Making Out in Chinese (Making Out (Tuttle))

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious
Review: I first encountered this book on a plane to the mainland. A group of people were passing it around and laughing almost to the point of tears. They were reading the books contents and making a lot of jokes in Chinese. Later, in China, I encountered the infamous romanization system that they use there and could hardly make out a single pronounciation. Later, I bought a copy of Making Out in Chinese and was so relieved that the author did not write the pronounciations using the inane romanization system. I could actually say what I wanted to say in Chinese and be understood. I would highly recommend the book to those who hate the ping-yin system. I would also recommend the book to those who want to learn Chinese that is not taught in the classroom. A big thumbs up for Making Out in Chinese!

Rating:
Summary: Amateurish
Review: The first problem with this book is the lack of Chinese characters making it virtually worthless for more advanced Chinese learners. Secondly the romanisation is not pinyin, nor any other recognisable system. Thirdly this should be entitled "making out in Taiwanese" as a good 20~30 percent of the phrases in the book would not be recognised by mainlanders.

If you want a book on Chinese slang then get either 'Mutant Mandarin' or 'Outrageous Chinese' by James Wang (China Books, San Francisco) although these include a lot of liumang and Beijing punk slang that doesn't travel well, or Li Shu Juan's 'Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Slang in China' (ISBN 962-238-222-3, Hong Kong) the only failing of which is to not always distinguish Cantonese and Northern slang.

Rating:
Summary: Note: I am reviewing the updated edition (2003)
Review: The new edition, which has been revised by someone other than the original author now contains Chinese characters, Pinyin and a simplified pronunciation guide for each entry. If you are looking for a complete guide to slang then this book is disappointingly thin on the ground. It gives one way to say something, that is a valid way, but it misses out other ways that are just as likely to be encountered in common, everyday usage. I was impressed with some of the attention to cultural, idiomatic usage, that was very helpful, such as the euphemistic way Chinese people refer to a woman's level of beauty. Finally, one caveat with learning Chinese - If you are starting out, you can't learn to pronounce it well from a book alone, even if it does include Pinyin, or other make-shift phonetics, as this one does. You just won't be understood. For the price, this book is OK, but just OK. I feel that a lot more could have been included and hope that the publisher will produce a follow up like they did with "Making Out in Japanese".

Rating:
Summary: Small, Basic and Fun
Review: This is a very small phrase book. As far as phrase books go, it contains much less information than any regular sized phrase book. As such, it may be most suitable for someone who knows no Chinese and would like to learn just a few expressions.

On the other hand, this booklet does include few slang expressions, some insults, dating and sex-related language which you won't find in a regular phrase book.

All words / expressions are written in English, in Chinese simplified characters, and in pinyin.