This book is great for beginners. Students in their first or second semester of Chinese would benefit from having this book as a resource. It provides text with vocabulary, notes, a grammar section, drills and exercises, culture notes, and instruction on writing characters. One thing I really liked about this one is that the pinyin is omitted from the texts and dialogues. This prevents new learners from becoming dependent on the pinyin. I don't recommend getting the workbook unless you have nothing better to spend your money on or are just plain bored.