Teach Yourself Beginners Chinese

In one form or another, Chinese is the language most spoken in the world. Although it has many different spoken forms, they are all written in exactly the same way. In this book you will learn Modern Standard Chinese which is understood by more Chinese speakers than any other form of the language. The book is divided into two main parts. Units 1-10 introduce you to the basic structures and grammatical points you'll need in everyday situations. Units 12-21 deal with everyday situations such as booking into a hotel, changing money, seeing a doctor, and being entertained in a Chinese home. They give you the opportunity to put into practice and consolidate the language you have learnt in the first ten units. Unit 11 is a special unit designed to give you the chance to find out something about the origin of Chinese characters and to have a taste of what's involved in reading and writing them. If you would rather miss this unit out and concentrate on speaking and listening, you can do so without it affecting your understanding of the other units. All the Chinese in other units is given in the official system of romanization.