Integrated Chinese: Simplified Characters Textbook, Level 1, Part 1 [Paperback]

Yuehua Liu (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Cheng & Tsui; 3rd edition (August 6, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887276385
• ISBN-13: 978-0887276385
• Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 8.2 x 10.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,165 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Chinese > Instruction
  • #29 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant textbook, October 31, 2008

By 

Harry K (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Integrated Chinese: Simplified Characters Textbook, Level 1, Part 1 (Paperback)

(This review is for the 3rd Edition textbook).

I've used several Chinese textbooks, and this one is by far the best. It is very intelligently written, with clear explanations of grammar and usage, and great dialogues and exercises. Unlike the majority of drab Chinese textbooks, this one is a pleasure to read - attractive to look at, with colour and some photos and illustrations. Also great are the "Culture Highlights" at the end of chapters which give more information about language in a cultural context. The book contains the following topics: Greetings, Family, Dates and Time, Hobbies, Visiting Friends, Making Appointments, Studying Chinese, School Life, Shopping, Transportation.

Overall an excellent beginning textbook which I can highly recommend to anyone who wishes to or is already studying Chinese. Along with the supplements (Audio CDs and Multimedia DVDs - which I cannot attest to), it would be highly appropriate for self-study.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best place to start!, May 1, 2009

By 

Benjamin Goslin "1.2 billion people can't be ... (Columbia, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Integrated Chinese: Simplified Characters Textbook, Level 1, Part 1 (Paperback)

This is by far the best way to begin learning Mandarin Chinese. I just finished my second semester of Mandarin at the University of Missouri and have used both part 1 and part 2 of level 1 Integrated Chinese (simplified). Having tried other "over the counter" books from Borders or Barnes & Noble this is without a doubt the best way to get started. Other books that promise a quick, easy, and fun way to learn Chinese are rarely worth the money. This text has all of the above without promising to make you fluent while driving to work.

It's very important to start learning this language in the proper way and this is the only book that set a good foundation for me. The vocabulary is always useful and the grammar explanations are easy to comprehend. The authors also publish a workbook and character exercise book that are indispensable to beginning Chinese. Couple this series of books with a good instructor and the language is fun, interesting, and not near as hard as everyone makes it out to be.

I would recommend this book (and its workbooks) to anyone wanting to learn Chinese even if you aren't taking it as a class somewhere. The only other thing you'd need to go with these books is a native Chinese speaker to help with your pronunciation! Good luck!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Works poorly with workbook, February 20, 2011

By 

Wei Li'an - See all my reviews

This review is from: Integrated Chinese: Simplified Characters Textbook, Level 1, Part 1 (Paperback)

I have studied multiple languages over the last few years and I can honestly say that this is the worst series of books I have come across in the classroom setting. There are many things that don't work well with the workbook (a separate book for practice and exercises). In the workbook (which is by the same people and supposedly follows this textbook specifically) there are often questions and structures that you cannot put together with the information provided previously in the textbook. Also, there are quite a few characters and translations needed by the workbook that do not exist in the dictionary in the back of the book. This book also does not follow a very logical sequence as far as vocabulary content. It isn't until the second book in the series that you even learn the words for left and right or any directional vocab. Every time I attempt my homework for this class I am greatly frustrated with the lack of examples in the textbook.

That being said there also doesn't seem to be a good textbook in existence for learning Mandarin as an English speaker.