Overview

This unique practice guide is designed for use in conjunction with any Chinese learning book or language program to dramatically improve your ability to speak and comprehend Mandarin Chinese. Learning to speak Chinese requires many hours of practice. This book presents a wealth of tested and proven practice activities - including hours of audio recordings and over 200 pages of drills and exercises - to help you polish your spoken Chinese to a very high level. It can be used successfully with any intermediate-level Chinese language learning book, for instance Intermediate Spoken Chinese and enables you to easily move from beginning to intermediate level proficiency in the language.

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9780804840194

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Reviews

I have been teaching Chinese to high school students for over 25 years and have used a variety of texts. I decided to try Basic Spoken Chinese (BSC) with one of my classes on an experimental level, and I have to say it is the best text of its kind that I have ever seen. --Richard Ayres, St. Xavier High School, Louisville, KY

Meticulously planned, carefully prepared and patiently tested for over a decade, the Basic Chinese series represents the most comprehensive introductory materials available now. The eclectic approach, the flexibility in use, the attention to authenticity of language in its sociolinguistic context, the myriad of audio and visual aids, and the array of rigorously designed exercises makes the Basic Chinese 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 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 I have been teaching Chinese to high school students for over 25 years and have used a variety of texts. I decided to try Basic Spoken Chinese (BSC) with one of my classes on an experimental level, and I have to say it is the best text of its kind that I have ever seen. -Richard Ayres, St. Xavier High School, Louisville, KY ISC/IWC represents an ambitious attempt to work out the complex logistics involved in coordinating the two tracks with different foci and schedules ... truly 'in a league of its own...' -The Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association Revolutionary in its approach to teaching and learning Chinese as a second language, this textbook series is easily one of the best that are currently on the market. In addition to the highly useful content, grammar explanations and cultural notes for each lesson are extensive, detailed and straightforward. 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 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 Outstanding for its carefully graduated presentation of material in easily digestible sub-units, comprehensive and clearly written grammatical and cultural notes, 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, University of Michigan; former Director of the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies in Taipei

Meticulously planned, carefully prepared and patiently tested for over a decade, the Basic Chinese series represents the most comprehensive introductory materials available now. The eclectic approach, the flexibility in use, the attention to authenticity of language in its sociolinguistic context, the myriad of audio and visual aids, and the array of rigorously designed exercises makes the Basic Chinese 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 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 Revolutionary in its approach to teaching and learning Chinese as a second language, this textbook series is easily one of the best that are currently on the market. In addition to the highly useful content, grammar explanations and cultural notes for each lesson are extensive, detailed and straightforward. 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 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 I have been teaching Chinese to high school students for over 25 years and have used a variety of texts. I decided to try Basic Spoken Chinese (BSC) with one of my classes on an experimental level, and I have to say it is the best text of its kind that I have ever seen. -Richard Ayres, St. Xavier High School, Louisville, KY ISC/IWC represents an ambitious attempt to work out the complex logistics involved in coordinating the two tracks with different foci and schedules ... truly 'in a league of its own...' -The Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association Outstanding for its carefully graduated presentation of material in easily digestible sub-units, comprehensive and clearly written grammatical and cultural notes, 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, University of Michigan; former Director of the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies in Taipei

Outstanding for its carefully graduated presentation of material in easily digestible sub-units, comprehensive and clearly written grammatical and cultural notes, 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, University of Michigan; former Director of the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies in Taipei

Author Information

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 a 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. Yang Wang, native to Beijing, is Senior Lecturer in Chinese at Brown University, where she teaches all levels of modern Chinese language. Before joining the Brown faculty, she taught Chinese at The Ohio State University and Williams College. She also taught for several years at the Middlebury College Summer Chinese School. Wang is interested in the implications of pragmatics in Chinese pedagogical practice, teaching materials development, and the integration of technology into the curriculum.

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