Basic Chinese - Reading & Writing Textbook - by Cornelius C Kubler (Paperback)

About the Book

Origianally published in 2011 as: Basic written Chinese: move from complete beginner level to basic proficiency

Book Synopsis

A complete beginning-level course for written Chinese designed to teach you to read and write Chinese quickly and efficiently!

The Basic Chinese series offers a complete introductory course superior to any other language product for Chinese. These books teach spoken and written Chinese separately, allowing you to focus on the area most important to you, and to learn the spoken and written forms of Chinese at different speeds depending on your available time and interest.

The free audio recordings included with this book reinforce the content and make the learning process easy. Whether you're learning Chinese for work, travel or other reasons--the Basic Chinese approach of having two separate but integrated "tracks" helps you to learn the language more efficiently and more successfully.

Key features of this Chinese textbook and discs include:

• Learn to read and write the 288 highest-frequency characters and over 700 words
• Designed to have you reading and writing simple, connected Chinese sentences quickly
• Both simplified and traditional characters are taught; you may choose to learn either or both
• Features a variety of fonts and styles--typeset and handwritten--preparing you to use Chinese characters in different contexts, from reading signs to texting on your phone

The free audio files included with this book provide over 6 hours of audio recordings by various native speakers, including recordings of all the reading selections, new characters, and vocabulary.

This textbook is designed to be used in conjunction with the Basic Chinese--Reading & Writing Practice Book which provides a range of drills and exercises designed to enhance your proficiency in reading and writing Chinese quickly. This book is a new edition of Basic Written Chinese.

All media content is accessible on the Tuttle Publishing website.

Review Quotes

"A breath of fresh air ... Its dual track for spoken and written language finally gives American students a chance to develop oral proficiency without being slowed down by the character writing ... An ideal textbook for any program that seeks to advance rapidly in spoken Chinese and to fully prepare the students for their encounter with China." --Dr. Jingqi Fu, Associate Professor of Chinese, St. Mary's College of Maryland

"An ingenious introduction -- Basic Spoken Chinese is the finest textbook for learning Modern Standard Mandarin that I have ever encountered." --Dr. Victor H. Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, University of Pennsylvania

"Contextualized so learners know not only what to say, but why, when, and with whom it is appropriate to use such language -- thorough and clear -- refreshing." --Dr. Matthew Christensen, Associate Professor of Chinese, Brigham Young University

"Kubler's books distinguish themselves with natural, culturally-rooted dialogues, detailed notes (for both written and spoken language), generous practice activities and an amazing care for organization. These books will be valuable tools for both students and their teachers." --Prof. Eric Pelzl, Wisconsin Lutheran College

"Outstanding for its carefully graduated presentation of material ... and perhaps most important of all, its separation of the task of learning to speak the language from the very different processes of learning to read and write Chinese characters ... The most exciting Chinese language textbook I have seen in many years." --Dr. James E. Dew, retired associate professor of Chinese, Univ. of Michigan; former Director of the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies in Taipei

"Revolutionary in its approach ... The dream of having engaged and fully-prepared students in every class is an easily reachable reality for any program that adopts this series." --Professor Cecilia Chang, Chair, Department of Asian Studies, Williams College

"The ideal material for any committed learner embarking on the journey of learning the Chinese language." --Dr. Jun Yang, Senior Lecturer in Chinese, University of Chicago

"This is one of the best elementary Chinese textbooks, I believe, ever produced in the history of teaching Chinese as a second language ... A great and unique work which will benefit students and teachers for many years to come." --Dr. Shengli Feng, Professor of Chinese Linguistics, Chinese University of Hong Kong

About the Author

Cornelius C. Kubler received his Ph.D. in linguistics from Cornell and is currently the Stanfield Professor of Asian Studies at Williams College. Since joining Williams, he has chaired the Department of Chinese and held visiting professor posts at Middlebury, National Taiwan Normal University, Chinese University of Hong Kong and other universities. He has authored many books and articles on Chinese pedagogy and linguistics, and he served as a consultant for many Chinese language programs in the U.S. and abroad, including orientation programs for Chinese language teachers arriving in the U.S. He has chaired the SAT Chinese exam Test Development Committee and recently completed a two-year stint as Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Nanjing University Center for Chinese & American Studies in Nanjing, China.