Oh, China!: An Elementary Reader of Modern Chinese for Advanced Beginners - Revised Edition

by Chih-p'ing Chou, Perry Link, Xuedong Wang

Oh, China! meets the needs of advanced beginners or heritage learners who already speak some Chinese but require instruction in reading and writing fundamentals before moving to the intermediate level. In this fully revised edition, state-of-the-art lessons go over the basics of standard Mandarin pronunciation and introduce students to Chinese characters. The textbook moves at a faster pace than those designed for absolute beginners and allows students to rapidly develop strong foundations in grammar and vocabulary. It contains topics that are especially relevant to heritage learners, such as growing up in a bilingual, bicultural environment, and exposes students to essential issues for understanding contemporary China today, including economic development and political relations with Taiwan.

This essential of Chinese language learning contains updated lessons, grammar notes, and exercises, and its new user-friendly format juxtaposes text and vocabulary on adjacent pages.
Updated and revised edition
Designed for advanced beginners who already speak some Chinese
Offers strong foundations in pronunciation, characters, and grammar
Covers topics relevant to heritage speakers and contemporary Chinese society
Single volume user-friendly format

Genres: Language, China

448 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 1997

Reviews

[pearl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I woke up in the middle of the night remembering this textbook from my first-year Chinese for heritage learners course in college which I've been trying to track down for over a decade haha. It's hands-down the best language learning book I've read anywhere, specifically because it knows its audience's needs so well (typically students who grew up listening to or speaking Mandarin but without formal education). If I ever pick up my studies again I'll go back to this series.

[Serene]

Will come back to you when mando is at a higher level

[Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The dialogues are interesting - many discuss aspects of Chinese history and culture - and they steadily increase in difficulty, but the glossary at the back is abominable. The words in the glossary are organized by pinyin, in something vaguely resembling alphabetical order - but not close enough to make them easy to find, which renders the glossary almost useless. You'll be better off using a dictionary.