Continuing Mandarin Chinese Textbook - by Cornelius C Kubler (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Continuing Mandarin Chinese Textbook is a new intermediate-level course in Mandarin which enables you to quickly learn the next level of the language--following the first book in the series, Elementary Mandarin Chinese Textbook.

The 24 lessons in this book are meant to be used in 3 hours per week of class instruction over one academic year. Students will need another 2-3 hours of outside practice and review for every hour of class time using the materials in the Continuing Mandarin Chinese Workbook that accompanies this textbook.

These books can also be used by self-study learners due to the extensive explanations and free supplementary materials available including online audio and video recordings and flash cards.

The entire course can be completed in 25 to 35 weeks and teaches you the basic skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing Mandarin Chinese at a conversational level. Each lesson starts with a dialogue and includes a list of new and supplementary vocabulary along with questions and grammar notes about the dialogue, a reading section and extensive exercises (that are in the Workbook).

Continuing Mandarin Chinese Textbookoffers the following significant advantages over other similar textbooks:

• Everyday Chinese dialogues are used for listening and practice -- complete with vocabulary lists and questions and storylines based on actual everyday experiences in China
• Chinese grammar is explained in simple, non-technical terms with useful notes and tips given
• Reading exercises are provided for all new words and phrases in each lesson
• Free online audio recordings by native speakers from various parts of China help you not only acquire correct pronunciation but also to understand Chinese speakers who have different accents
• Illustrations and supplementary video clips add authenticity to the dialogues in the book
• A Chinese-English dictionary is provided at the back for easy reference

Chinese characters and Pinyin Romanized forms are used throughout the book except for the reading exercises--so this book is usable by learners who wish to focus on learning the spoken language and do not necessarily want to learn to read and write Chinese.

This textbook should be used with the accompanying Continuing Mandarin Chinese Workbook and with the accompanying audio files, which can be downloaded free directly from Tuttle Publishing's website.

About the Author

Cornelius C. Kubler is Stanfield Professor of Asian Studies at Williams College where he chaired the Department of Asian Studies for many years. He is concurrently Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences at Shaanxi Normal University in Xi'an, China. Kubler previously directed the Department of Asian and African Languages at the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. State Department, where he trained diplomats in Chinese and other languages. He served as Principal of the American Institute in Taiwan's Chinese Language & Area Studies School for six years and has directed Chinese language teacher training programs in the U.S., mainland China and Taiwan. He has been active in test development and has authored or coauthored 31 books and over 60 articles on Chinese language pedagogy and linguistics. He lives and teaches in Williamstown, Massachusetts.