[tjallingt]

Except that if you use a western keyboard you still need to learn Pinyin or Romaji in order to be able to type the language. In my own attempts to learn a little bit of Japanese I've noticed that it is indeed difficult to associate the 'new' characters to the correct sound without using Romaji as an intermediate representation but my hope is that the more I learn and interact with the language the less this is the case. I think that, especially when using online learning tools, learning Romaji is inevitable and don't think that learning the phonetic system 'from scratch' makes it easier (if it is even possible to completely forget about your own phonetic/alphabetic system).

In short, as a starting learner of Japanese I acknowledge that the problem you describe exists but think that 'really bad' is an overstatement and it is almost inevitable that your brain associates your old knowledge of English (or other languages) to the new language.

[xiaoma]

>"Except that if you use a western keyboard you still need to learn Pinyin or Romaji in order to be able to type the language."

No you don't. I type in zhuyin every day. The sounds line up in order of the alphabet, starting with ㄅㄆㄇㄈ, in the left column. It's actually easier than touch typing English.

[philliphaydon]

As someone who only knows English, and is learning Mandarin / Traditional Chinese. I agree that Zhuyin is easier than Pinyin.

[paradite]

So you have a zhuyin keyboard and is suggesting everyone to buy one in order to type Chinese?

[xiaoma]

No. That's wrong on both counts. Please re-read my comment.

[paradite]

I read your comment 5 times and still do not understand it.

[xiaoma]

The standard zhuyin input is laid out on the keyboard in order. By in order, I mean it is in the same order as the sounds have been taught for many generations and still are today (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlNGJzYJQDI).

It would be like if English speakers didn't use "qwerty" keyboards but instead used "abcde" keyboards. Touch typing would be far easier to learn. My computer doesn't have zhuyin printed on the keyboard, since I bought it in California, but I type zhuyin on it every day. Even before I could touch type, it was easy because it was in order.