Description

Elementary Chinese Readers This program of materials has received great attention in Chinese-teaching circles in and outside China and has been used in many colleges and institutes as well as by self-taught learners. Over the past ten years, these materials have been repeatedly printed and distributed throughout the world.New developments in language teaching theories and the warm responses and constructive suggestions from the users of the books have paved the way for the current revisions. Professors Li Peiyuan and Ren Yuan have dedicated themselves to the revision work which included taking into consideration numerous comments and suggestions. More emphasis is now put on practical language needed in daily communication. Also, the material has been updated to reflect current Chinese life. The lessons have been carefully arranged to make the book as useful as possible. In addition, newly recorded cassette tapes are provided.The textbook aims at training students in practical skills. The first two books cover Chinese phonetics and grammar; the other two books contains short stories and selected articles. On the phonetics the editors try to present the phonetic structure of Chinese as systematically as possible through dialogues, without neglecting drills on the initials, finals and tones of single characters. A number of common sentence patterns in each lesson to illustrate certain grammar points are provided to practice intensively through substitution drills, while texts help students express themselves in connected speech. Tone-graphs are used in the substitution drills of the first book and in the texts of the second book, while the phonetic alphabet is used in the texts of the first book. This reflects the principle that gradual progress is beneficial to the learners. Brief notes on words and phrases and grammar explanations are arranged in two sections in each lesson. In order to be more communication oriented, cultural contexts in which the language is used are added within the original format and framework.