Speaking Of Chinese

"This pleasant, unpretentious account [is] a small stream leading to the ocean of the culture of China."--Scientific American

In this major new book, leading cultural thinker Ien Ang engages with urgent questions of identity in an age of globalisation and diaspora. The starting point for Ang's discussion is the experience of visiting Taiwan. Ang, a person of Chinese descent, born in Indonesia and raised in the Netherlands, found herself "faced with an almost insurmountable difficulty" - surrounded by people who expected her to speak to them in Chinese. She writes: "It was the beginning of an almost decade-long engagement with the predicaments of `Chineseness' in diaspora. In Taiwan I was different because I couldn't speak Chinese; in the West I was different because I looked Chinese". From this autobiographical beginning, Ang goes on to reflect upon tensions between `Asia' and `the West' at a national and global level, and to consider the disparate meanings of `Chineseness' in the contemporary world. She offers a critique of the increasingly aggressive construction of a global Chineseness, and challenges Western tendencies to equate `Chinese' with `Asian' identity. Ang then turns to `the West', exploring the paradox of Australia's identity as a `Western' country in the Asian region, and tracing Australia's uneasy relationship with its Asian neighbours, from the White Australia policy to contemporary multicultural society. Finally, Ang draws together her discussion of `Asia' and `the West' to consider the social and intellectual space of the `in-between', arguing for a theorising not of `difference' but of `togetherness' in contemporary societies.

This comprehensive Mandarin workbook can be used with any textbook or on its own to dramatically enhance your Mandarin speaking and listening skills. No matter what textbook you're using to learn Mandarin, it requires a lot of practice. Here is a wealth of effective activities and drills—plus over 16 hours of audio recordings—to help you improve your spoken Mandarin Chinese quickly and effectively. This book follows the Basic Mandarin Chinese—Speaking & Listening textbook but works equally well with other coursebooks or on its own. The free disc contains hours of audio recording as well as printable PDF files providing hundreds of pages of extra practice exercises and activities. Basic Mandarin Chinese—Speaking & Listening Practice Book includes hundreds of carefully designed activities to help you with every aspect of your speaking skills, including: Pronunciation exercises Vocabulary and Grammar summaries Substitution drills Transformation and Response drills Role Playing and Listening Comprehension Dictation exercises Translation exercises The downloadable audio includes: 16 hours of audio recordings by native Mandarin speakers Printable practice pages Printable exercises and activities About the Basic Mandarin Chinese series: Respected Chinese language educator Dr. Cornelius Kubler has taught Mandarin Chinese to diplomats, business people and students for several decades—using an effective learning system with two separate but integrated "tracks" to help you learn the spoken and written forms of the language more efficiently and more successfully. The materials in this series have been acclaimed as a breakthrough in Mandarin Chinese language learning.

A complete beginning-level course for spoken Mandarin Chinese designed to have you talking quickly and accurately! The Basic Mandarin Chinese series offers a complete introductory Chinese language course specifically designed for native English speakers. These books teach spoken and written Chinese separately, allowing you to focus on the area most important to you, and to learn the spoken and written forms of Chinese at different speeds depending on your available time and interest. The free audio and video recordings included with this book reinforce the content and make the learning process easy. No matter whether you're learning Mandarin for work, travel or other reasons—the Basic Mandarin Chinese approach of having two separate but integrated "tracks" helps you to learn the language more efficiently and more successfully. Key features of this Chinese textbook and discs include: Clear and detailed pronunciation, grammar and cultural explanations Exercises and activities based on real-life experiences in China Hours of video recordings filmed on location featuring dozens of native speakers in various parts of China and beyond Six hours of native-speaker audio recordings for all the book's dialogues and exercises Special software allowing you to interact with the recordings. This Mandarin textbook is designed to be used with its separately available workbook, Basic Mandarin Chinese—Speaking & Listening Practice Book which provides a range of drills and exercises designed to dramatically enhance your spoken proficiency and improve your Chinese language skills.

This portable, user–friendly Chinese language guide, phrasebook and dictionary is the cheapest and easiest way to learn Chinese before and during your trip. If you only want one Chinese language book—Essential Chinese is the way to go. Part of Tuttle Publishing's Essential Phrasebooks Series, it is a great first introduction and beginner guide to the language of China and Taiwan and is also designed as a great Chinese phrasebook, making it the most versatile Chinese language learning tool on the market. Perfect for business people or tourist traveling to China or for students who want to supplement their learning, this book's easy indexing feature allows it to act as a Mandarin phrase book or as English–Chinese Dictionary. A clever "point to" feature allows you to simply point to a phrase translated in Chinese without the need to say a single word or read a single character. You will soon find yourself turning to Essential Chinese again and again when visiting or working in China. In this book you will find: Over 1500 practical sentences for everyday use. A glossary of over 2000 terms and expressions. Terms and phrases covering essential aspects of traveling and living in China. Extensive information about Chinese grammar and pronunciation. This beginner Chinese book will help you quickly and easily learn Chinese. Your ability to read Chinese, write Chinese, speak Chinese, and comprehend Chinese will be vastly improved without having to take an entire Chinese language class. Other titles in this bestselling series of phrasebooks include: Essential Japanese, Essential Arabic, Essential Korean, Essential Tagalog, and Essential Arabic.

Use this one-of-a-kind practice guide together with any Chinese book or language program, and dramatically enhance your speaking and listening skills. No matter what book or course you're using to learn Chinese, it takes a lot of practice. Here is a wealth of effective practice activities—including more than 16 hours of audio material!—to help polish your spoken Mandarin Chinese. This book corresponds to Basic Spoken Chinese and allows you to move from complete beginner level to basic proficiency. Downloadable content features over 16 hours of audio material, as well as (printable) PDF files of hundreds of additional practice pages and exercises. Basic Spoken Chinese Practice Essentials includes carefully designed activities to help solidify every aspect of your spoken Chinese skills, including: Pronunciation exercises. Vocabulary and Grammar summaries. Substitution drills. Transformation and Response drills. Role Play & Listening Comprehension exercises. Dictation exercises. Translation exercises. The downloadable content contains: 16 hours of audio by native Mandarin speakers. Printable practice pages. Printable exercises and activities. Together with or after this book, you can use Basic Written Chinese if you want to learn Chinese reading and writing. It introduces the highest-frequency characters and words in a systematic way. About the Series Respected Chinese language expert Dr. Cornelius Kubler, who has taught diplomats, business people and students, presents a learning system that uses separate but integrated "tracks" to help you efficiently master the basics of spoken and written Chinese. The materials in the Basic Spoken Chinese series allow you to move from complete beginner level to intermediate fluency.