PRACTICAL CHINESE READER, BOOK TWO [Paperback]

Beijing Languages Institute (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 7100000890 | ISBN-13: 978-7100000895 | Publication Date: July 1, 2004

Book 2 in the popular series. Available with 7 audio tapes as well ($49.95 for tapes only, $65.00 for book and tapes)

Product Details

• Paperback: 506 pages
• Publisher: Beijing Language Institute Press (July 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 7100000890
• ISBN-13: 978-7100000895
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #480,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A horrible way to learn, June 3, 2003

By 

"wigi25" (Bloomington, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: PRACTICAL CHINESE READER, BOOK TWO (Paperback)

I studied out of this book for a semester and I have to say, I thoroughly hated it. If you actually want to learn how to converse in Chinese, the lessons and vocabulary in this book are not useful at all. You learn either esoteric words or, more often, words and phrases that are outdated and not representative of how native speakers talk. Likewise, the grammer is not very well integrated into the lessons, and the excercises are poorly explained and don't help you learn much. Half the time they contain words which aren't in the lesson you're studying and, without outside knowledge, you wouldn't know what they meant and have to look them up. The lessons overall are boring and are pumped up with propaganda and useless facts like how many people can fit inside Tiananmen Square. I much prefer the Zhong Wen Ru Men series produced by Princeton University, which is taught using dialogues, which help you learn how to converse, rather than just stuff you with useless facts and vocabulary.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I actually love this book!, September 9, 2009

By 

MamaP (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: PRACTICAL CHINESE READER, BOOK TWO (Paperback)

It looks like I am one of the few who actually like this book. I am using this series to learn Chinese and I have found the books to be really great. The lessons are very interesting. You learn a lot about Chinese history and culture in the process of learning the language. It has a huge amount of propaganda, but to me, this is informative and entertaining,instead of offensive. I love the way the lessons build on each other so that your reading becomes better with each lesson.
The main drawback for me would be the explanations of grammar and usage. I have a horrible time trying to understand Chinese prepositions and things like that.I do wish the explanations were a little clearer.While this book doesn't have a lot of pinyin, I have found that watching Chinese dramas, movies, and karaoke videos are a great suppliment that more than makes up for this shortcoming.
Sorry if this is rambling. This is my first time writing a review. I really love these books and I hope others will enjoy them as much as I do.

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible, October 3, 2004

By 

ATacoGuy (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: PRACTICAL CHINESE READER, BOOK TWO (Paperback)

Disregard the positive review. This book is a nightmare. There's aren't many defects I could point out that the other reviewers haven't done a good job covering already, other than to say they're dead on. Perhaps the only thing I could add would be to say that if the Chinese department at the school where you take classes still uses the PCR series, you should seriously consider a change of major.