Schaum's Outline of Chinese Grammar

There are some really bad ones out there, especially one called, Modern Chinese by Peking University. The only thing modern about that one is that they keep updating the picture on the cover. It was written during or shortly after the Cultural Revolution and contains nouns and phrases no one uses anymore. One of my complaints about other books is that many of them concentrate too heavily on the pinyin, the alphabetized Chinese, the implication being that characters are unimportant. Nothing could be further from the truth. I was in Beijing in 1999 and every sign, menu, train ticket, etc. was in characters. Moreover, because Chinese is a tonal language with a zillion homonyms pinyin really isn't very helpful except as a tool for pronunciation and filing. Perhaps it's because the characters came from pictures most people, once they develop some fluency, find them easier to read than the pinyin. Ross' book is modern and the format is reader friendly; print is decent sized, not too busy, and the book can lie flat open. It covers many grammar points and has exercises. I like it that it also contains both the simplified and traditional characters. It has a couple of minor mistakes and needs a tiny bit of updating but, overall it's an excellent book.

I am preparing for an oral exam in Chinese. I'm using the on-line version of Rosetta Stone, which is good for listening. I'm using both of the Schaum's books for additional material, a contemporary Chinese reader ("Shifting Tides" with CD) with a tutor. According to my tutor, one of the most important differences between someone who can just manage in China, and someone who is conversant, is their grammar. She believes good grammar can cover lack of vocabulary in an oral exam. Schaum's covers the topics very thoroughly, with useful exercises to cement the topic. Each chapter covers a different part of speech -- nouns, verbs, adverbs, etc. Each chapter starts with the basics and progresses into details. They have examples of good usage and bad usage (accompanied by yucky faces). On the downside, grammar is explained in linguistic terms, e.g. aspectual suffixes, which I am not very familiar with. The examples make clear the meanings. This book is thorough. I've studied Chinese off and on for many years, and have used many different texts. So the grammar I have learned is spotty. This is a comprehensive study. My tutor (who teaches at the university) has mentioned that it covers topics rarely covered in other textbooks. I like that the text is written in traditional, simplified characters as well as in pinyin, with an English translation. Studying for an oral exam, I have less interest in knowing characters, so I've been looking for pinyin texts. This book is not for beginning Chinese students. There is far more vocabulary than a beginning Chinese student would know. I routinely add words from the book to my vocabulary flash cards --such as zhuang(4) guan(1) de Da(4) Xia(2) gu(3) -- magnificient Grand Canyon. I consider this one of the best purchases I've made for studying.

This book is ideal for anyone who has at least a college year's worth of Chinese. It summarizes basic Chinese grammar and covers various sentence constructs, word usages, and important grammer points. Sentences like "you are so busy that you have no time to talk to me" are summerized in their appropriate sections, and specific words that might trouble English speakers like "guo/le" are covered thoroughly. It also uses both traditional and simplified for every sentence so whatever method of writing you like you will be fine. The examples spaced throughout each chapter help reinforce the material. It is NOT however a book you should be neccesarily reading by itself if you are completely new to Chinese. It definatly assumes you have some knowledge in Chinese, and gives you no baby introduction to Chinese. For the beginning Chinese leaner, it definatly is not a standaloen book, but as a supplement to a text book (such as Chinese Interactions) and an audio program (like Pimsleur) it shines. Highly recommended for any student of Mandarin.