Beginner's Chinese [With Two CD]

I saw the other reviews of this book and decided to try it on. My conclusion: I wish I had started with this book all those years ago when I first decided to learn Chinese. Why?: + the grammar is so clearly explained + practical vocabulary for daily use (as opposed to college and business) + varied exercises that covers all angles of learning: sentence making, translations from English-to-Chinese and Chinese-to-English, grammar etc. + the editing is sleek and uncluttered, it feels professional + fascinating cultural readings Don't let the small size of this book fool you, it is a serious book for serious students. It covers around 300 characters, which is what most first-semester courses in Chinese would cover. The author is also an anthropologist so you get information on the cultural aspects of Chinese - when to use certain words, and when not to use them, the historical backgrounds of certain expressions etc. This is gold for the newbie amateur sinologist. The audio-material is good. One cd covers: pronunciation of vocabulary, phrases, and dialogues. The other cd covers pronunciation of pinyin ( the romanized script ). Yong Ho ( I assume ) reads the vocabulary for each chapter, and a female reader joins him in reading the dialogues. The dialogue readings are at normal speed. For the asking price this book is really a bargain, it feels under-priced and under-valued. For this level of quality and, above all, effectiveness, I would have gladly paid alot more. I have tried other material such as Colloquial Chinese, Teach Yourself Chinese, and a couple of other university textbooks, without really getting anywhere - besides the first few chapters. They all lacked something: badly explained grammar, too few excercises, impractical excercises etc...the list is long. But for me this little book has actually worked, I am finally getting somewhere "real" with my studies. I feel that this book rescued my progress and gave me a reliable path towards my goals. If you like this book you should continue with his second book Intermediate Chinese with Audio CD, followed by David and Helen in China: Simplified Character Edition: An Intermediate Course in Modern Chinese (in Two Parts with Audio CD) (Far Eastern Publications Series).

My travels to China inspired me to begin learning Chinese. I just completed this beginning text with my native Chinese tutor, and I cannot believe how much I have learned! This book presents the language in a well-structured method, offering grammar, vocabulary, sentence patterns, review exercises and cultural notes. The accompanying CDs ensure correct pronunciation and a chance to develop your ear for the spoken language. In my opinion, the book has everything! I can already carry on a little conversation in Chinese. Now it is on to the intermediate book in the same series!

I love Yong Ho's approach. I owe a good deal of what I know in Chinese to this course. I found that this particular course worked very well with Behind the Wheel Chinese which does not come with any written material at all. I have used other Behind the Wheel products and find that they work well when used with other top-notch courses which enhance areas that Behind the Wheel leaves out. The plus to Behind the Wheel is the technique that enhances sentence formation along with the two native Mandarin speakers. Used together, Beginner's Chinese and Behind the Wheel Chinese form an unbeatable combination. I have been getting great results.

I bought Beginner's Chinese by Yong Ho as a supplement to Colloquial Chinese by Kan Qian, and find it extremely useful for that purpose. I'm not sure that I would appreciate it as much on its own, but only because the "conversations" are so brief as to be not at all engaging (although I can imagine them forming the basis of actual lively conversations in a classroom setting). However, in every other way it fills in the gaps left by Kan Qian's book. Materials are introduced in a similar order but Yong Ho offers extensive additional vocabulary and exercises, and thoroughly detailed grammar notes that explain - to a level of scholarly precision that some may find daunting and others will find indispensable - exactly when and how one expression or another is used. Best of all, Yong Ho is an anthropologist and linguist with a particular interest in the relationship between language and culture, so the "Cultural Insights" sections at the end of each chapter are absolutely fascinating.

If you are serious about learning Chinese, this book and its sequel "Intermediate Chinese" by Yong Ho, head of the Chinese program at the United Nations, are just about ideal. They are by no means phrase books, but form a basis for a thorough but practical study of Chinese. I came to the study of Chinese some twenty years ago because my work took me to China. I have since been six times for visits of two to four weeks, but have never become really proficient. I have bought a number of texts and worked through carefully what was previously the best of them, "Practical Chinese Readers I." I therefore started Ho's second volume, but I found his explanations so wonderfully clear that I went back to read his "Beginner's Chinese". These books are a work of art and science and are incomprably better than anything I have previously found. Ho has put his Ph.D. in linguistics to good use. He has listened to his English-speaking students and understood their problems. He has also thought about his native language and culture and come to a deep understanding of it which he is able to convey in clear concepts and good English. His exercises show how well he understands the problems of his students. There are a number of exercises which ask "What is wrong with this?" followed by Chinese sentences that make exactly the mistakes I tend to make. Each book has ten lessons centered on very practical situations, such as getting something to eat. The new speech patterns and vocabulary of each lesson are carefully introduced, then applied applied in practical conversations that provide just the right amount of drill and repetition. They, like nearly all Chinese in the book, are given in simplified characters, pinyin (the phonetic script), and idiomatic English translation. Besides the conversations, there is expository text for practice in reading using the characters and words that have been introduced in the conversations. The "Cultural Insight" passages are original and sometimes stunningly perceptive. There are answer keys to the exercises given in both pinyin and characters. By all means get the editions with the CD. The recordings are clear though not dramatic in the sense that they do not give the illusion that you are listening to a live conversation. These books use simplified characters only. They do not show how to write the characters. That is not a big problem, for there are several good books that teach only that. Like all Chinese textbooks of my acquaintance, these say nothing about how to find characters in a dictionary. The best advice on that subject is to find the "Field Guide to Chinese Characters" on the Internet.