Using Integrated Chinese?

One book that I find quite helpful is "A Practical Chinese Grammar" by Hung-nin Samuel Cheung. A friend who attended Hong Kong University got it for me because she used it there. It is well organized, the explanations and examples are clear and in simplified, pinyin, and English. Sorry, no traditional in my copy.

Thanks. That's a sale.

Traditional, simplified, & pinyin.

Thanks for the pointers xiaodai - yeah, the PAV Chinese isn't all that hot, but it's what many universities use here in Taiwan. Actually, what's most painful about it is the audio, which I foolishly bought: they... speak... so... slowly... and... precisely. Slower than the newbie level dialogues here, I think, which makes little sense when it's intermediate-level conversation.

But another question, for me quite an important one: does "Exploring in Chinese" use traditional characters as well, or only simplified? If they also have traditional, I'll probably be placing an order through Amazon.

Thanks again.

I received an advance copy of the book. I think it would be very useful for either self study or classroom use. And it's pretty current.

I've seen PAV Chinese. I always say beware of any book that resorts to using the work "practical" in its title.

XiaoDai, you mentioned "Exploring in Chinese" - have you had a look at that yet? I'm looking around for an intermediate-level book. I do have "Practical Audio-Video Chinese 2" (a Taiwan-produced text), which is about the right level, but it's kind of stale to use (although my work ethic would also be implicated in how little I use it). I find there's a growing number of decent beginner Chinese texts, but the intermediate level ones seem lacking. Would it work for self-study or is it more of a classroom text? Thanks for any tips.

Old school is often used approvingly, but not always.That's why I put it in quotes and fleshed out what I meant. Some people think sentence patterns are old school in the good sense; I think they're old school in the literal (and negative) sense.

xiaodai,

I think maybe you meant "old-fashioned" rather than "old school".

"Old-fashioned" is usually used disapprovingly, to refer to someone or something that's stuck in the past and can't or won't learn new methods. "Old school" on the other hand is usually used approvingly or admiringly, referring to someone who is probably familiar with newer methods but does some things the old way because it's considered more effective or rigorous.

As in, "he gets up in the morning and does 500 pushups and memorizes a hundred Chinese characters out of the Kangxi dictionary, and then takes an ice-water bath. He's old school".

goulniky

of course, you are working for one of the big Pharma companies ... Hope you enjoy my country

Integrated Chinese is pretty "old school." I used it for my classes for a couple of years, when my textbook of choice (Cynthia Ning's “Communicating in Chinese”) wasn't available. I also used it for my intermediate-level students while waiting for a decent book for that level. I.C. is vocabulary-centered, grammar-focused, and pretty good for anyone wanting to learn about the structure of Chinese, especially those 5 percent of learners who actually can acquire language that way. It's not my choice for language acquisition for the vast majority of learners, however. I have several new copies collecting dust and waiting for the recycle bin. And now that Cynthia has published her intermediate-level textbook, “Exploring in Chinese”, there is no reason to use I.C. at all. Of course, the field is moving away from traditional textbooks as TPR, TPRS, and computer software based comprehensible input theory, take hold. It takes decades to move a field as entrenched as language learning; only now are we starting to see real change.

"Do it up," "fertig" ... this is the point at which 中文播客话 starts to diverge the rest of humanity's languages.

"fertig" has a nice ring to it. You know, if we all start using these when terms in China, I think we have a shot of actually getting them into current usage, sooner or later. A kind of backdoor linguistic imperialism.....

henning，I just happen to work in the German-speaking part of Switzerland and live I live in neighboring Alsace... I only have a smattering of German I have to admit, at work I only use English, but I hear a lot of ’fertig’ 什么的 both in high German and Basel dialect （including some French equivalents）。so don't use my English as reference。

henning,

Not if you want to be understood. :)

Hi goulniky,

your use of the German word "fertig" (completed) makes me curious: Is this a language export to English or even to French?

Can I use "fertig" in English conversations?

yep, goulniky, I am with you. Those books just fill up shelfs and make you you feel guilty for all the failed resolutions to get into study.

Much better to go digital, since we are sitting at our computers a lot of the time anyway. And during my coffee breaks I quickly review some vocab or download another one of those many great lessons

This feature and new blog is a good addition to the CPod site. :)

I don't use textbooks anymore，fertig。it's all digital，and that

allows a lot more integration。But then I'm no longer going to （brick&mortar）school。。。

Excellent resource. Thank you!

I don't think there's a perfect set of books out there. For me I've had basically to create a small library.

Some of the better ones I've found are:

Interactions I & II

Connections I & II

** All from the same Author **

What I like about these books is the have a large amount of Sentence patterns, resultative verb compounds, etc. The also have simplified and traditional in the same text.

And, the format is very nice.

If anyone has a chance take a look.

@AZERDocMom,

John doesn't sleep. We just take him out of his hyperbaric chamber every once in a while and make him work, then put him back in. It's like a lettuce crisper, but... for people.

:P

John

Do you get any sleep?

Hey all you Integrated Chinese users! We've set up this new blog just for you: http://blogs.chinesepod.com/integrated-chinese/ Check it out! :)

ahah, I was wondering all along what that was, you mean "Integrated Chinese"-the textbook (not that I heard of it before), not integrated Chinese, which I thought ChinesePod was

Integrated Chinese is definitely the most widely used textbook in US colleges. It's pretty good but I'm not sure why that particular one is the book of choice.

Yup. Using Integrated Chinese here. Just got to lesson 3.

I'm using 'Beyond the Basics'.

tim777,

Ah, Airport Tim! Good to hear from you. Go to my profile, and you can send me a private message from there, or click through to Sinosplice and contact me that way.

ah integrated loved that thing back in college and hated it. I think it starts off a little slow. I thought a much better read was 'all things considered.' Hey John long time no see since ran into you in airport, how are things? been trying to find you business card to shoot you an email just can't figure where I placed the thing.

I'm using integrated Chinese. I'm on part one, book two. My class starts the second week of September.

Hmmm... perhaps they've been sworn to secrecy?

Ah, yes. Integrated Chinese. For it is good.1998? I didn't know John P was that old!

I'd definitely like to hear from anyone using Integrated Chinese. Indeed I'd like ot hear from anyone using any textbook right now at college.

It's that time of year. We have some interestign developments to reveal in the near future.

Ah, I used Integrated Chinese, back in the good old days of 1998-99... Pretty useful stuff.