注音符號 · Taiwan's phonetic alphabet
Learn all 37 bopomofo symbols in an afternoon.
Bopomofo — also called zhuyin fuhao (注音符號) — is the phonetic alphabet used to teach Mandarin pronunciation in Taiwan. It has 37 symbols and 5 tones, uses no Latin letters at all, and most learners can read the whole system within a few hours.
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The whole alphabet, with real audio
Every symbol below was recorded by a native speaker from Taiwan. Tap any tile to hear it. Nothing to sign up for.
21 initials
3 medials
13 finals
Why learn zhuyin instead of pinyin?
Pinyin reuses the Latin alphabet, so your native reading habits fight you the whole way. Zhuyin has no such baggage — a symbol means one sound, and only that sound.
| Zhuyin (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) | Pinyin | |
|---|---|---|
| Symbols used | 37 purpose-built symbols | 26 Latin letters, reused |
| Interference from English | None — the shapes are new to you | Constant: q, x, c and zh rarely sound how they look |
| One symbol, one sound | Always | No — i in shi, si and li are three different vowels |
| Where it is used | Taiwan: schools, dictionaries, children's books | Mainland China, and most textbooks abroad |
| Typing Chinese | Standard IME in Taiwan | Standard IME elsewhere |
| Time to learn | A few hours | Minutes to read, months to unlearn the habits |
If you are learning Taiwanese Mandarin, reading children's books, or want pronunciation that does not drift back towards English, zhuyin is worth the afternoon it costs you.
Read the full comparison →Then stop reading and start playing
This site is the reference. The app is where the symbols actually stick — five games, a streak to keep, and a leaderboard to climb.
Symbol Match
Match each zhuyin symbol to its sound against the clock.
Character Master
Hear a word, pick the right Chinese character. Four difficulty tiers.
Sentence Typer
Build whole sentences on a real zhuyin keyboard.
Rocket Master
Answer correctly to refuel the rocket. Miss, and it drops.
Bopomofo Playroom
A bright, playful corner for young children — no timers, no scores.
Teaching a child?
The Playroom trades the main app's stats and streaks for a bright, colourful world built for young children, inspired by apps like Khan Academy Kids — with the mascot bear appearing here as a child rather than the grown bear from the main app. Tap a symbol, hear it, match it to a picture.
Common questions
- What is bopomofo?
- Bopomofo is the phonetic alphabet used to teach Mandarin pronunciation in Taiwan. Its formal name is zhuyin fuhao (注音符號), and the nickname comes from its first four symbols: ㄅ, ㄆ, ㄇ, ㄈ. It has 37 symbols and 5 tones.
- How long does it take to learn bopomofo?
- Most adult learners can recognise all 37 symbols in two to four hours, and read fluently within a week of light practice. It is a small, closed system — there is nothing like the thousands of characters you face with hanzi.
- Is bopomofo the same as zhuyin?
- Yes. Zhuyin, zhuyin fuhao, 注音, ㄅㄆㄇㄈ and bopomofo all refer to the same 37-symbol system. Zhuyin fuhao is the formal name; bopomofo is how it is usually said in English.
- Should I learn zhuyin or pinyin?
- Learn zhuyin if you are studying Taiwanese Mandarin, reading Taiwanese children's books, or want to stop your English reading habits leaking into your pronunciation. Learn pinyin if you are focused on mainland China. Many learners end up reading both.