The MandarWeb Website: Download page
Downloading the Files
Section 2. Downloading the components
First create a folder on your hard disc (for example, "MandarWeb"). Next, download 4 PDF files from this website by clicking on each of the links below in turn.
How downloading occurs varies from browser to browser. One good browser is Firefox. Firefox may ask you what to do with each PDF file; save each to disc and move it into your MandarWeb folder.
Other browsers, such as Safari, may download a PDF file and open it directly in the browser. In this case, 'Save' the displayed file and move it into the MandarWeb folder.
The Codel Grids
To identify characters using the Codel System, you will need constantly on hand two pages called "Codel Grids". Download each of these and print them out with a colour printer (it's possible in theory to refer to these grids online at this site, or in your MandarWeb folder, but in practice this would be very clumsy). Here is an extract of part of one page.
Clicking on the following link will bring up the first grid on your screen. Save it in your "MandarWeb" file.
Download First Codel Grid
Do the same for the second grid.
Download Second Codel Grid
If you do not already have a current version of Adobe Reader, download this (reference [5], Section 4).
Next, open Adobe Reader, and with this open, print out the two Codel Grids on 1 sheet of paper each.
Next, download the Codel Table. This contains the individual Chinese characters, their Pinyin (Romanized) sounds, and the character codes (sets of codels), arranged alphabetically. Part of this Table looks like the following
Part of the Codel/Character Table
Download the main Codel Table
From this table, you will be able find the Pinyin equivalent of the character you want identified (see Section 3), and you can then look this up in a printed Chinese-English dictionary, arranged by alphabetical Pinyin, or a general on-line Mandarin dictionary. But you may find it easier to use Adobe Reader to download another PDF file from this site, the Mandarin Vocabulary Table, to look up words and expressions in which this character is used. Part of this Table looks like the following:
Part of the Mandarin Vocabulary Table
Download the Mandarin Vocabulary Table
Note 2.1. On this site, for clarity and ease of keyboard use, Pinyin groups are separated by hyphens ("-") and have their tone marks as digits. Digit "0" means no tone. Also, characters are separated by single spaces.
The Mandarin Vocabulary Table is not a full dictionary, just a selection of about 7500 words and expressions picked up during use of Mandarin text. It will have quite a lot of contemporary stuff, but specialist stuff (such as all the names of wild animals) is best looked for elsewhere.
Return to the MandarWeb Home Page
Version 1.04, On Web 2008 Oct 22.
Version 2.01, 2015 Mar 26.
