Rating: 
Summary: A fun book to learn a few Chinese characters
Review: For the most part, Chinese is really two languages - a written one and a spoken one. One really cannot "sound out" written Chinese Characters, like they can with English. Most books for travelers to China dwell on the spoken language. This is actually a very good idea, because it helps you communicate and get around. But this book is different and fun, because it concentrates on Chinese characters which are beautiful and interesting.I lived in the city of Shenyang, China for almost a year and a half. I dealt with a lot of Chinese people and Westerners that had been there for varying lengths of time. The Westerners had varying levels of oral Chinese language skills, but it was very rare for me to find a Westerner who knew how to read Chinese. The Westerners that I knew who could read Chinese were for the most part long time scholors on the topic or they learned it from their Chinese relatives. I read this book, and learned most of the characters in it. I could not even come close to reading a magazine or newspaper, even those for children. But, I knew more Chinese characters than 95% of the Westerners that I knew in China. Most of these foreigners would be impressed when I could read the little I did. For most of the Chinese people I met, I was the only Westerner that they ever met who could read even a few characters. I'd figure a sign out, and they could not believe it. This skill was a great conversation topic, and I soon learned several other characters in the conversations that I had with the locals. For the most part, this book is not required reading for someone who travels to China. In places where a lot of Westerners travel, many signs are in English, or pin-yin, or "Chinglish" (poor translations from Chinese to English.) But when I went to places less traveled, I can tell you that it was nice to be able to read the sign on the restroom door so I did not get into an embarrassing situation. (I had plenty of other embarrassing experiences without going into the wrong public toilet.) I highly recommend the book. Have fun!
Rating:
Summary: A fun book to learn a few Chinese characters
Review: For the most part, Chinese is really two languages - a written one and a spoken one. One really cannot "sound out" written Chinese Characters, like they can with English. Most books for travelers to China dwell on the spoken language. This is actually a very good idea, because it helps you communicate and get around. But this book is different and fun, because it concentrates on Chinese characters which are beautiful and interesting. I lived in the city of Shenyang, China for almost a year and a half. I dealt with a lot of Chinese people and Westerners that had been there for varying lengths of time. The Westerners had varying levels of oral Chinese language skills, but it was very rare for me to find a Westerner who knew how to read Chinese. The Westerners that I knew who could read Chinese were for the most part long time scholors on the topic or they learned it from their Chinese relatives. I read this book, and learned most of the characters in it. I could not even come close to reading a magazine or newspaper, even those for children. But, I knew more Chinese characters than 95% of the Westerners that I knew in China. Most of these foreigners would be impressed when I could read the little I did. For most of the Chinese people I met, I was the only Westerner that they ever met who could read even a few characters. I'd figure a sign out, and they could not believe it. This skill was a great conversation topic, and I soon learned several other characters in the conversations that I had with the locals. For the most part, this book is not required reading for someone who travels to China. In places where a lot of Westerners travel, many signs are in English, or pin-yin, or "Chinglish" (poor translations from Chinese to English.) But when I went to places less traveled, I can tell you that it was nice to be able to read the sign on the restroom door so I did not get into an embarrassing situation. (I had plenty of other embarrassing experiences without going into the wrong public toilet.) I highly recommend the book. Have fun!
Rating:
Summary: Bailed me out of a tight spot!
Review: I recently went to China for a few weeks to teach English, and found that after a little bit of study with this book I could easily recognize the basic characters for such handy words as entrance, man, woman, Beijing, etc. But my work really paid off when a friend and I got lost on top of the Great Wall in a sea of Chinese people, none of whom spoke English (how one gets lost on top of a wall is another story altogether!). Anyway, I knew the characters for exit and after I sketched them out on a piece of paper a helpful man pointed us in the right direction. I really liked being able to interpret the otherwise undecipherable scribbles that are everywhere in China. This book was well worth the modest price.
