Cornelius C. Kubler - Basic Mandarin Chinese - Speaking & Listening Practice Book: A Workbook for Beginning Learners of Spoken Chinese

A Note to the Learner

When it comes to learning Chinese, practice is essential, of course. This workbook offers you many options for practicing and polishing your language skills, and was designed to be used in conjunction with the book Basic Mandarin ChineseSpeaking & Listening . However, it may be used to hone speaking skills no matter which book or course youre using to learn Chinese.

There are no Chinese characters to be found here because you dont need characters to learn to speak Chinese. In fact, learning the characters for everything you learn to say is an inefficient way to learn Chinese, one that significantly slows down your progress.

To help you learn to speak and understand Chinese as efficiently as possible, this workbook gives you the Chinese language portions not via characters, but instead through audio featuring native speakers (on the accompanying ). And in the pages of this book, the Chinese is represented in Hanyu Pinyin, the official Chinese romanization system.

If you wish to learn Chinese reading and writing, which is certainly to be recommended for most learners, you shouldtogether with or after the spoken courseuse the companion course Basic Mandarin ChineseReading & Writing . It corresponds with Basic Mandarin ChineseSpeaking & Listening and systematically introduces the highest-frequency characters (simplified and traditional) and words in context in sentences and reading passages as well as in realia such as street signs, notes, and name cards.

For instructors and those learners with prior knowledge of Chinese characters, a Basic Mandarin ChineseSpeaking & Listening Character Transcription is also available. It contains transcriptions into simplified and traditional characters of Basic Mandarin ChineseSpeaking & Listening . Please note that the character transcription is not intended, and should not be used, as the primary vehicle for beginning students to learn reading and writing.

The Basic Mandarin Chinese Instructors Guide contains detailed suggestions for using these materials as well as communicative exercises for use by instructors in class or by tutors during practice sessions.

Abbreviations

For explanations of the word classes, see the section Word Classes of Spoken Chinese in Basic Mandarin ChineseSpeaking & Listening .

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1. New Vocabulary
and Grammar Summaries

Unit 1, Part 1: New Vocabulary and Grammar

Vocabulary

Grammar

A as final particle to soften questions, greetings, and exclamations: N do nr q a? And where might you be going?

DO...Q go to: Wng Jngshng do nr q? Where is Jingsheng Wang going?

Name + Greeting: Wng Jngshng, n ho! Jingsheng Wang, how are you?

Names: Wng Jngshng Jingsheng Wang

NE as final particle to abbreviate questions: W q shtng. N ne? Im going to the dining hall. And what about you?

Q + Place word to indicate go to a certain place: W q tshgun. Im going to the library.

Q + Verb to indicate purpose: W q tshgun bn ydinr sh. Im going to the library to take care of something.

Question Word Questions: N do nr q? Where are you going?

Unit 1, Part 2: New Vocabulary and Grammar

Vocabulary

Grammar

MA to transform statements into questions: Tmen y q shtng ma? Are they going to the dining hall, too?