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Practical Chinese Reader, Book 1: Textbook (Traditional Character Edition) (C & T Asian Language Series) (Paperback)



Practical Chinese Reader, Book 1: Textbook (Traditional Character Edition) (C & T Asian Language Series) (Paperback)
Author/Publisher: Beijing Language Institute
Format: paperback
Emphasis: Reader, Chinese Textbook
Level: Beginning - Intermediate
Note: In Traditional Chinese Characters
List Price: $29.95

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Editorial Reviews
 
Book Description
The Practical Chinese Reader is a comprehensive introductory Mandarin Chinese language textbook series for use in courses at secondary schools or universities. The series follows two students as they first study Chinese in their own country, and then go to China to participate in a foreign exchange program there. The two-volume beginning level consists of 50 lessons and introduces a vocabulary of 1,000 basic words. For simplified character texts for Books 1 and 2, two editions are available. The content is identical, but the paper and printing quality of the Hong Kong edition is better than that of the Beijing edition. Books 3 through 6 are available only in simplified characters. Books 3 and 4 consist of 30 lessons covering some 2,000 words, while Books 5 and 6 consist of 30 lessons covering approximately 3,000 words. Texts in books 5 and 6 are original essays and literary works in Chinese.

Product Details
 
  • Paperback
  • Publisher: Cheng & Tsui; 2nd Rev edition (July 1995)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN: 0887272290
  • Product Dimensions: 1.0 x 7.2 x 10.0 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds.
  • Average Customer Review: based on 2 reviews.

Customer Reviews


 
2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

Impractical Chinese Reader, October 4, 2004
 

Reviewer: Cara Kirchoefer "cakirch1" (Baltimore, MD)

By lesson three, you know how to say the following:

Hello, how are you?
I'm well, and you?
I'm also well.
Are you busy?
No, I'm not busy.
How are your older and younger brothers?
They are both fine.

I think the first lesson was fine, but it went downhill from there. Why learn about older and younger brothers in the third lesson, but not about older sisters until the 13th? (And as far as I can tell, you never learn about younger sisters... guess sisters just aren't important.) The pinyin system helps with pronunciation, but I would like to know how to write "China" (Zhongguo) fairly early on in a Chinese textbook (they write it in pinyin until around lesson 13, even though it's very simple to write in Chinese characters, especially when we know "guo" from lesson 6.) The organization in this textbook makes no sense. Also, as the other reviewer mentioned, it uses traditional Chinese characters. While some places still use traditional Chinese (Hong Kong and Taiwan, for example), most of China uses simplified characters. So, this is only useful in a few select areas of the world.

Oh, and I still don't know how to say "goodbye" after being in Chinese class for five weeks and having gone through six lessons. My teacher relies heavily on this book, and I can't even hold a conversation. The "Practical Chinese Reader" is about as impractical as it gets.





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