Language Lesson: Japanese etymology from Chinese

I visited Tokyo as the guest of Dr.Hanshil Koh, professor of Law at Tokyo University. In Tokyo, it is not necessary to learn much in the way of Kanji i.e. Hanzi in Pin Yin of the Chinese. Most street signs and maps carry Romaji versions of place names and directions. Romaji is a Japanesse writing system in which words are written in the Roman alphabet. In China,Pin Yin system of romanization is the official Chinese writing system. It is most useful for English-speaking people to learn the Chinese language from the phonetic sounds expressing the Chinese language before learning the Chinese characters which would be unwieldy at best?. It is possible for a person to get around quite easily if he/she takes the trouble to learn how to read and pronounce Romaji in Japan and Pin Yin in China. Just learn some basic social language and carry "A Glimpse of the Chinese Language" in English that explains Pin Yin system of romanization. Chinese language is a form of art apropos of the beauty of calligraphy and a form of music in terms of the four tones as mentioned in such paper for a glimpse of the Chinese language. Cf. www.Amazon.com online book catalog for reference. Francis Shieh a.k.a. Xie Shihao. August 27, 2007