Learning Chinese teaches basic conversational and literary skills in Mandarin. It is designed to build language ability while stimulating learners' curiosity about the linguistic structures of the language as well as the geography, history, and culture of China. Conversational lessons are separated from lessons on reading and writing characters, allowing instructors to adapt the book to their students and to their course goals.
At long last the approach that has helped thousands of learners memorize Japanese kanji has been adapted to help students with Chinese characters. Book 1 of Remembering Simplified Hanzi covers the writing and meaning of the 1,000 most commonly used characters in the simplified Chinese writing system, plus another 500 that are best learned at an early stage. (Book 2 adds another 1,500 characters for a total of 3,000.) Of critical importance to the approach found in these pages is the systematic arranging of characters in an order best suited to memorization. In the Chinese writing system, strokes and simple components are nested within relatively simple characters, which can, in turn, serve as parts of more complicated characters and so on. Taking advantage of this allows a logical ordering, making it possible for students to approach most new characters with prior knowledge that can greatly facilitate the learning process. Guidance and detailed instructions are provided along the way. Students are taught to employ "imaginative memory" to associate each character’s component parts, or "primitive elements," with one another and with a key word that has been carefully selected to represent an important meaning of the character. This is accomplished through the creation of a "story" that engagingly ties the primitive elements and key word together. In this way, the collections of dots, strokes, and components that make up the characters are associated in memorable fashion, dramatically shortening the time required for learning and helping to prevent characters from slipping out of memory.
Learning Chinese can be frustrating and difficult, partly because it's very different from European languages. Following a teacher, textbook or language course is not enough. They show you the characters, words and grammar you need to become proficient in Chinese, but they don't teach you how to learn them! Regardless of what program you're in (if any), you need to take responsibility for your own learning. If you don't, you will miss many important things that aren't included in the course you're taking. If you study on your own, you need to be even more aware of what you need to do, what you're doing at the moment and the difference between them. Here are some of the questions I have asked and have since been asked many times by students: How do I learn characters efficiently? How do I get the most out of my course or teacher? Which are the best learning tools and resources? How can I become fluent in Mandarin? How can I improve my pronunciation? How do I learn successfully on my own? How can I motivate myself to study more? How can I fit learning Chinese into a busy schedule? The answers I've found to these questions and many others form the core of this book. It took eight years of learning, researching, teaching and writing to figure these things out. Not everybody has the time to do that! I can't go back in time and help myself learn in a better way, but I can help you! This book is meant for normal students and independent language learners alike. While it covers all major areas of learning, you won't learn Chinese just by reading this book. It's like when someone on TV teaches you how to cook: you won't get to eat the delicious dish just by watching the program; you have to do the cooking yourself. That's true for this book as well. When you apply what you learn, it will boost your learning, making every hour you spend count for more, but you still have to do the learning yourself. This is what a few readers have said about the book: "The book had me nodding at a heap of things I'd learnt the hard way, wishing I knew them when I started, as well as highlighting areas that I'm currently missing in my study." - Geoff van der Meer, VP engineering "This publication is like a bible for anyone serious about Chinese proficiency. It's easy for anyone to read and written with scientific precision." - Zachary Danz, foreign teacher, children's theatre artist About me I started learning Chinese when I was 23 (that's more than eight years ago now) and have since studied in many different situations, including serious immersion programs abroad, high-intensity programs in Sweden, online courses, as well as on the side while working or studying other things. I have also successfully used my Chinese in a graduate program for teaching Chinese as a second language, taught entirely in Chinese mostly for native speakers (the Graduate Institute for Teaching Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University). All these parts have contributed to my website, Hacking Chinese, where I write regularly about how to learn Mandarin.
✓ Have you ever had an urge to learn Mandarin but have been put off by other people saying it looks too difficult? Trust me, it is not as difficult as other people say it is. We agree that learning Mandarin can be seen as quite a daunting experience, but that is why books like this one exist. As soon as you know what to expect, as well as some rules regarding how to read and write Mandarin as a beginner, you will be well on your way to mastering the language. What's great about "Learn Mandarin Chinese for Beginners" is that it comes with a composite workbook that you can use to really hone your Mandarin skills. With this book, we will be explaining everything about Mandarin to you. This will include some history and help you understand your personal learning style. This will ensure that you will perfect Mandarin in the quickest amount of time possible! You will find yourself understanding the four different Mandarin tones, the different ways to master pinyin, as well as even learning some personal life lessons along the way. We have tailored this book to be unique for each student and not by using a one-size-fits-all approach. It does not matter why you are learning Mandarin. As long as you have the passion and dedication to put time aside every single day and commit to learning the language, we will have you conversing with native Mandarin speakers in no time at all. This book is your best guide! By picking it up, you have taken the very first step in learning Mandarin, and we are so excited to be on this unique, fun, and exciting journey with you. ★★★
Learning to speak Chinese Mandarin can have beneficial effects on your health, especially your mental health, hence your overall wellbeing. This book makes learning Chinese Mandarin real easy because it uses an approach that children use to learn their mother tongue. Since one sixth of the world population lives in China, learning Chinese can improve your exchanges with a vast number of people This is of increasing importance in a world that is more and more intertwined with economic and social networks.
