Anything Goes: An Advanced Reader of Modern Chinese - Revised Edition

by Chih-p'ing Chou, Hua-Hui Wei, Kun An

Suitable for students with three or more years of modern Chinese language instruction, Anything Goes uses advanced materials to reinforce language skills and increase understanding of contemporary China in one semester. This fully revised edition provides learners with a deeper fluency in high-level Chinese vocabulary and grammar, and includes newspaper articles and critiques as well as other primary source documents, such as political speeches and legal documents. The textbook covers topics that are essential to understanding contemporary Chinese society, including changing attitudes toward women and marriage, the one-child policy, economic development, China's ethnic minorities, and debates surrounding Taiwan and Hong Kong. The lessons intentionally investigate thought-provoking and sometimes controversial issues in order to spark lively classroom discussions.

This new edition incorporates suggestions and improvements from years of student and teacher feedback. With an improved, more user-friendly format, Anything Goes juxtaposes text and vocabulary on adjacent pages. Grammar explanations and exercises have also been thoroughly updated.

Genres: China

456 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2006

Reviews

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid educational resource. I liked the format of the lessons a lot better than what I've seen in other Chinese language textbooks. Working with this book will absolutely aid the student of Chinese in improving their reading comprehension, expanding their vocabulary, and familiarizing themselves with advanced sentence structures and grammar. I thought the book could have covered more chengyu, but that's more a matter of personal preference than a true critique. Highly recommended.

[Laura Stahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great resource for those seeking an understanding of social and political ideology in China. The prompts following articles make for good discussion and review of the material via debate and essay writing. While the format is not without faults, i.e. vocabulary lists that give very partial and often somewhat inaccurate dictionary entries, it is nonetheless a valuable compilation for advanced students of Chinese.