Chinese for Beginners - by Yi Ren & Xiyuan Liang (Paperback)

About the Book

"All poems (except for those in Chapter 7 and Chapter 11) were translated into English by Gwen Qin and Morris Jordan"--Copyright page.

Book Synopsis

This beginner-friendly guide teaches you how to speak Chinese quickly and easily by drawing parallels with something you already know--English!

Chinese is a fascinating language that can seem quite difficult to learn at first, but can be picked up easily if you focus on practical, daily conversations. This revised edition contains new dialogues, cultural notes, IT and social media vocabulary, and new manga illustrations.

Designed for anyone who wants to speak and understand conversational Chinese--whether for business, pleasure, or travel to China--this lighthearted guide makes language learning fun!

• Real-life dialogues and situations help you to converse with confidence
• Sentence pattern exercises and drills help to reinforce what you are learning
• Native-speaker audio recordings enable you to pronounce Chinese vocabulary accurately
• Interesting notes, idioms, sayings and poems introduce you to Chinese culture

Chinese for Beginners contains many extra hints and tips drawn from the authors' many years of experience in teaching the language to foreigners. Answer keys for the exercises are provided, and an "Extend Your Vocabulary" section in each chapter helps you to remember and understand more words than you'd think possible!

Review Quotes

"A fantastic place to start...offers a less intimidating barrier to Chinese than other textbooks." --Greg Bell, En Route To Fluency blog

"...well-written and helps you speak Chinese in no time." --FluentU.com

"As a teacher myself, I have always been impressed with Yi's knowledge of language acquisition. As her pupil, I found her passion and determination inspiring. Learning with Yi gave me the feeling of being in China all over again." --Karen Enos, Mandarin learner

"I loved my Chinese classes with Yi Ren. She didn't just teach the language--but also Chinese culture and history. Her new book reflects her warmth and breadth of teaching." --Mike Farer, former student, and City Planner

"I really liked how the book is packed with cultural details. It's a nice touch that gives you some background knowledge about Chinese culture. Indeed, I was impressed to see Chinese poems from the Tang dynasty appearing at the end of most chapters!" --Perapera Language Tools blog

"One other thing I really enjoyed about this book is the inclusion of traditional Chinese poetry. Before, I never dared approach Chinese poetry, but this book gives me the understanding to read great poems without needing a specialty text." --Silvia Gleizer, Vision Times

"Thanks to Yi Ren, I actually learned about the Mandarin language, to speak phrases, to understand snippets of Mandarin conversations when I hear others speak, and to have the confidence to tackle this very complex language." --Beth A. Buonanno, Mandarin learner

"This is a good book for non-native speaking parents. Each chapter included vocabulary, dialogues and culture information. This is a book written by an experienced Chinese instructor." --Miss Panda Chinese

About the Author

Yi Ren has had over 25 years of experience teaching Chinese. She teaches students at the high school and adult level and has published three Chinese language learning books. She lives with her family in Denver, Colorado.

Xiayuan Liang is currently a professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. In her spare time, Xiayuan likes to read and discuss interesting topics with her friends--in Chinese, of course!