Speak and Read Chinese: Fun Mnemonic Devices for Remembering Chinese Words and Their Tones

by Larry Herzberg

From one of the authors of Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar comes Speak and Read Chinese , a simple, fun guide that helps language learners remember pinyin, tones, and characters of essential Chinese words.
Students and teachers rate pinyin, tones, and characters as some of the most difficult aspects of learning Chinese. This book addresses this issue by organizing easy memorization tricks for the three hundred most basic characters in popular textbook series like Integrated Chinese and New Practical Chinese Reader.
Larry Herzberg did his Master's and PhD work in Chinese Language and Literature at Indiana University. He founded Chinese-language programs at two colleges and has been teaching for thirty years.

160 pages, Paperback

Published December 20, 2016

About the author

Larry Herzberg studied Chinese for five years at Vanderbilt University before doing his Master's and Ph.D. work in Chinese Language and Literature at Indiana University. In 1980 he founded the Chinese Language Program at Albion College and then did the same at Calvin College in 1984. For the past three decades he has taught the Chinese language at the college level.

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you so much, Larry Herzberg for your new book, Speak and Read Chinese: Fun Mnemonic Devices for Remembering Chinese Words and Their Tones. I have take Mandarin with a group of children and then a year at community college. I had to drop the second year because I could not keep up with the class. They were all Cantonese speakers. I am sure that they had a big advantage over me having already known a wealth of Chinese characters. This book gives me back the hope of improving my Mandarin. I am married to a Mandarin speaker who is not inclined towards teaching so I am on my own.

I love memory devices, mnemonic devices. They are fun, make learning easier and helps me closer to where I want to be with Mandarin. Larry Herzberg has figured out ways to make this doable with this non Romance language. Since we don't have cognates which makes French easier to learn, he has created devices to help us. He picked out 300 commonly used Chinese words for this book. One thing that I really love is that he illustrates with an English sentence, focusing on one word to help us get the tone right. Tones are the most difficult for me. He gives both the traditional and the simplified character for each word.

OK, I am making my flashcards and mean to tackle the 300, however, I already know a good portion and that knowledge gives me more confidence.

I highly recommend this book as an aid to learning Mandarin, probably after you have already done one year of study like me.

I received this Advanced Reading Copy by making a selection from Amazon Vine books but that in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings in this review. I also posted this review only on sites meant for reading not for selling.

[Dorette Skinner · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most helpful books I've read so far on this journey of learning Mandarin.. I would highly recommend it!