Elementary Mandarin

Reviewed by Jian Guatney, Instructor--Chinese, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 5/20/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This textbook covers everyday conversational Chinese topics that are appropriate for this level (travel, socializing). My impression is that the book is aimed mostly at travelers who wish to visit China. If this book is aimed at the college level, I think it would be good to include topics regarding education and student life. Some students may go on to study abroad in China. In my opinion, this book would be suitable as a core text for a course, or as a supplementary resource.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Overall quite accurate. Some minor errors, such as a portion that for some reason is in traditional characters instead of simplified.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

I would like to see more coverage of social media and apps which have transformed much of Chinese everyday life. For instance, using cash to pay for goods and services is increasingly rare in favor of using WeChat pay.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is written succinctly.

Consistency rating: 5

This book is very easy to use.

Modularity rating: 5

The textbook breaks everything down into bite-size chunks. Most sections do not require any scrolling to complete.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book starts with an introduction to Pinyin (Chinese sound system) and Chinese characters (Chinese writing system) and moves on to real-life dialogues from simple greetings toward more advanced topics as it progresses.

Interface rating: 4

Overall the text is cleanly presented and has good readability. (However, I was unable to access the tests without a University of Hawaii login.)

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The grammar is accurate.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

There are adequate language and cultural notes in this book.

Comments

I like that the exercises in this book are interesting and practical. They focus on developing students' listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. In addition, unlike any traditional paper textbooks, the visual and audio materials of this book are all together in one place with a click on the link . Students can watch or listen to the materials as many times as they need to. They can also get feedback immediately.