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Rating: 
Summary: Strange progression
Review: Although speaking four languages fluently, I did not make good progress in Mandarin learning by using this book.The initial chapters feature complex dialogs. The student is not told that these long phrases are intended to teach him the music of the language. On the contrary, the student tries to understand each word before progressing, and does not go anywhere as a result. The dialogs are loosely translated into English, and no explanations are given word by word. The Chinese writing is not provided at all, so learners who try to use the written word to learn miss this important feature. All in all, it is only after three month of daily learning that I was able to understand the first chapters word by word. I was stuck on the first tape (litterally, because the tape had a tendency to jam ). A student of these tapes might understand and speak some Mandarin at the end of the book, but he will be lost and starved before, as he still won't be able to read menus and street signs. Further, he will have spent an excessive amount of time getting there as other methods are more progressive and analytical.
Rating:
Summary: Strange progression
Review: Although speaking four languages fluently, I did not make good progress in Mandarin learning by using this book. The initial chapters feature complex dialogs. The student is not told that these long phrases are intended to teach him the music of the language. On the contrary, the student tries to understand each word before progressing, and does not go anywhere as a result. The dialogs are loosely translated into English, and no explanations are given word by word. The Chinese writing is not provided at all, so learners who try to use the written word to learn miss this important feature. All in all, it is only after three month of daily learning that I was able to understand the first chapters word by word. I was stuck on the first tape (litterally, because the tape had a tendency to jam ). A student of these tapes might understand and speak some Mandarin at the end of the book, but he will be lost and starved before, as he still won't be able to read menus and street signs. Further, he will have spent an excessive amount of time getting there as other methods are more progressive and analytical.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your money or your time
Review: It's astonishing that anybody could find this item useful. From the first lesson, inconsistencies abound. After learning to count to ten, one gets an illustrative dialog featuring an alternative form of the number "two", not yet introduced. In fact, alternate forms appear without comment seemingly at random. Much of the enunciation on the tape is quite difficult to hear, especially that of the unfamiliar phenomes. The writers & editors seem to have simply put together a package that they could justify calling "teaching Chinese" without any thought to whether it would benefit a beginning student.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun and Practical Way to Learn Chinese
Review: The author presents this book in a way that makes it easy to understand how the pinyin letters and words are pronounced, even without tapes. This book provides a sizable amount of vocabulary presented in a very practical and conversational form. Chapters have fun features which make it easy to want to continue reading and learning with. Definitely a great value for the price! The pull-out dictionary in the back of the book is perfectly sized to be usable, and contains English-Chinese as well as Chinese-English translations.
Rating: 
Summary: Simplified
Review: This is a great tool if you are headed to Mainland China. If you plan on coming to Taiwan you need to find something with traditional characters. Just like English, Chinese also has dialects. Mainland Chinese accent is much different from a Taiwan accent. I do, however recommend that you learn Hanyu Pin Yin. You'll be glad you did!
Rating:
Summary: Simplified
Review: This is a great tool if you are headed to Mainland China. If you plan on coming to Taiwan you need to find something with traditional characters. Just like English, Chinese also has dialects. Mainland Chinese accent is much different from a Taiwan accent. I do, however recommend that you learn Hanyu Pin Yin. You'll be glad you did!
Rating:
Summary: waste of time
Review: This text was used in a local community college class in
beginning Mandarin, and even the teacher was dissatisfied.
It seems not very clearly laid out, a phrase book with tiny
snippets of grammar that don't give enough background. Have a look at Yong Ho's Beginner's Chinese, or the
Practical Chinese Reader (new or old editions) - you may
like them better.
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