Customer Reviews

David and Helen in China: An Intermediate Course in Modern Chinese (Books with two listening comprhension CDs included)

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

 

 

This is an excellent book for the intermediate learner of Chinese. As a current student I cannot recommend this book enought. The book introduces practical building blocks of vocabulary, sentence structures, grammer and new words coupled with new characters. Each chapter is enough to push the student to reach and learn, however, it is not too much to discourage the student. One section that is especially useful is a section with practice sentences. These sections have helped me speak and understand Chinese as an adult (using complex sentence structure and connectors) rather than as a child using loosely connected phrases. Having studied Chinese in Japan, Australia, Taiwan and now the U.S, based on my experiences this book has clearly helped me significantly improve my ability to speak, read, write and listen to Chinese. Don't waste money or time on other books, this is easily the best for serious students of Chinese.

This review regards to the Books/CDs version. These books cover specific grammar usage,in a very comprehensive way- with plenty of practice and exercises. Listening comprehension (CDs) work well and are compatable with the books included. In the reading exercises, the main vocabulary words are written beforehand, in Traditional (and sometimes Simplified) characters ,in pinjin, and English translation. All of those elements combined, to me, persuades me that this course (that it is) is well worth the money. The writers and contributers of this course are all professors and, are fluent and knowelegeble in the Chinese language - who teach and lecture from some of the finest universities in the US. Besides language, customs and traditions are well summarized and described. This, to me, is vital to know about when a person would like to travel to the PRC or mainland China. Note that this course is taught at the intermediate level, so just keep this in mind. A definate "dive" into the details of Chinese language and culture.

I got this book because it was required by my school. It has a decent amount of vocabulary and grammar that it covers. This package includes volume 1 and volume 2. One thing that it could improve on is to have more English explanations. Also, this is the traditional Chinese version of the book.

These books have plenty of stuff in 'em... lots of examples, lots of audio, lots of grammar, good texts with a budding romance that you get to see develop. Also has character guides and grammar reference at the end. There are also flashcards online at yellowbridge.

Material-wise it's second to none, and I'm only dinging it one star because of a some errors and a poor print/font quality. If the texts font of NPCR I'd go five.

Also - 'tis absurd for other reviewer to grade a book this good one star because of political sensitivity. I realize it's a touchy subject in Taiwan but most people are buying it to learn Mandarin, not to worry about how PC the title is.

Be careful to purchase the correct version, look at the very top line of the cover. I ordered this version on Amazon and had to purchase a second because this is not SIMPLIFIED Chinese. The book itself is really well organized and great to learn with, but the title doesn't say anything about which version you're selling, and I still have an unused copy from two years ago:(

This textbook was co-written by Professor Phylllis Ni Zhang of Columbia University. Although the book is entitled David and Helen in China, Helen never steps foot in China. She's in Taiwan for both volumes of the textbook. The people in Columbia's language department are not stupid. This was not an oversight. They know that the Taiwan China issue is extremely sensitive, but they went with the title anyway. The dissemmination of propaganda by a language department is outrageous and completely inappropriate. I see this as a direct attack on Taiwan and people of Taiwanese decent. Had I known the contents of this textbook beforehand, I would not have purchased it. Most people are not as passionate as I, so if you have to buy it for a class, then buy it, but do not let the issue go untouched. Let your classmates know, let your teacher know, and let your department know that you will not stand for the subordination of Taiwan.