Claudia Ross - Chinese Demystified: A Self-Teaching Guide

Hard stuff made easy

Claudia Ross, Ph.D.

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Welcome to Chinese Demystified!

You are probably reading this book because you are studying Mandarin Chinese or are planning to do so. One look at a page in a Chinese textbook or grammar is enough to let you know that Chinese is very different from English. Chinese is written with Chinese characters, not with an alphabet, and even when a romanization system is used to indicate the pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese, it includes features that do not occur in English, such as the consonant cluster zh and tone marks over vowels (for example, , , , ). But Mandarin Chinese is also easier to learn in some ways than languages that are more familiar to English speakers, such as Spanish and French. Its grammar is very regular, and it does not use inflections or declensions to vary the form of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and so on. This book will help you take the mystery out of Mandarin and make it easier for you to learn.

Chinese Demystified is intended to supplement the regular textbook in your first few years of Mandarin Chinese language study, and to help you review the basic structures and functions of Mandarin before you move on to more advanced language study. Its examples and exercises are presented in Simplified characters, Traditional characters, and pinyin (the most widely used romanization system), so they will be accessible to you no matter what textbook you are using. This book draws from a relatively small number of basic Chinese words commonly introduced in textbooks for beginners. But if you havent yet learned a word that is used in an example here, dont worry. English translations are provided for all examples, so you will always be able to follow along.

The goal of Chinese Demystified is to help you understand the basic structure of Mandarin and perform common language functions, such as asking questions, making comparisons, and describing people, places, and things. The exercises and quizzes in each chapter will help you practice Mandarin structure and functions and verify your understanding and mastery.

Each chapter in Chinese Demystified contains simple explanations of grammatical constructions, illustrated with many examples and practice opportunities. When you approach a new construction, first read the explanation and then study the examples until you understand the grammatical pattern that they illustrate. Once you see how the pattern works, complete the Oral and Written Practice exercises. These exercises are the heart of the chapter, and they will help you learn the language. Dont be shy about using the Oral Practice exercises to rehearse saying phrases and sentences aloud. If you have the chance to travel to China for study, work, or pleasure, you will need to be able to speak Chinese and you cant speak without practice. You can also find excellent pronunciation guides on the Internet, including pronunciation practice activities. Of course, if youre studying Chinese in a classroom setting, you can follow your instructors pronunciation or use the audio materials that accompany your textbook.

At the end of each chapter is a ten-question quiz that reviews the concepts you learned in the chapter. This is an open book quiz. You should try to achieve a score of 80 percent on the quiz before moving on to the next chapter. The book ends with a final exam, which consists of 100 questions that cover all the language concepts in the book. The final exam is a closed book test. A good score is 75 percent or higher.

A NOTE ON THE PRESENTATION OF CHINESE IN THIS BOOK

Mandarin words, phrases, and sentences are presented in this order: Simplified characters, Traditional characters, pinyin. When both Simplified and Traditional characters are shown on the same line, a centerline dot separates them.