Essential Chinese Grammar - (Essential Grammar) by Vivian Ling & Peng Wang (Paperback)

About the Book

"Essential Mandarin Chinese Grammar is a systematic overview of Mandarin grammar, oriented toward self-study, English-speaking students. Through explanations of common mistakes learners make, useful example sentences and exercises with an answer key, this book provides a detailed introduction to the unique grammar structures of the Mandarin language. Ideal for any student who is interested in taking their skills to the next level, this book makes the difficult task of perfecting grammar efficient, interesting, and rewarding. Essential Mandarin Chinese Grammar is a perfect tool to help you form correct and natural-sounding sentences, and determine how to best use the grammar you need for reading or writing Mandarin. Each example and exercise is written in both pinyin and Simplified Chinese Characters to accommodate learners with varying levels of character literacy, including those who have learned only to speak but not read."--Publisher's description.

Book Synopsis

Essential Chinese Grammar is a systematic overview of Chinese grammar, oriented toward self-study, English-speaking students.

Through explanations of common mistakes learners make, useful example sentences and exercises with an answer key, this book provides a detailed introduction to the unique grammar structures of the Chinese language.

Ideal for any student who is interested in taking their skills to the next level, this book makes the difficult task of perfecting grammar efficient, interesting and rewarding. Essential Chinese Grammar is a perfect tool to help you form correct and natural-sounding sentences, and determine how to best use the grammar you need for reading or writing Chinese.

Each example and exercise is written in both pinyin and Simplified Chinese Characters to accommodate learners with varying levels of character literacy, including those who have learned only to speak but not read.

Review Quotes

"Best one yet! I have the Japanese and Korean versions as well and those are amazing within their own rights, but this one just hits different." --Taylor Learns Languages

"Drawing on vast knowledge and experience, the authors have accomplished a major tour de force: on-target, insightful and fully cognizant of the special characteristics of Chinese...Essential functions and patterns are given cogent and jargon-free explanations, followed up with ample examples and cognitively engaging exercises. Highly recommended!" -- Zheng-sheng Zhang, Ph.D., Professor of Chinese at San Diego State University & Editor-in-Chief of Chinese as a Second Language (Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association)

"Few can find any other book that provides such comprehensive and detailed explanations of Mandarin Chinese grammar...This book helps not only those who want to self-study Chinese but those in need of a most useful reference book that suits all levels of learners. In addition, this book is particularly helpful to English native speakers, as the two authors know exactly what pitfalls the learners would have..." -- Wei H. Kao, Director, International Chinese Language Program, National Taiwan University

"For learners of Chinese to express themselves clearly and for native speakers to enjoy their interactions with them, it's essential for them to learn informal and formal Chinese grammar well. The crystallization of decades of teaching experience on the part of the authors, this lively and eminently practical book can profitably be used for grammar review in class or self-study. Filled with insightful examples and useful exercises, it compares Chinese and English grammar patterns, pointing out potential pitfalls and how to avoid them." -- Cornelius C. Kubler, Stanfield Professor of Asian Studies, Williams College

"Informed by the wisdom accrued from decades of teaching experience, Essential Mandarin Chinese Grammar identifies a wide range of challenging vocabulary and grammatical features for English-speaking learners that are commonplace in the language of adult Chinese communication, yet are either under-explained or ignored altogether in current textbooks." -- Robert Sanders, Professor of Chinese, Komatsu University

"Through detailed explanations, examples, and frequent exercises, the authors address specific words or phrases that are often confusing to both self-study learners and learners in classroom settings. Language educators will welcome how accessible this book is...and may want to incorporate some sections of it in their own teaching." -- Madeline K. Spring, Professor of Chinese, University of Hawai'i at Manoa

About the Author

Vivian Ling was born in wartime China and educated in the U.S. She taught for 24 years at Oberlin College before moving overseas to direct study-abroad Chinese language programs, most notably the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies at National Taiwan University in Taipei and Tsinghua University in Beijing. Her last position was Director of the Chinese Flagship program at Indiana University. She has authored and edited Chinese language textbooks, dictionaries, books on modern Chinese literature, and most recently The Field of Chinese Language Education in the U.S.: A Retrospective of the 20th Century. She lives in Washington DC.

Peng Wang joined the faculty of the Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures at Georgetown University in 2002, and has taught various levels of Chinese language courses, including Business Chinese and Intensive Chinese for Advanced Beginners. Professor Wang has also taught Chinese language as the chief instructor at the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies at Tsinghua University and as visiting professor at Oberlin College and Brown University. In the summer of 2010 and 2012, Professor Wang served as the academic director for the State Department-sponsored Critical Language Scholarship Program in Shanghai.