This Hippocrene best-seller has been redesigned and updated, making learning to speak, read, and write Mandarin Chinese easier than ever. New features include the following: ten practical lessons with dialogues, vocabulary, and exercises; new audio CDs featuring professional actors from Beijing; updated cultural and language notes; an attractive, easy-to-read presentation of the Chinese characters; additional exercises for teaching stroke order and writing skills; an index providing traditional character equivalents; and, new technology sections on how to read and write Chinese characters on a computer.

Chinese language : its prominent features -- Chinese phonetics -- Written Chinese -- Grammatical terms explained -- Lesson 1 : Greetings -- Lesson 2 : Names -- Lesson 3 : Places -- Lesson 4 : Family -- Lesson 5 : Time -- Lesson 6 : Nationalities & languages -- Lesson 7 : Money & shopping -- Lesson 8 : Food & eating -- Lesson 9 : Travel -- Lesson 10. Weather.