3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
so far so good, October 16, 2004
This review is from: Read and Speak Chinese for Beginners (Paperback)
I bought this book recently and have been studying it and listening to the cd for several days.
The cd really helps with pronunciation.
The only downside is that they don't use the accent marks in the book.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Start, June 16, 2005
This review is from: Read and Speak Chinese for Beginners (Paperback)
I am engaged to an Asian man and decided to learn Chinese. This book is a great way to start.
Each lesson begins with vocabulary: you hear the English equivalent first, then its Chinese counterpart while looking at the pinyin and symbol in the book. (For example: you hear "table," then "zhuo-zi" while you look at the written pin-yin and symbol.) You can cover the pinyin and try to remember/pronounce the chinese word for the English prompt.
Then, usually, a couple recorded,interactive, and simple conversations ensue which incorporate the recently learned vocabulary. And, no chapter is complete without symbol exercises (fill-in-the-blank, or describe the picture). Sometimes, there are games that you can cut out to reinforce your learning.
I've found this book & CD quite helpful and productive. For instance, last night in one of the exercises, I was using newly learned desciption words to describe an alien (ta you hen da de du-zi), and my fiance -- who was turned away from me and working on the computer -- laughed and asked "Who has a big stomach?" This reassured me that my developing skills corrolate into understandable language.
Chinese is less intimidating, and actually a bit fun, with Read & Speak. In the whole scheme of language learning, its place is to introduce foreign speakers to the basics of Chinese. Hopefully, Cheng Ma has/will create other books in this series so that I can continue with this teaching style as my language advances.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Wightwick, Read and Speak Chinese for Beginners, 2004. A decent introduction that could be excellent, November 24, 2009
This first edition of Read and Speak Chinese uses an engaging interactive format. Pictures, "staged" settings, and the CD all encourage using the vocabulary in various contexts. But the actual execution keeps this book from being excellent. There are too many errors and omissions. First, the book should mark the tones on each word. Frequently, words and phrases are introduced on the CD which aren't explained in the book. Some of words are not accurately translated from the Chinese into English. For instance, "ting che chang" is translated as "park". Actually, it's "parking lot". On track #21 of the CD, the speaker asks the student to translate the sentence, "The magazine is behind the TV." After a pause, the speaker then gives the Chinese translation, but instead of giving the Chinese for TV, he gives the Chinese for "computer". Finally, more time should be given to the beginning student to respond to the speaker's instructions.
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