Survival Chinese Lessons

Whatever your purpose, this book is a great place to start your Chinese language learning journey.

A handy Mandarin Chinese phrasebook and guide to the Chinese language, Survival Chinese contains basic vocabulary necessary for getting around. This book contains all the necessary words and phrases for speaking Mandarin Chinese in any kind of setting. Perfect for students, tourists, or business people learning Mandarin or traveling to China or Taiwan, it also contains a beginner guide to the Mandarin language, allowing for a deeper understanding of Chinese than a typical Mandarin phrasebook or Chinese dictionary. The book is broken into four basic sections: Common Chinese Expressions and Key Words, Essential Chinese Communication Tools, Chinese Travel Vocabulary, and making your own sentences. All Chinese words and phrases are written in Romanized form (pinyin) as well phonetically, making pronouncing Chinese a breeze. For example, the word for "reservation", yuding is also written as yuu-deeng. Authentic Chinese characters are also included so that in the case of difficulties the book can be shown to the person the user is trying to communicate with. Key features of Survival Chinese include: Hundreds of useful Chinese words and expressions. An A-Z index which allows the book to function as a English to Chinese dictionary. Romanized forms, phonetic spellings, and Chinese Characters (Hanzi) for all words and phrases. A concise background and history of the Chinese language. A complete guide to Chinese pronunciations. A concise guide to using Chinese tones. A brief introduction to Chinese grammar.

A handy Mandarin Chinese phrasebook and guide to the Chinese language, Survival Chinese contains basic vocabulary necessary for getting around. This book contains all the necessary words and phrases for speaking Mandarin Chinese in any kind of setting. Perfect for students, tourists, or business people learning Mandarin or traveling to China or Taiwan, it also contains a beginner guide to the Mandarin language, allowing for a deeper understanding of Chinese than a typical Mandarin phrasebook or Chinese dictionary. The book is broken into four basic sections: Common Chinese Expressions and Key Words, Essential Chinese Communication Tools, Chinese Travel Vocabulary, and making your own sentences. All Chinese words and phrases are written in Romanized form (pinyin) as well phonetically, making pronouncing Chinese a breeze. For example, the word for "reservation", yuding is also written as yuu-deeng. Authentic Chinese characters are also included so that in the case of difficulties the book can be shown to the person the user is trying to communicate with. Key features of Survival Chinese include: Hundreds of useful Chinese words and expressions. An A-Z index which allows the book to function as a English to Chinese dictionary. Romanized forms, phonetic spellings, and Chinese Characters (Hanzi) for all words and phrases. A concise background and history of the Chinese language. A complete guide to Chinese pronunciations. A concise guide to using Chinese tones. A brief introduction to Chinese grammar.

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.

'The Most Basic Chinese' teaches all the Mandarin you need to survive, enabling you to learn everything you need simply and effortlessly. To begin, let's get one thing straight - it is extremely easy to learn all the Basic Chinese you will need if you are travelling to or intending to live in China. This booklet gives you all of that language and is presented in a simple way. It can be easily studied on the plane journey over or any other time, and is entirely sufficient to be able to get by once you are there. So don't be fooled booklet length - once you have mastered this small amount of Basic Chinese, you will have reached the same level as thousands of people who have lived, worked and survived in China for years. It begins with the very simple (10 most useful phrases for a newcomer), then builds on this in easy stages to demonstrate how easy it is to speak Basic Chinese as well as give you the language and knowledge to do so. Due to requests from a number of readers, I have now had a native speaker update all the Chinese to include the tone markings, and there is an extra chapter included to describe them. With this booklet, you will already have picked up a great deal of the language and grammar as well as a great sense of how easy it is. You will also find 'The Most Basic Chinese' an invaluable tool to keep with you for its simple presentation of the language needed for various situations - e.g. in a taxi, restaurant, bar or shop. Good luck and safe travels! NB: The "Chinese" referred to in this book is Mandarin or Standard Chinese, understood by most Chinese people.

Welcome to Shanghai is a helpful language phrase book for the most common words and phrases needed by newcomers to China. This simple guide will provide you with the basic knowledge to survive your first year in Shanghai

Benny Lewis, who speaks over ten languages—all self-taught—runs the largest language-learning blog in the world, Fluent In 3 Months. Lewis is a full-time "language hacker," someone who devotes all of his time to finding better, faster, and more efficient ways to learn languages. Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World is a new blueprint for fast language learning. Lewis argues that you don't need a great memory or "the language gene" to learn a language quickly, and debunks a number of long-held beliefs, such as adults not being as good of language learners as children.

A handy Mandarin Chinese phrasebook and guide to the Chinese language, Survival Chinese contains basic vocabulary necessary for getting around. This book contains all the necessary words and phrases for speaking Mandarin Chinese in any setting. Perfect for students, tourists, or business people learning Mandarin or traveling to China or Taiwan, it also contains a beginner guide to the Mandarin language, allowing for a deeper understanding of Chinese than a typical Mandarin phrasebook or Chinese dictionary. The book is broken into four primary sections: Common Chinese Expressions and Key Words, Essential Chinese Communication Tools, Chinese Travel Vocabulary, and making your own sentences. All Chinese words and phrases are written in the Romanized form (pinyin) as well phonetically, making pronouncing Chinese a breeze. For example, the word for "reservation," yuding is also written as yuu-deeng. Authentic Chinese characters are also included so that in the case of difficulties the book can be shown to a native Mandarin-speaker. Key features of Survival Chinese include: Hundreds of useful Chinese words and expressions. An A-Z index which allows the book to function as an English to Chinese dictionary. Romanized forms, phonetic spellings, and Chinese Characters (Hanzi) for all words and phrases. A concise background and history of the Chinese language. A complete guide to Chinese pronunciations. A concise guide to using Chinese tones. A brief introduction to Chinese grammar.