I agree with Katharine on Colloquial Chinese -good but outdated. Also I have
found that after about Lesson 10 there seems to be a leap in difficulty.
Some Universities use the Practical Chinese Reader Series published by the
Commercial Press in China. I've used this series with adult business
learners of Chinese and it has been quite successful -only drawback is that
the characters are quite small -fine when your students get to grips with
Chinese but difficult to begin with. The range of vocab is good and there
are 4 books in the series so will take students to a reasonable level.
Regards
Anne Martin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Katharine Carruthers" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 12:23 PM
Subject: Re: beginner's course book
> Dear Catherine
>
> A lot of graduates in Chinese in this country were brought up on
> Colloquial Chinese by T'ung and Pollard. It has a pinyin text published
> by Routledge and a character text published by SOAS.
>
> Many native speakers think that it is very dated now, but I (and I am
> not alone in this!) still consider it a very good introduction and basis
> to the language for use at undergrad level. Students with whom I have
> used it seem to like it too.
>
> I throw this, as a controversial suggestion, into the melting pot to see
> if it stirs up any other reaction/comments/suggestions for you.
>
> Best wishes
> Katharine Carruthers
>
>
> In message <[log in to unmask]>,
> H.Xiang <[log in to unmask]> writes
> >Dear All,
> >
> >I am currently involved in setting up an East Asian Research Centre at
> >the University of Bristol. One of the key task is to pick a right
> >course book for complete beginners (undergraduate students) of Mandarin
> >Chinese. Could anyone advise on that? Many thanks for this.
> >all the best
> >Catherine Xiang
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
>
> Katharine Carruthers
> Brooke House
> Ashdon Road, Saffron Walden
> Essex, CB10 2AA
>
>
|