Basic Written Chinese - (Tuttle Specials) by Cornelius C Kubler (Paperback)

About the Book

"Acquire basic proficiency in written Chinese through a proven, practical approach."--Cover.

Book Synopsis

Move From Complete Beginner Level to Basic Proficiency with this beginning-level course in written Chinese that employs a revolutionary new method designed to have you quickly reading and writing simple, connected Chinese sentences.

Along with its sister book Basic Spoken Chinese and their accompanying workbooks, Basic Written Chinese offers a complete introductory course to the written Chinese language. As a native English speaker, working hard to learn Chinese characters is not enough; you have to work smart to learn this very different language efficiently. No matter why you've chosen to learn Chinese--for business, travel, cultural studies or another goal--the Basic Chinese approach of two separate but integrated tracks in spoken and written Chinese will help you learn this language most efficiently and successfully.

Basic Written Chinese is designed so it can be used in a class with an instructor or by independent learners working on their own.

• Basic Written Chinese systematically introduces 288 of the highest frequency characters (in both their simplified and traditional forms) and over 700 common words written with them in context in sentences and a variety of reading passages to help you master basic Chinese reading and writing. This method will greatly improve your abilities to read Chinese and write Chinese
• The structure of each new character is explained in detail to make the learning of characters easier, and "look-alike" characters are compared and contrasted.
• Many lessons include character differentiation drills and some lessons include realia such as name cards, street signs, or email messages.
• Each lesson introduces 6 new characters and a number of words that are written using them. By dividing the leaning into small tasks, you maintain a sense of accomplishment rather than getting bogged down.
• You'll experience both printed and handwritten forms of characters, as well as several different printed fonts.

The accompanying online media kit includes:

• Over 6 hours of audio by several native Mandarin speakers.
• Recordings of all reading selections.
• Recordings of all new characters and new vocabulary.

Available separately, Basic Written Chinese Practice Essentials is the companion workbook for Basic Written Chinese. This practical guide includes a broad range of drills and exercises designed to dramatically enhance your proficiency in reading and writing Chinese. While designed for use with the companion textbook, it can be used together with any Chinese textbook or teaching program to hone your Chinese reading and writing language skills.

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, Stanfield Professor of Asian Studies at Williams College, received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in linguistics from Cornell University. He earned a second M.A. in Chinese literature from National Taiwan University.

From 1980-1991 he was employed at the Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State, where he served as Language Training Supervisor in Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, and Mongolian; as Principal of the advanced Chinese field school in Taiwan; and as Chair of the Department of Asian and African Languages.

Since joining Williams College in 1991, he has chaired the former Department of Chinese and Asian Studies Program as well as the Department of Asian Studies, which he was instrumental in founding. He has also served as visiting professor at Eisenhower College, Portland State University, Middlebury College, National Taiwan Normal University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages.

Kubler, who is author or coauthor of 20 books and over 50 articles on Chinese language pedagogy and linguistics, frequently serves as reviewer or consultant for Chinese and Asian Studies programs in the U.S. and overseas. He has served as Chair of the Test Development Committee for the SAT Subject Test in Chinese and as member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages of the Modern Language Association. He is currently serving as American Co-Director of The Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in Nanjing, China.