Customer Reviews

Understanding Chinese: A Guide to the Usage of Chinese Characters

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read this book with the intention to learn how to write Chinese and associate the Chinese characters with what I already know in spoken Chinese. After 1 month of practicing, I can see the difference in my knowledge of written Chinese (although my knowledge is still far from complete). And I have only studied less than half the book!! I especially like the fact that the book provides translation in both Mandarin and Cantonese. Because of that, I could learn both the Mandarin and Cantonese pronunciations. Furthermore, the book is very helpful because it also provides phrases associated with each character. Just as in English where phrases sometimes connote different meanings compared the meaning of the sole word (eg.pass vs. pass away), so can be said for Chinese. Therefore, in learning Chinese, it is important not only to know the meaning of a singular word but also to know how the word combines with other words to form a phrase. Also recommended, "Read and Write Chinese: A Simplified Guide to the Chinese Characters" by the same author--published a year later. A more compact guide without the phrase part (mentioned in the last paragraph).

Rita Choy is one of the best writers for Chinese helpers. She has put together several books that I find most useful. I have lived in Taiwan for quite sometime and her books have been very useful in finding meanings. Her cross listed index is a life saver I use it almost everyday. I cannot imagine anyone who is studying Chinese not buying her books. Regardless of the simplifed vs. traditional characters. If you learn simplied first you will have much trouble learning and reading traditional.

Learning written Chinese is NOT straightforward, and let me be brutal: there is no easy way out. To quote the old proverb, every time you reach a summit, there's a higher one to climb.

And here's my ten cents for the traditional / simplified debate: if you are at all serious about Chinese and intend to deal with anywhere outside contemporary China, you've essentially got to learn both.

This is a great buy and journeyfriend, but definitely a book for the second stage in the process.

Stage One is learning grammar and individual characters - what the Chinese call "zi". When learning to read and write Chinese, start with anything from the Beijing Languages Institute (their Essential and Practical Chinese Reader series are what got me started) because a) they use Putonghua aka Peking/Beijing Mandarin, on which the modern written language is based, and b) they teach you the traditional form of the written character as well as the simplified one. Use these books in conjunction with Choy's stage one book - Read and Write Chinese: A Simplified Guide to the Chinese Characters - to broaden your knowledge of characters, and to introduce you to Cantonese pronunciation, which is what we come across most in our Chinatowns in the West. There's no problem with the simplified / traditional character form if you follow this method, since you'll pick up the simplified stuff from the Beijing material.

Stage Two is about broadening your vocabulary further through learning character compounds ("ci"), and this is where this work really comes into its own. If you've been down my route, you've got a wodge of grammar and a fair number of characters under your belt by now, and it's time to consolidate and grow your knowledge. This book is excellent for that.

Hope this helps you in your choice!

This book is wonderful and I do not consider that having only unsimplified forms of the characters is a flaw. While simplifid characters are more useful in Mainland China, they are not used at all in Taiwan, Hong Kong or Singapore and are only used rarely in Chinese communities in the U.S. and Canada. This book is most useful when visiting one of these places or studying there, since it is well nigh impossible to find an unsimplified guide or dictionary in most book stores.

I just received this book the other day and I have to say.. it is the best one I have found so far for what I am using it for. I have bought this to learn how to write traditional characters, accompanying the cantonese that I have learnt from books using Yale. This book is perfect for anyone that has learnt cantonese by using a yale system.. It is also perfect for anyone that has learnt mandarin through pinyin, and who wants to learn the traditional characters.

I have read a lot of reviews, and some of them by people complaining that there are no simplified characters in the book, which they say is a big flaw. Dont make the mistake of thinking this book is flawed in anyway.. it IS however, a book to learn traditional characters, and not simplified, and if you had looked into this book at all before you purchased it, you would have clearly seen that. If it is simplified characters you want to learn, this is not the book, and there are TONS of other books out there to learn that. I have looked through countless bookstores and online bookshops trying to find something that taught traditional characters in this depth, that included the cantonese yale as well to pronounce the words. To me this book is a total jackpot.

again. for anyone wanting to learn traditional characters, mandarin or cantonese, this book IS flawless, and is perfect for you.

if u want to learn simplified characters, for mandarin (as some cantonese speakers know simplified, but its not commonly used in cantonese regions) than.. look for another book, there are heaps of them.

this book is so good I got 2...because it will be dog-eared in no time...it is great for learning Mandarin or Cantonese characters,the lack of simplified characters is no big deal.

William McNaughton's book covers that..and gives the trad. ones also as a guide. (ISBN-0804835098). if you are a serious student of Chinese,you can't just have one book!...or not learn both trad. and simp. character forms.

traditional characters are beautiful.. ask any Chinese calligrapher's opinion...they will opt for traditional.

I love this book and it's companion. I've carried the books with me from high school to college. Unfortunately i loaned my copy to a girl so she could get a tattoo and i never got it back! I was very disappointed to see that the book is no longer in print! So get it while you still can! Most companies do not have any copies left! ...The most helpful elements of this book are the stroke order. i use this book primarily to practice writing chinese characters and to figure out word combinations. It is a must have for any student of chinese studies library!

I brought this to strictly improve my Cantonese but it has Mandarin also which is a big plus since with my new job I'm involve with frequent Mandarin speakers. This source is most useful if you have someone that can read/speak these languages to properly address the pronunciations.

I received the book shortly after the transaction, and the condition of the book is remarkable - almost brand new! Thanks

All the things said about this book in a previous review are correct, as far as they go. It's nice to have both Mandarin and Cantonese pronunciations, and the example phrases are extremely helpful. However, students will find one terribly important flaw -- the book only presents characters in their traditional form, not the simplified form used on the mainland (and thus for the great majority of material written in Chinese). No political or linguistic preference is implied in this criticism -- anyone who seriously wants to learn Chinese today needs to know both forms. But I can't find any mention in this book that the simplified forms even exist. It's too bad, because the format and thoroughness of the examples could have made this the book to turn to first for looking up and learning characters.