Are traditional VietNamese and Chinese written languages similar ??

[HashiriKata]

贪权顾位 is what I think it should be (on the basis that 贪权 is the same thing as 顾位, just as 招贤 is the same thing as 待士, etc.), but this doesn't stop 贪权固位 being the one that actually exists (I haven't seen either version, mind you! ).

PS: Just tried Google now and as you said, I could find only "贪权固位" there.

[Hofmann]

Not surprised that I was way off, but I guess that proves the point that Chinese literates can't read romanized Vietnamese.

[imron]

I know plenty of computer illiterate Chinese who can read pinyin just fine (or rather no better or worse than the computer literate ones). Pinyin was around long before computers.

[renzhe]

Hanyu Pinyin became the official romanisation method in China in January 1958. See wikipedia, or a number of other sources, for example DeFrancis, "The Chinese Language", p264.

Since that time, pinyin has been the official way to learn the standard Chinese pronunciation (putonghua) in schools around China.

[imron]

imron,

you got me wrong.

What I meant is put them to read Romanised Chinese as displaced on the Road Sign Names in China, not in the spoken form please.

No, I think you got me wrong. I am not talking about conversing. I am talking about Chinese people who cannot use a computer (or who have barely used a computer in their entire lives - e.g. computer illiterates), and yet have no problem *reading* hanyu pinyin. As Renzhe mentioned, it has been used on the mainland since the 50's as a way to teach pronunciation of standard putonghua, and you'll often find it accompanying Chinese text in children's books and similar materials.