Intermediate Written Chinese Practice Essentials - (Tuttle Specials) by Cornelius C Kubler & Jerling Guo Kubler (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Welcome to the world's most efficient method of learning Mandarin Chinese, whether you are striving to learn Chinese on your own or studying in a classroom setting.

Part of the widely-used and highly acclaimed Kubler series, The Basic Chinese and Intermediate Chinese books provide separate but integrated "tracks" to help you learn to read, write and speak Chinese efficiently, at your own pace. Some students and teachers wish to emphasize speaking ability first, whereas others want to focus on learning to read and write Chinese at the same time. These Chinese language study books allow you the flexibility to acquire the spoken language and the written language with the method that best fits your needs.

With the internationally-recognized Kubler system and accompanying media, you will:

• Learn to use 288 high-frequency Chinese characters, and over 700 popular words written with them
• Find yourself quickly reading and writing sentences with the correct Chinese grammar
• Be taught both simplified and traditional characters; you may choose to learn one or both
• Recognize a variety of fonts in both typeset and handwritten styles, to prepare you to use Chinese in many different contexts-from reading signs and newspapers, to computers and mobile phone texts
• Listen to hours of native-speaker recordings and have access to practice sheets and printable flashcards

Intermediate Written Chinese Practice Essentials stands out among Chinese books and textbooks for its dynamic study system and practical exercises, which will assist you in learning Chinese quickly and comfortably.

All media content is accessible on the Tuttle Publishing website.

Review Quotes

"A breath of fresh air ... Its dual track for spoken and written language finally gives American students a chance to develop oral proficiency without being slowed down by the character writing ... An ideal textbook for any program that seeks to advance rapidly in spoken Chinese and to fully prepare the students for their encounter with China." --Dr. Jingqi Fu, Associate Professor of Chinese, St. Mary's College of Maryland

"An ingenious introduction -- Basic Spoken Chinese is the finest textbook for learning Modern Standard Mandarin that I have ever encountered." --Dr. Victor H. Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, University of Pennsylvania

"Contextualized so learners know not only what to say, but why, when, and with whom it is appropriate to use such language -- thorough and clear -- refreshing." --Dr. Matthew Christensen, Associate Professor of Chinese, Brigham Young University

"ISC/IWC represents an ambitious attempt to work out the complex logistics involved in coordinating the two tracks with different foci and schedules ... truly 'in a league of its own...'" --The Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association

"Kubler's books distinguish themselves with natural, culturally-rooted dialogues, detailed notes (for both written and spoken language), generous practice activities and an amazing care for organization. These books will be valuable tools for both students and their teachers." --Prof. Eric Pelzl, Wisconsin Lutheran College

"Outstanding for its carefully graduated presentation of material ... and perhaps most important of all, its separation of the task of learning to speak the language from the very different processes of learning to read and write Chinese characters ... The most exciting Chinese language textbook I have seen in many years." --Dr. James E. Dew, retired associate professor of Chinese, Univ. of Michigan; former Director of the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies in Taipei

"Revolutionary in its approach ... The dream of having engaged and fully-prepared students in every class is an easily reachable reality for any program that adopts this series." --Professor Cecilia Chang, Chair, Department of Asian Studies, Williams College

"The ideal material for any committed learner embarking on the journey of learning the Chinese language." --Dr. Jun Yang, Senior Lecturer in Chinese, University of Chicago

About the Author

Cornelius C. Kubler, Stanfield Professor of Asian Studies at Williams College, received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in linguistics from Cornell University. He earned a second M.A. in Chinese literature from National Taiwan University.

From 1980-1991 he was employed at the Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State, where he served as Language Training Supervisor in Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, and Mongolian; as Principal of the advanced Chinese field school in Taiwan; and as Chair of the Department of Asian and African Languages.

Since joining Williams College in 1991, he has chaired the former Department of Chinese and Asian Studies Program as well as the Department of Asian Studies, which he was instrumental in founding. He has also served as visiting professor at Eisenhower College, Portland State University, Middlebury College, National Taiwan Normal University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages.

Kubler, who is author or coauthor of 20 books and over 50 articles on Chinese language pedagogy and linguistics, frequently serves as reviewer or consultant for Chinese and Asian Studies programs in the U.S. and overseas. He has served as Chair of the Test Development Committee for the SAT Subject Test in Chinese and as member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages of the Modern Language Association. He is currently serving as American Co-Director of The Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in Nanjing, China.

Jerling Guo Kubler is a graduate of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of Soochow University, Taipei. Her experience in language education spans more than 35 years. She has taught all levels of Chinese as a Second/Foreign Language from pre-kindergarten to university level at institutions including Williams College, Eisenhower College and Taipei Language Institute.