Beginner's Chinese (Beginner's (Foreign Language)) [Paperback]

Yong Ho (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 078180566X | ISBN-13: 978-0781805667 | Publication Date: December 1997

Designed to meet the bilingual needs of the traveling businessperson, tourist, and student. The language lessons cover many common situations.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Yong Ho

Product Details

• Paperback: 173 pages
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books (December 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078180566X
• ISBN-13: 978-0781805667
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,333 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Chinese

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars useful at different stages, December 7, 1999

By 

"loreb" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginner's Chinese (Beginner's (Foreign Language)) (Paperback)

This book is excellent. It is short, lucid, inexpensive, portable. The format (chinese -- both characters and Pinyin -- in the left column, English on the right) allows for creative exercises. For example, one can cover the English and translate from Pinyin; cover the Chinese and translate from the English (what a better way to test 'thinking in Chinese'!); finally, cover the Pinyin and English and test the ability to read characters. The introduction on the structure of the Chinese language is one of the best I have read, perhaps second only to 'Chinese language; fact and fiction' by J. DeFrancis. Please note that this book may not be the best choice for the reader whose focus is pronunciation (no cassettes included) or writing (no stroke order). A few typos do not detract from the oustanding product.

69 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine book for beginners, February 1, 2003

By 

G. Shiau "grumpychicagoguy" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginner's Chinese (Beginner's (Foreign Language)) (Paperback)

I am a 30-year old ABC (aka American-Born Chinese). As a result, I have grown up in and have adopted American culture as my own. In fact, I staunchly maintain that my native tongue and culture are English and American, respectively. My primary connections to recent immigrants from China and Taiwan are racial and genetic.

While I have an decent grasp of the Taiwanese language which is that of my parents, I have barely any grasp of Mandarin Chinese except a word or two. At the urging of my Cantonese girlfriend, I have recently purchased this book to learn Mandarin which is the predominant dialect in Chinese society. I have found the book to be well-organized as it builds on the vocabulary and sentence patterns learned in earlier chapters. Exercises in each chapter provide ample opportunities to use your vocabulary in a variety of ways. The repetition really helps you get used to the vocabulary and structure. The Language Points in each chapter explain the rationale for the language's structure. Fortunately, structure in Chinese is usually simpler than that of English. Cultural Insights provide information about the people of China and show how language is used to show politeness and respect in certain situations.

All that being said, you cannot learn a language simply by picking up a book. No book will ever get you to pronounce the words correctly or get you comfortable with the language. No fault of the book but I find pinyin, at times, to be counter-intuitive. To really excel at the language, you have to hear and listen to it. Fortunately, my girlfriend is a living, breathing language lab. I also suggest practicing a little bit each day otherwise you will rapidly slip back down the learning curve.

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ALL IN ONE PACKAGE , for a small book, June 27, 2000

By 

mixer "na1mixer" (Spring City, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginner's Chinese (Beginner's (Foreign Language)) (Paperback)

I have not found such a book. The book gives such descriptive and comprehensive tuturials of basic Chinese grammmar with various vocabulary words and sentence structures follows, with plenty of exercises: conclude each of the eleven chapters of this book. A vast amount of useful phrases: in both Traditional and Simplified Characters, and pinjin, serves its purpose of being a phrase book, as well as a very comprehensive "mini textbook." Even though I am learning Mandarin at the Intermediate level now, this book serves as a great review of vital information on basic grammar and vocabulary. Note that even though this book thoroughly describes the two main pronounciation systems: Wade Gilles and Pinjin, a good introductory CD or cassette program would serve as a good prounounciation introduction. Despite that flaw, this book, to me, is a fine asset to me with imperative information of the introduction to the Chinese language (Mandarin). I hope that native speakers and other Chinese language students will agree.