Customer Reviews

Schaum's Outline of Chinese Vocabulary

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The thing that is so exciting about this book and made me buy it right away is that it actually is at my level. There are so many books for beginning Chinese. All beginner books will present a few different words that others will not, but finding challenging vocabulary that is presented in the context that assumes a foundation of Chinese is a godsend.

What makes this book particularly strong is its ability to recycle the words with the right timing so that as you are beginning to forget the word, you get reminded of it. The exercises force you to recall or at least know that you have just learned the new word and go to look for it. Often times, a couple of sentences down, you will see that new word as part of the exercise question. This really reinforces vocabulary study and makes memorization somewhat effortless.

Chinese is really the language where this approach works since most people can't associate Chinese words with familiar words. Also mastering the basics of grammar are not that bad in this language and vocabulary has been my weak point, which is probably true among other high-intermediate students as well.

This is not for beginners, but if you are ready to take your Chinese to the next step with all the most modern vocabulary, including computer terms, this is the book.

I have been using this book for quite a while. What I can say is that this book is not for beginners. You must know some hundreds of vocabs (especially various Chinese verbs and conjunctions) before you can use this book effectively, because this book teaches you a lot of noun vocabs (items or objects). This book is totally awesome to increase your vocabs. It gives you a passage or dialog with the new words being printed in bold and their English definition put on the far right column. After each passage you'll be given some practice sections to train you on how to use or put the new vocabs you just learn in some sentences. All of the Mandarin words are supplied with both hanzi (Chinese characters) and the corresponding pinyin, as well as the English translation.

Each chapter teaches you a whole new setting. Chapter one is the things you do when you want to check in at the airport along with some items you normally carry for your travel and the activities you do to check in or boarding the plane. The next chapter takes you in the situation where you already boarded the plane. There's another chapter for boarding the train and it even has a chapter that tells you about computer and Internet in Mandarin. Each chapter is supplied with some illustrations to give big help in comprehension. This book is really powerful. And actually you do not need to follow chapter by chapter. You can just go to the chapter that interests you most. If you want to know what the Mandarin words for all the stuffs in your bedroom then just go to that certain chapter. Oh also, at the back there are answer keys to the practice section! This sure gives another big plus for your vocab learning, unless of course you cheat during the practice :)

Overall this book is a must for Intermediate learner or anybody who has mastered some hundreds of Chinese vocabs. It is also awesome for your reference. It is sort of like your pictionary.

This book is an outstanding vocabulary builder for those studying Mandarin Chinese. It would be very helpful for intermediate students. It is not meant for beginners since it is assumed the student can read and understand basic Chinese sentences. It does not have a section on Chinese grammar, which would have to be learned from some other source.
The book has many chapters, each dealing with a particular subject. Sample chapters include "At the Restaurant", "The automobile" with detailed vocabulary words for such things as the gas pedal, clutch, neutral gear, etc., a sports chapter with vocabulary for basketball, tennis,
etc. and even a chapter on computers with words such as Pentium (Benteng), hard disk (yingpan) and floppy disk (ruanpan). There are exercises at the end of each chapter with the answers provided at the end of the book.
I found this book very helpful for building vocabulary that goes beyond the usual basic beginning grammar book.

This book presents lots of useful vocabulary, often with a helpful sketch. For example the At the Hotel chapter shows a picture of the room and bathroom, with callouts for the Chinese words for the bed, sink, shower, etc. in characters and pinyin.

Sample dialogs are presented to demonstrate the use of the vocabulary. However, the presentation could be improved simply by using the form in the Schaum's Chinese Grammar book, where every sentence if provided in traditional and simplified characters, pinyin, and English. Instead, the Vocabulary book usually gives the English for only one word in the sentence. That's fine if you already have a working knowledge of Chinese, but for beginner's it would be nicer to have a translation of the whole sentence.

Schuam's does a great job of giving pertinent information, in well organized and logical sections. If you were to dedicate some serious time to this book your vocab. would truly be impressive. I wish they had more products for learning chinese, the Grammar book is incredible.

This book (along with "Practical Chinese Grammar"(...)) are the two books I use whenever I don't understand the right way to say something in Chinese. Neither are for beginners, but after about a semester or two of Chinese, they are indispensible. Many times I know I'm saying something with the wrong grammar, and a quick look-up sets me straight.

I've studied Mandarin (off and on... too much off) for about twelve years. I have many books that teach me obscure Chinese history or the names of Chinese minority groups' clothing and holidays. But I have sketchy knowledge of many fundamental words, like "water faucet." This book systematically plows through commonly used vocabulary. It tells you, for example, how to say "web browser" and "mouse" in Chinese (which I find essential for showing my in-laws how to use a computer). And, unlike a Mandarin pictorial dictionary I have that displays only Chinese characters, this book also has pinyin and uses the words in sentences.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who can pronunce pinyin and wants to build up a practical vocabulary.

The raves this book has received are well warranted. Extensive vocabulary in most areas of everyday life and even travel make this remarkable resource a fabulous help to anyone from beginners and tourists to intermediates and up. I can't help but say I love this book, and it well deserves the 5-star reviews it's earned. :)

This vocabulary book is the greatest idea in the world! I used Pimsleur (Mandarin I, II & III) along with the Oxford Starter Chinese Dictionary as my collective foundation for learning the Chinese language (Mandarin). Both of these tools were GREAT but now that I'm trying to have actual conversations with Chinese people (using VoIP - voice communication over the internet) I've discovered that my vocabulary is a little (a lot?) weak. (I know I'm stating the obvious here, but when it comes to having REAL conversations in ANY language, a well developed and modern vocabulary is a MUST.) I think the major strengths of Schaum's Outlines Chinese Vocabulary can be reduced to just one word: practicality. In this respect, I think it is far superior to just a standard dictionary. Don't get me wrong, its not a replacement for traditional and complete English-Chinese and Chinese(pinyin)-English dictionaries, but the filtering, organization and presentation of its content are PERFECT for rehearsing and quickly developing a large, PRACTICAL and MODERN vocabulary. Great stuff. I also found Schaum's Chinese Grammar to be a useful book as well.

I purchased this book several months ago, to complement my chinese classes, it helped me to learn much more new words related to some commom everyday conversation topics. Although I wish the chinese character printed were a little bigger for easier reading, other than that It has been a worthy buy.