Chineasy - by Shaolan Hsueh (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Learn to read and write Chinese with Chineasy--a groundbreaking approach that transforms key Chinese characters into pictograms for easy recall and comprehension.

Chinese is one of the oldest written languages, and one of the most difficult to master, especially for Westerners. With Chineasy, learning and reading Chinese has never been simpler or more fun. Breaking down the Great Wall of Language, iShaoLan Hsueh draws on her entrepreneurial and cultural background to create a simple system for quickly understanding the basic building blocks of written Chinese. Working with renowned illustrator Noma Bar, she transforms Chinese characters into charming pictograms that are easy to remember.

In Chineasy, she teaches the key characters, called radicals, that are the language's foundation, and then shows how they can be combined to form new words and even phrases. Once you've mastered these key characters, you can practice your skills with three stories--a fairy tale, an Asian legend, and a contemporary fable--told using the radicals.

With Chineasy, readers of all ages will be able to navigate a Chinese menu, read signs and billboards, and grasp the meaning of most articles in a Chinese newspaper.

From the Back Cover

Chinese is considered one of the most difficult languages to master. However, using the Chineasy system, anyone can begin to understand and read Chinese. It works by transforming Chinese characters into illustrations to make them easy to remember. This book teaches the key characters on which the language is built and how these characters can be combined to form more complex words and phrases. Learning Chinese has never been this simple or more fun!

Review Quotes

"These cute images make reading Chinese characters 'Chineasy.'" -- NPR's "Code Switch" Blog

"In her delightful book...Hsueh offers an inspired approach to learning more than 400 Chinese characters." -- San Francisco Chronicle Blog