Rating:
Summary: Read It In China
Review: I stumbled across Julie Mazel Sussman's wonderful little book in a local bookstore (sorry, Amazon), and not only read through it several times before going to China in October 2001, but took it with me. She selected for presentation about 70 Chinese characters that are relatively simple but commonly encountered in China. I saw every one of them on my trip and was tickled pink to be able to read them. (In places like Taiwan and Singapore the more complicated traditional characters are used, but Sussman's book provides a comparison on p. 132.) The book identifies a lot of other characters in passing so if you are attentive, you can probably learn 150 or 200 characters from this slim book of just 161 pages. Chinese has a strong tendency to use two characters for some unit of meaning, and the book provides many such pairs made from the characters learned. For example, zuo-you (left-right) means "approximately," which I recognized instantly in a Chinese subtitle in a movie shown on the plane. Being able to read, if just partially, the signs and other things you see in China adds to the enjoyment of your trip. But even if you never go to China, you will enjoy this fun book.
Rating:
Summary: Not just for travelers!
Review: I've learned to recognize more Chinese characters by reading this little book than by studying Mandarin for 6 months!
Rating: 
Summary: Not for the student
Review: If this is your first Chinese book, it's kind of fun, but it doesn't take you very far. If you really want to learn Chinese, there are a lot better books than this. This is more of a stocking stuffer/[bathroom] book.
Rating:
Summary: A really useful and fun book
Review: My wife and I got a copy of "I Can Read That" before a recent trip to China. While the complexities of a tonal language were more than we could grasp in the weeks before our trip, Julie Sussman's very intelligent and easy little book let us have some idea of what we were looking at by reading signs when we were on the ground in China. You can learn to read enough characters to find the right rest room, figure out what is a street name and what is a business, and many other useful things. We were able to find the right gates at Chinese ariports because we could read the characters for Xian and Shanghai. I was amazed at what someone with no gift for languages was able usefully learn with a very modest investment in studying this little book. It was fun, too.
Rating:
Summary: A really useful and fun book
Review: My wife and I got a copy of "I Can Read That" before a recent trip to China. While the complexities of a tonal language were more than we could grasp in the weeks before our trip, Julie Sussman's very intelligent and easy little book let us have some idea of what we were looking at by reading signs when we were on the ground in China. You can learn to read enough characters to find the right rest room, figure out what is a street name and what is a business, and many other useful things. We were able to find the right gates at Chinese ariports because we could read the characters for Xian and Shanghai. I was amazed at what someone with no gift for languages was able usefully learn with a very modest investment in studying this little book. It was fun, too.
Rating:
Summary: A Quickie Tour of Chinese Characters
Review: Not exactly a text on Chinese characters, this pocketbook is a great starter for those who have a curiosity of how Chinese writing works and don't want to be burdened with the extraneous info found in a serious textbook. Seventy-one characters frequently encountered by tourists are introduced but you'll wind up learning much more than that because many of these characters are also used in combination to form new compound words. The format is well-designed and makes the book fun and easy to use without being too simplistic. You'll learn the traditional and simplified form of the character, how these characters are rendered in the Western alphabet (i.e. the pinyin), and, thankfully towards the back of the book, how to write the character. Throughout the book are cultural tidbits and photographs of signs, ticket stubs, stamps, and advertisements which contains the characters introduced. This little book will take the intimidation out of trying to learn what far too many Westerners find as beyond their capacity to understand.
Rating:
Summary: Exellent resource for learning Chinese Characters.
Review: This book handles one of the most difficult languages in the world and focuses on its most intriguing element in a manner that allows the average person a chance to understand and actually read the Chinese Character. I first read the book while State-side and was intrigued that so much common sense was behind the making of the Chinese Character. Because I was planning a trip to China I thought a book along these lines would be useful. The title gave me confidence that the author's purpose was to equip me to read Chinese in character form. I was and am still amazed with the simplicity that the author addresses this subject. Having studied the Chinese language now for a year and a half, I can really appreciate Julie Sussman's keen ability to employ simplification. Anyone who reads this book will gain a real appreciation for the Chinese language, and if they ever plan on making a trip to China, they will find this book a wonderful resource. I still enjoy reading through it and I am able to learn from it each time. If you are interested in learning Chinese this is a great little book to introduce you to the Chinese Character.
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