The Chinese Language for Beginners

by Lee Cooper

Book Overview

A simple introduction to Chinese writing, pronunciation and intonation using short stories. Appropriate for beginner Chinese students of all ages. Reading basic Chinese becomes simplified in this... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804809186
• Release Date: December 1989
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 0.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.3" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

fun little book

If you have any interest in the Chinese language, this is a fun book to start with. You will read a simple Chinese sentence easily in the first few pages. (You will appreciate this when you get to page 17, 'Man too much big') The author quickly introduces you to the basic components necessary to get started, some of which are not explained well or hidden in more sophisticated texts. Very fun to read!

Perfect Beginner Book

I was looking for a book to get me started learning Chinese, and this one was the least intimating of all the ones I found. It provides a good foundation for understanding how characters are drawn, gives instructions on reading multiple lines of characters, and introduces some basic vocabulary. The pictures are well-drawn and provide a little humor and entertainment while you try to learn the characters. It includes a story to help you test your newly-learned language skills. I would recommend this to anyone who plans to start learning Chinese, and doesn't want a heavy, overwhelming textbook-type of study guide. It would also be great for children.

My 4 year old loves it!

My 4 yr old son wanted to learn Chinese. I can't remember why. We put him in Chinese school. The first half is writing Chinese. The second half is story and song time. My son reads and when he realized that the pictures wouldn't help him sound out the words, he got frustrated and wouldn't write in class or at home. I found this book and the problem's solved. He really liked the story time in class and now he "sees" that each character in Chinese is a story. He loves writing Chinese now. I wish Lee Cooper had written a whole series. That is how helpfull this little book is. I don't speak Chinese and can't help my son with his homework. But I feel like I can help him with his writing now. The 6" X 9" (-ish) book has 39 pages. 32 characters are covered and a few are combination characters. Right to left reading is covered. Three illustrated stories and a few picture stories are included. The illustrations are pencil drawings with an old fashion look. My son's favorite story is "The Big Man". The words "big", "man", and "too", are all related. The book lets you see how the characters have "root" characters inside them. This book made me feel like learning chinese could even happen for me. It also made me "see" the stories behind the characters. Now I can remember the characters better. They aren't just random lines. They are beautiful picture stories. I got my copy for $6.95 at the Borders store.

Just Get A Kid

This booklet is geared for children but is ideal for the adult who wants to team up with a youngster to learn a few basic Chinese characters. Approximately forty simple characters are introduced along with instruction on how to read Chinese sentences. Storybook- type illustrations are reminiscent of those found in fairy-tale books and the English explanations, which are usually accompanied with a brief story, are written such that a second-grader can easily follow along. Particularly enjoyable were the explanations on why some of the characters are written the way they are. There is also instruction on how the Chinese words are spoken.If you want a quickie tour of some basic Chinese characters try Julie Mazel Sussman's "I Can Read That." Her pocketbook teaches you how to recognize 71 Chinese characters that are frequently encountered by tourists. But if you have a young son or daughter, or grandchild, and would like to explore this beautiful language together them this book is definitely the one you want.

Very helpful

when i frist saw this book i didnt think it was going to be helpful so i kept looking around for books to hepl me learn. But one day when i was in a book store i saw it and fliped through it, and saw that it looked helpful and had all the information you would need to learn some of the basic chinese characters.I highly sugest getting this book if you are looking to learn to wright Chinese.