guide. Read the Chinese before opening “Pronunciation and meaning” or playing the browser audio.
出门的时候，小林发现下雨了。他回房间拿了雨伞，才去车站。出門的時候，小林發現下雨了。他回房間拿了雨傘，才去車站。
Pronunciation and meaning
Chūmén de shíhou, Xiǎo Lín fāxiàn xiàyǔ le. Tā huí fángjiān ná le yǔsǎn, cái qù chēzhàn.
“When he went out, Xiao Lin noticed it was raining. He went back to his room to get an umbrella before going to the station.”
Why did Xiao Lin go back to his room? What did he get? You don't have to read every word aloud to answer those questions.
If you followed the passage but couldn't remember a tone, check that pronunciation. There's no need to put pinyin above the whole paragraph just for one uncertain word.
If you couldn't follow it, open the pronunciation and meaning. Notice which part actually helps you understand.
Check whether you need pronunciation or meaning
Take 雨伞雨傘 (yǔsǎn, umbrella). The Ministry of Education dictionary gives its pronunciation and meaning. Here are three ways you might get stuck on it:
The same distinction applies to 发现發現 (fāxiàn), which means “notice” or “discover.” In this passage, he notices it's raining. The dictionary's second sense fits that use. Knowing the sounds fā and xiàn alone won't explain what he did.
If you keep checking meanings, our word-lookup guide helps you decide which unknown words you need to stop for. Turning pinyin on won't solve every vocabulary or sentence-structure problem.
Find the word in a different sentence
After reading the first passage a few times, you might remember it well enough to repeat it without looking closely. Try this second original example with the help closed:
雨停了。小林把雨伞放进包里。雨停了。小林把雨傘放進包裡。
Pronunciation and meaning
Yǔ tíng le. Xiǎo Lín bǎ yǔsǎn fàng jìn bāo lǐ.
“The rain stopped. Xiao Lin put his umbrella in his bag.”
Can you find the word for “umbrella” before opening the explanation? Does its pronunciation come to mind?
If you recognize 雨伞雨傘 here, you found it outside the sentence you just practiced. That doesn't prove you've learned it permanently. Look for it again in later reading.
If you find the word but don't understand the whole sentence, check the rest separately: 把雨伞放进包里把雨傘放進包裡 says he puts the umbrella into the bag. Difficulty with that sentence pattern doesn't mean you failed to recognize the word.
Choose how much pinyin to show
For a story with mostly familiar words, try this:
- Hide pinyin and the translation for one short paragraph. Read for what happens, without trying to pronounce every character perfectly.
- Check the words that stop you. Reveal pinyin or listen for a pronunciation question; use a definition when the meaning is missing.
- Hide the help and reread the sentence. Give the characters another try before moving on.
- Continue into a new paragraph. See whether you can follow it, rather than only rereading a passage you've memorized.
If almost every word needs help, leave more support on while you work through a short section. For a longer reading session, try an easier Chinese story. Removing pinyin from text you barely understand just gives you more to struggle with.
You can find short passages to practice with in Miaozi's Chinese stories. In a reader with separate pronunciation and translation settings, change one at a time so you can tell what you still need. On paper, a strip of paper over the pronunciation line does the same job.
Keep pinyin for pronunciation checks
You can read with pinyin hidden and still use it to check a new word, a forgotten tone, or a pronunciation you're unsure about. Reading silently for meaning and practicing pronunciation aloud don't have to use exactly the same settings.
If you're reading aloud, keep the help you need to avoid guessing. When you're checking whether you recognize familiar words, hide it for a sentence and see. Choose the setting for what you're practicing today, rather than treating “pinyin off” as a level you have to unlock.
