New Practical Chinese Reader, Textbook Vol. 1

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 242 pages
• Published by: Beijing Language & Culture Univ Pr
• Edition: 1st Edition June 2004
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 7561910401
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-7561910405
• Book Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Weighs: 1.5 pounds

Product Description
The first volume of the long-awaited revised edition of the popular Practical Chinese Reader series are finally available! This completely new edition (it will encompass six volumes in seventy lessons when completed) takes the student from an absolute beginner to an intermediate level, approximately 3 years of higher-level classroom instruction. The text follows the story of Ding Libo (the son of Gubo and Ding Yun from the first edition) and other international students as they live in China, learning about Chinese culture and society as they learn contemporary Mandarin. Emphasizing the basic skills of reading, writing (simplified characters), speaking, and listening, with supplementary exercises, many illustrations, charts, and in a greater 8 x 11 format.

Reader Reviews
Although the quality of the lessons seems excellent, and the audio CDs for the textbook are very clear, I wish I had not purchased the workbook. The workbook has various exercises such as matching the pinyin to the sound, matching the characters to the pinyin, writing the characters, completing sentences, and such like. The first puzzlement came when I listened to the audio CDs I bought with the textbook; there is nothing on them that resembles the "match the pinyin to the sound" exercises. The second puzzlement came when I tried to find the answer key in the workbook. After more research on Amazon and elsewhere, I was able to piece together what you would need to make a complete set just for book one: New Practical Chinese Reader Textbook 1, $19.95 New Practical Chinese Reader Textbook 1 Audio CDs, $29.95 New Practical Chinese Reader Workbook 1, $12.95 New Practical Chinese Reader Workbook 1 Audio CDs, $16.95 New Practical Chinese Reader Workbook 1 Instructor's Manual, $14.95 (Amazon has it, but it's hard to find) New Practical Chinese Reader Workbook 1 Instructor's Manual Audio Tape, $9.95 (Amazon doesn't have this; I found it at www.chinabooks.com) I have nothing negative to say about the quality of the lessons, but I wish I had known how many things I needed to buy to make the workbook usable. It would be good if Amazon would disclose this somewhere in its editorial descriptions of the books. Comments (3) | | (Report this)