Most of time, you browser should automatically detect pages with Chinese content and display them properly. But in case your browser does not do that, you need manually adjust setting to enable your browser to view Chinese characters by changing character encoding.

In Internet Explorer menu, click View to select encoding. If you don't know what page encoding is, you may have to experiment with encoding options.

The most common character encodings are GB (for simplified), Big5( for traditional), and UTF-8 (for both - also known as unicode).

On Netscape, you can change from "View" and then "Character Set" on main menu as stated above.

To check if your computer is configured properly, try to read this page: http://www.learn-chinese-language-online.com/chinese-grammar.html . If you can read Chinese characters on this page, congratulation!

Rosie From Learn Chinese Language Online (http://www.learn-chinese-language-online.com)

The goal of Learn Chinese Language Online (LCLO) is to reduce the Mandarin Learning curve, promote and introduce the most efficient way to grasp the broad foundation of Chinese language.

3.1 Syllables starting with "a", "o" or "e", just write down final.

For example:

安 ān ( safe ), 鸥 ōu ( seagull ) 恩 en 恩 ( favor ), 昂 áng ( raise )

3.2 Syllables starting with "i", replace "i" with "y". For example:

严 yán ( strict ), 也 yě ( too )

Exceptions:

For single vowel "i", and nasals "in" and "ing", "y" is added before "i", resulting in "yi", "yin", and "ying";

Spell "you" for "iu", 有 yǒu ( have )

3.3 Syllables starting with "u", replace "u" with "w".

For example:

完 wán ( finish ), 外 wài ( outside )

王 wáng ( king ), 网 wǎng ( net )

Exceptions:

For single vowel "u", "w" is added before "u", resulting in "wu";

Spell "wen" for "un";

Spell "wei" for "ui".

3.4 Syllables starting with "ü", replace "ü" with "yu".

For example:

雨 yǔ ( rain ), 孕 yùn ( pregnant )

园yuán ( circle ), 约 yuē ( appointment )

4. R-ending

The "er" (儿) sound can follow finals to form retroflection, add "r" at end of syllable in this case.

For example:

小孩儿 xiǎo hái er ( little kids )

雨点儿 yǔ diǎn er ( rain drops )

树枝儿 shù zhī er ( tree branch )

Again, it is good to know these rules to understand how to spell a character from Pinyin, but don't be intimidated by these Pinyin rules.

The more you practice, more you will feel comfortable when speaking Chinese. You will eventually learn these rules without even realizing they exist, like most Chinese people do.

Rosie From Learn Chinese Language Online (http://www.learn-chinese-language-online.com)

The goal of Learn Chinese Language Online (LCLO) is to reduce the Mandarin Learning curve, promote and introduce the most efficient way to grasp the broad foundation of Chinese language.