Easy-peasy Chinese: Mandarin Chinese for Beginners (Book & CD) - Books (, Paperback)

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Customer Reviews of Easy-peasy Chinese: Mandarin Chinese for Beginners (Book & CD)

RL
Gloucester
29th October 2008

Excellent introduction
This is a lovely book, suitable for the absolute beginner. Combining the CD and the book really helps vocab to stick. It introduces words in a way that enables you to build your own simple phrases. It looks like a book that is aimed at children, but I think it would suit anyone looking to learn the very basics of Mandarin. It will equip you with enough vocab to talk about yourself a little and to get by on a holiday in China. The book itself is about A5 size, and the CD comes slotted inside the front cover, so you could easily fit it in your suitcase.

Mathew Tinkler
UK
30th September 2008

Good for a beginner and someone on a short trip!
Firstly I'd like to say that I have studied Mandarin before and I bought this because I have recently started studying again, so a lot of what is covered in the earlier stages of this book I already knew.
However that takes nothing away from this book, for a complete beginner this book is worth twice what you pay for it!
The way it's laid out is good, the illustrations make it fun to read, it gives you characters and PinYin from the start which is essential, the CD is useful and the topics covered are also great for building your "Chinese Language Foundations".

My one criticism is that it doesn't cover degree or school subjects and that the vocabularly is still a little thin, sure you could probably go to China for a short stay and knowing all the vocab in this book would probably get you through. But if you're planning on going there for longer, for studying, immigrating or business then this should only be used as a quick start accompanied by other books. In saying that however my sister (who has been studying Mandarin for 7years) learnt one or two words from this book.

To round off, this book is exactly what it says in the tin really, an easy-peasy book that teachers you the Chinese you need to be a solid beginner and advance into intermediate territory.

hbc
Scotland
29th July 2008

does exactly what it says
I thought learning even basic chinese would take ages but i learnt the majority of this book in only a couple of weeks( doing an hour a day mind you). This is not a depreciation of the book, far from it, it covered all the basic things you need to get started, and you could get by on holiday without having to speak english once with this. Easy Peasy chinese is laid out perfectly to stop you feeling intimidated by all the new words, and the cd helps you get pronounciation perfect. It is also full of intresting culture facts about china, and also helps you learn characters. I would recommend this to everyone who is starting brand new with chinese, as it is the best book I have seen yet.

iago zabibha
Worcester United Kingdom
29th October 2007

easy peasy chinesey
"You must be really brave to start learning Chinese"...is the comment I usually get when i tell people I'm learning Chinese. This book makes it not exactly easy but at least possible. Colourful and attractive, the book explains why Chinese is how it is. The CD helps master the tones and sounds. There is lots of insight into Chinese culture like the horoscopes. Ideal for beginners.