Customer Reviews

Conversational Chinese 301 (3rd ed.), Vol. 1 (3 CDs) (Chinese and English Edition)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In order to be fair with this book, and decide if it's useful for you, you should consider what it's intended for and what it's not. Let me explain.
I'm currently studying Chinese with this book at school and I have to say that I'm very satisfied with it.
Lessons are clear, useful, and they progress in a gradual way, using vocabulary and grammar from previous lessons, which makes easier to learn the new material. Special emphasis is made in conversation, by changing and 'expanding' basic phrases.
For this reasons, I would recommend this book to any teacher who is looking for a textbook easy to teach and easy to learn.
Now, for all folks who want to learn Chinese by themselves, I wouldn't recommend this book (at least, not as a first choice) because the structure of the book is organized with a traditional class in mind (students and a teacher). As others reviewers have pointed out, many grammar notes lack either pinyin or english translation, and that's because those sections are aimed for the teacher, to explain (and develop) to the class. If you are a beginner, I could recommend Schaum's chinese grammar and Tuttle Concise Chinese Dictionary, both have been a great help for me.

This is a good program, but be forewarned you're paying 25 dollars for just the audio here. The book is another 20 dollars. Well worth it, though.

Vol. 1 (3CDs) covers the 1st book in the 3rd ed. and the first half (20 of 40 lessons; and 4 of 8 reviews) in the 1st ed. of CC301. The idea behind CC301 are the 301 basic conversational sentences, which are (as the authors intended) are pretty quick to learn. The textbook then builds on these basic sentences via substitutions, expansions, and sample conversations. The CDs are essential to learning the sound and correct pronunciation of the language.
NB: There are very, very minor differences from 1st to 3rd ed., and the CDs are 3rd ed.

I was recommended to get this by a teacher, but this version was all in Mandarin. There was no use of english throughout the CD, although the product description had english/chinese.

If you already know the basics then I suppose you could use this but definately wouldn't recommend it for beginners.

This product is available in English and in Chinese. The one I received had only Chinese text. It was not helpful in trying to learn to speak Chinese. My tutor gave me the same product, intended for an English speaker. All in all, I do not find even the correct version very helpful in learning spoken Chinese. Pimsleur and Rosetta are better.

I clicked on the book section and expect to buy some textbooks for a few students and myself. Not expecting the cover of the CD shares exactly the same cover (and even the same dimension) as the print textbook. While I was looking at the screen I thought there were 3 CDs attached to each textbook (the word "audio CD" is not in the description). However, when I opened the package, to my surprise, there were only 5 sets of CDs and no textbooks. The 3rd party shipper stated that only 70% of the purchasing price would be refunded if the products were to be returned. With the $3.99 shipping cost per set already paid, plus an additional shipping cost to ship back, it would add up to almost the cost of the purchasing price. So, it is not worth the effort to send back with a refund at only 70%. The $77.00 purchasing amount I spent on 5 sets of CDs are totally no use to me.

If you want to learn Chinese, avoid this product like the plague! The CD is completely in Chinese, no English whatsoever. The book is horribly disorganized and offers no instruction, only words and phrases in English, Chinese and Pinyin. Absolutely useless for the beginner!!!!

I would recommend using this product as a foundation and then using a textbook as well, as it does not explain ANYTHING. However, it is nevertheless a terrific program that gets you to speak, write, read, and listen to the language. It seems pricey, but there are so many levels to do, that the price is actually quite low. I have also used the German program, and that proved to be phenominal as well. However, you may want to wait until version three comes out for Chinese(not LEVEL 3), but there is no date set as to when it will be released and you can exchange your program for a newer version as late as six months after purchase.