Beginners Chinese (Hippocrene Beginner's)

Rating:
Summary: Good Grammar, No Pronunciation
Review: For the complete novice, this is an understandable approach to Chinese grammar, but the lack of a pronunciation guide (which would take only a couple of pages, as in "Chinese in 10 Minutes a Day") is a serious lack - maybe the audio tape would remedy this. There is a good discussion of pronouncing the tones, but nothing about how to pronounce the consonants and vowels. For this reason, it's not a stand-alone guide; except for this (and I think it's a big "except"), it seems thorough and comprehensible.

Rating:
Summary: Fine book for beginners
Review: I am a 30-year old ABC (aka American-Born Chinese). As a result, I have grown up in and have adopted American culture as my own. In fact, I staunchly maintain that my native tongue and culture are English and American, respectively. My primary connections to recent immigrants from China and Taiwan are racial and genetic.

While I have an decent grasp of the Taiwanese language which is that of my parents, I have barely any grasp of Mandarin Chinese except a word or two. At the urging of my Cantonese girlfriend, I have recently purchased this book to learn Mandarin which is the predominant dialect in Chinese society. I have found the book to be well-organized as it builds on the vocabulary and sentence patterns learned in earlier chapters. Exercises in each chapter provide ample opportunities to use your vocabulary in a variety of ways. The repetition really helps you get used to the vocabulary and structure. The Language Points in each chapter explain the rationale for the language's structure. Fortunately, structure in Chinese is usually simpler than that of English. Cultural Insights provide information about the people of China and show how language is used to show politeness and respect in certain situations.

All that being said, you cannot learn a language simply by picking up a book. No book will ever get you to pronounce the words correctly or get you comfortable with the language. No fault of the book but I find pinyin, at times, to be counter-intuitive. To really excel at the language, you have to hear and listen to it. Fortunately, my girlfriend is a living, breathing language lab. I also suggest practicing a little bit each day otherwise you will rapidly slip back down the learning curve.

Rating:
Summary: ALL IN ONE package, in one exceptionally small book!
Review: I am highly impressed with the content of this book. Basic Chinese grammar is explained, thoroughly. Numerous vocabulary words follow (with characters and pinjin),along with intensive exercises and practice:integrate into a book of eleven Chapters of a fine "mini-textbook." Various useful Chinese (Mandarin) phrases are listed, along with info on when and how they are used. In other words, such various content that I listed makes this book a textbook, a useful phrasebook, and a travel guide. Also,this book serves as an intensive and comrehensive introduction to a beginner of this language. Even though I am studying Mandarin at the Intermediate level, this book serves as an excellent review of various grammatical concepts of Mandarin, along with proper usage of verbs and characters. Note that the characters are Simplified Characters. Also, even though the two pronounciation systems:Wade Gilles and Pinjin are well explained, I suggest an audio CD or cassette program, for pronounciation. Otherwise, I consider this book a fine asset to my review of useful and imperative grammar and aspects of Mandarin Chinese. I hope that other students and native speakers will agree.

Rating:
Summary: ALL IN ONE PACKAGE , for a small book
Review: I have not found such a book. The book gives such descriptive and comprehensive tuturials of basic Chinese grammmar with various vocabulary words and sentence structures follows, with plenty of exercises: conclude each of the eleven chapters of this book. A vast amount of useful phrases: in both Traditional and Simplified Characters, and pinjin, serves its purpose of being a phrase book, as well as a very comprehensive "mini textbook." Even though I am learning Mandarin at the Intermediate level now, this book serves as a great review of vital information on basic grammar and vocabulary. Note that even though this book thoroughly describes the two main pronounciation systems: Wade Gilles and Pinjin, a good introductory CD or cassette program would serve as a good prounounciation introduction. Despite that flaw, this book, to me, is a fine asset to me with imperative information of the introduction to the Chinese language (Mandarin). I hope that native speakers and other Chinese language students will agree.