Customer Reviews

Easy Chinese Phrasebook & Dictionary

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

 

 

This book is good for basic words but lacks background information that would be helpful. Still, a greater starter book!

I found the book very useful and it is well laid out.
Where I got caught up though is that I needed something quick and nimble, where I could quickly look things up. My stay was limited.
That is where I saw other titles with friends of mine that achieved that a little better. That is the only reason I rank it as 4 not 5.

I found this book to be very informative. It presented a more Chinese way of saying things than if I were to try to translate it from English. Also it helps build a good vocabulary for a variety of scenarios and settings. That said. This book is extremely dated. It serves for great historical record, mentioning China as the "Kingdom of Bicycles" when there has been much development of National economy and infrastructure. In addition, some old words have taken on new meaning. In the book it tells you to address someone as comrade. While this was especially common during the time of Cultural Revolution, this practice is practically not in use. In fact today "Comrade" is slang for a gay person. Saying to someone "Hello Comrade," maybe taken more like saying, "What's up Fag?" It's important to know about things like this unless you want trouble. Also if it is really obvious you don't know much Chinese, they will probably be polite and explain it to you later.

This book is a good buy for anyone wanting to learn Mandarin Chinese. I also recommend buying another Chinese phrasebook to contrast it with.

The first one I bought from a local book shop. When I went to China, my friend decided it was also good for her to learn English, so I gave it to her. I bought another on Amazon, but my fried who went to Guangzhou to teach English decided he didn't have enough time to buy it himself, so I gave him that one. Now, I am leaving for China soon to teach ESL, so I'm buying my third copy. I may have to disguise it to prevent further losses. This book is well organized and it's easy to find the part you need in a hurry. Because it is engaging enough, it is not only for pulling out when you need it. You can actually sit and read it without falling asleep. Learning Chinese is hard enough, so it's nice to find a book that helps take the edge off a little bit.

I put 5 stars because it's worth nothing less. This book has more information in it than most of my $30-50 books.

This book has some really useful phrases, which are all written out in 3 different ways. English translation, followed by standard PinYin, and last in line, Chinese characters for Mandarin. A final column on the phrase pages has a handfull of key, (useful) words, and small phrases labelled 'what you may hear'.

The four basic tones or inflections are explained simply. The pronunciation guide in this book is a little abstract but sufficient. As for pronuciation of Chinese, NO BOOK will be able to teach the inflections and pronunciations accurately. However, if you've practiced Chinese with an experienced or native speaker, the book will give enough information to help you recall accurate pronunciation.

This book is about half E-C / C-E dictionary with 3,500 entries, according to the cover. I've been looking at this book for about three years now, still I find new information in it all the time.

The print quality is crisp black on @24lb. white paper, not thin paper. There are 2 different fonts used for the Chinese characters in the book. Unstylized strokes for the phrases, and stylized for addtional words, and dictionary entries. The illustrations are kinda cheezy, as it goes in language books. They're funny at least.

1 out of 4 books was in really bad shape, a black marker was used along the thickness of the book (not necessary to mark it used). Packaging was really bad, it bent the corners of the books.Easy Chinese Phrasebook & Dictionary

I received the book on schedule and the book was in the described condition. I am completely satisfied.