Customer Reviews

Mandarin Chinese: An Introduction

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

 

 

I've been studying Chinese and also trying to learn to speak it (the two aren't mutually inclusive) for quite a while. This book provides the best and most balanced view I've ever seen into what makes Chinese tick. Although I've known much of what's in it before I had a chance to read it, I found much of what I had previously suspected spelled out clearly, and it helped me arrange my thoughts on Chinese more consistently.

For me it was easy reading. For someone who knows no Chinese at all, it may be more difficult; it's hard for me to know for sure. But if such a neophyte were to read it, they'd understand a lot more about Chinese than I ever did when I started. It could help them decide whether or not they were up to the challenge of learning it, and it could also give them all the information they'd need to make themselves seem an expert on Chinese at whatever next party they attended. This is so not only for the grammar, pronunciationa and writing systems, but also for the social context in which the standard language has formed and is continuing to develop.

Mobo Gao's book is a great companion to English speakers trying to learn Mandarin Chinese. It compares and contrasts various linguistic and cultural features of both Chinese and English in order to help learners to figure out why things work they do in the Chinese language. It is not the be and end all to a program of learning Chinese (you will need textbooks and/or audio material in addition to this book) but it is an excellent supplement to whatever route one is taking to learning Chinese ... whether it be self-study or in a class.

Mandarin Chinese: An Introduction fills an important gap in the study Chinese. Modelled after A.E. Backhouse's The Japanese Language: an Introduction, it provides a general overview of the Chinese language and its setting. This kind of comprehensive introduction is something that until now has sorely been absent for the student of Chinese and makes a great addition to the Chinese studies canon.
Gao's book fills the niche nicely, but it is not without its faults, and hence cannot be given the full five-star rating. The section that must draw the negative criticism is Phonology. The errors in this section seem primarily because of sloppy IPA transcription, particularly concerning rhotacization and treatment of the various phonetic values of Pinyin {i}.
Nonetheless, The discussion on Language and Politics is a reflection of the personal interests of the author, but politics, as is pointed out in the book, has been such a central force in directing language change in the modern era that a general overview of Chinese is essentially incomplete without this kind of discussion.
Although the primary focus is clearly on the language as spoken in Mainland China, Gao is careful to make sure to take account of the Mandarin spoken in Taiwan, Singapore, and other Chinese communities.
With a few errors but a solid overall introduction to Mandarin, Gao's book is an essential addition to the library of all who wish to learn more about the Chinese language.

This is an eclectic little book, introducing a wide variety of subjects surrounding the study of Mandarin. I found it to be an excellent tool for beginning to put my language study into a broader environment of history, politics and culture. It is probably not a good book for advanced students. While it should be accessible to readers knowing no Mandarin, many of the topics may be easier to absorb after some study - particularly of spoken Mandarin. Subjects are not covered in great depth, and as a previous reviewer noted, there are a few places where some of the details seem to be glossed over in a way which sacrifices accuracy or merely treats subjects in less detail than they deserve.

A large part of understanding and speaking a language is an understanding its baggage. I particularly enjoyed the discussions the different ways in which foreign words are "imported" into Chinese, and how various terms and expressions come to have political implications. (Note that these phenomena were discussed and examples given. Don't expect to be able to recognize most politically charged language after reading just this book.)

The discussions of grammar were very readable. Sometimes I would already understand an idea presented, sometimes the explanation would help clarify an idea I hadn't fully understood, and sometimes I would decide to return to an explanation once my Mandarin studies were more advanced. During the six pages devoted to the uses of the particle "le" and its relationship to Mandarin's very different treatment of time and aspect, I found myself wavering between these three responses.

I would recommend this book to students of Mandarin Chinese looking to start reading about broader ideas touching on the language but not generally encompassed by it. It is easy to read and can answer a lot of basic conceptual questions, leading the reader to a more educated decision about what to look into next.