12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Overpriced and Outdated, April 23, 2008
This review is from: Tell It Like it Is! (Text with 2 DVD's): Natural Chinese for Advanced Learners (Yale Language Series) (Hardcover)
This textbook contains transcripts of five broadcasts of "Tell it Like it is" (Shihua shishuo), a Chinese talk show that was popular in the mid-1990s. The buyer gets two DVDs filled with the original broadcasts, as well as transcripts for five episodes. For an additional $30, a set of audio CDs accompanying this book can also be purchased.
I've used this book for a year now in my Chinese Flagship Program classes. This book is an awful value. For one thing, the price is prohibitively high, at $100 for a new copy, not including the audio CDs. Spending so much money on single textbook doesn't even get you the newest China-related material. In fact, my professor (visiting from Nanjing University) complained about the age of the broadcasts, most of which were originally aired around 1994. Furthermore, the fact that there are only five episodes makes this book nearly impossible to use in a university setting. We went one "stage" at a time, through two episodes a semester, and found ourselves bored out of our minds by the third week of each episode. A serious advanced-level Chinese student studying this book alone could probably finish the entire thing within two months.
What's more, this book is absolutely plagued by errors. Like most Chinese language textbooks, the first chapter is fine, which allows this book to get rave reviews from academics. After the first chapter, however, anything goes, evidenced by an unrelenting string of grammatical and spelling errors, in both Chinese and English. Yale University Press needs to get a new editor, plain and simple.
Space is wasted between each chapter with a "clean version" of the spoken texts. I'm not entirely sure how this is supposed to help the learner. Apparently, the editor went through and cleaned up a few inconsistencies and idiomatic features of the transcribed text. This is of no help whatsoever to the student, who, at such an advanced level, will find most of the transcripts easy to read and understand.
The glossary at the end is a waste of time, as the words are not divided into true "alphabetical" pinyin order. For example, between the word "ba diao" and "ba ji zui" come 9 words beginning with "bai", rendering the glossary all but unusable. Again, most students shouldn't have to bother with the glossary, as the new words here are simple and easy to learn.
In short, "Tell it Like it is!" ought not to be used by Advanced Chinese classes in America. It is filled with errors, its glossary is useless, its material is outdated, it's too easy for most advanced learners, and its cost makes economics textbooks look reasonable by comparison. Please, do not use this book for your classroom.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good listening text with natural spoken Chinese, July 29, 2008
This review is from: Tell It Like it Is! (Text with 2 DVD's): Natural Chinese for Advanced Learners (Yale Language Series) (Hardcover)
All the previous reviewer's comments are true, but nonetheless the book is a great value, especially given the drop in price. The DVDs are great for learning natural spoken Chinese, and if you have a dictionary you can just look up your own vocabulary from the transcript. A truly useful book for those looking to take their Chinese beyond the usual college level to understand native speech--a market for which few materials are available. I know several people who have used this book (I just started) and their Chinese is incredible.
Another way to do this is to listen to ChinesePod ([...])--though the price is steeper.
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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Absolute Must for the Advanced Chinese Learner, January 9, 2009
This review is from: Tell It Like it Is! (Text with 2 DVD's): Natural Chinese for Advanced Learners (Yale Language Series) (Hardcover)
Simply put, this is an excellent result of collaboration among the best the Ohio State University has to offer. Professor Wang's work is not only useful for the advanced student in the Chinese language, but he also presents a window into the mentality of Chinese cultural thought. We can see this from observing such topics as discussions on raising children; whether or not to spank them as part of the learning process.
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