Customer Reviews

Fast and Easy Mandarin (Living Language)

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

 

 

The tape wouldn't be so bad if it were backed up by a text of any quality at all. But the leaflet it comes with is less than worthless -- it's misleading.

First, it doesn't use pinyin as its phonetic spelling system. They make up their own. This will teach you very bad habits if you care to move past this very simple level.

Beyond that, it gives nothing but phrases to say with no hint to what the words in them mean.

The text is just a transcription of what's on the tape. The only additional information is a short bizarre pronunciation guide and a woefully inadequate description of tonality.

A very low-level introduction to the language. Appropriate only if you're not willing to spend more than 30 minutes studying the language.

I listened to this cassette everyday in my car for three months. When I got to China, I was able to greet and thank people, ask for chopsticks, forks, tea. I was also able to talk genially with our bus driver about when we were eating. I understood time and money and the food being served. Being horrible at foreign languages, this was just the right speed and the right amount of phrases, not so many as to be confusing. Because it is listen and repeat, I could not read or write anything but everyone I spoke to in Mandarin was impressed, said I spoke very clearly and were really happy to hear an American speaking Mandarin.

I agree with the previous reviewer and am just reenforcing his/her opinion. Some things are cheap and still over-priced. The Barron's Gettings By in Chinese is a much better value.