|
 |
"Chinese Breeze" - Chinese readers | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| onebir Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7171 days ago 487 posts - 503 votes  Speaks: English*, Mandarin | Message 1 of 9 08 August 2008 at 4:02am | IP Logged | ||
|
I haven't seen them myself, but they sound promising. Here's the publisher's website. And some comments from people who've seen the first few
The +ves compared to existing Chinese-published readers: - choice of topics (so perhaps at bit more interesting) - vocab based on analysis of "very large written and spoken Chinese corpora" - attention to vocab recycling (the existing readers I've seen use such short texts, little recycling's possible) - audio included (recorded at two speeds) - a large series is planned (60+ books, 8 levels) (The increase in vocab between higher levels looks a bit quick - but I suspect that's because the earlier levels concentrate on characters, & later ones more on multicharacter words.) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6902 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 9 08 August 2008 at 4:38pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Thanks for sharing this.
I went and had a look at them here and found it interesting and cheap enough so I ordered all five of them straight away. You can have a peek at a few sample pages of each book. I got a little carried away while browsing around in there I guess, and ended up ordering a few other readers as well. Ten different books, all of them including audio, are on their way in the post now. Edited by Hencke on 09 August 2008 at 6:29pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| querido Newbie United States Joined 6114 days ago 13 posts - 15 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin | Message 3 of 9 19 January 2009 at 11:45am | IP Logged | ||
|
I and others have received and commented on these books some more, at the link posted at the top of the thread. Instead of only linking to another forum, or clipping from it, I'll comment on an aspect that seems very important to *this* forum particularly (Krashen, "Input Hypothesis", etc).
The Krashen theory about "intelligible input", etc., is my rationale for merging these books into my routine. My main textbook series is "New Concept Chinese for Children" (BLCUP). It is mostly short poems for the first few volumes, and it is working for me. Yet, I admit wanting some longer pieces: real stories! My other (famous) texts lack these too, so this "Chinese Breeze" series fits in. I'm a beginner with a vocabulary of 300-600 characters. I intend to *study* at first (rather than just read), the "Left and Right" book. So, I'm typing it into Wenlin for analysis and incorporation into my character-lists, word-lists, flashcards, etc. Then, I hope to be able to simply *read* the other five titles. I am very optimistic about this; I'm feeling, as "through a glass darkly" I admit, the way I did when as a child I reached for the books on the "higher shelves" in the school library. JenniferW, linked above, describes exactly the satisfaction that I seek. Though she does not mention Krashen or his theory, she provides a good testimony for it. The idea that I can follow a theory I believe in, and feed a real hunger at the same time, *must* be worth thinking about. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sprachprofi Nonaglot Senior Member Germany learnlangs.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6478 days ago 2608 posts - 4866 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Esperanto, Greek, Mandarin, Latin, Dutch, Italian Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swahili, Indonesian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese | Message 4 of 9 20 January 2009 at 4:24am | IP Logged | ||
|
These look good, but are there any books available beyond the beginner stage?
I'm presently using a different reader: 三人行 , which more reflects my level. It's published in Germany though. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6902 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 9 20 January 2009 at 6:04am | IP Logged | ||
I gather there are plans to publish many more of them, at varying levels. I got the five that were available last summer, all at the basic 300-word level. Since then, a sixth one has been published, also at this same level. It was a refreshing experience as such, to pick one of these things up and find I could understand virtually all of it. A small number of more unusual vocabulary items are included, as necessary for the story, with pinyin and translation given in the footnotes. Still, for really effective learning, I would need something a little more challenging than the 300-word level. I am waiting and looking forward to the launch of the next level up in the series. Edited by Hencke on 20 January 2009 at 6:05am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Snowflake Senior Member United States Joined 5967 days ago 1032 posts - 1233 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 6 of 9 20 January 2009 at 1:28pm | IP Logged | ||
|
This is a jump from 300 words. There is 'The Magic Ark: The Adventures of "Tiny Wang"' which is available from Amazon (in the US). It's in simplified characters at the 700 character (not word) level. There's a brief description at http://www.yale.edu/fep/catalog/mirror2.html#third .
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| querido Newbie United States Joined 6114 days ago 13 posts - 15 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin | Message 7 of 9 21 January 2009 at 7:01am | IP Logged | ||
|
Hooray! The first volume of level two is out!
Level 2 #1 available here 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6902 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 9 23 January 2009 at 5:07am | IP Logged | ||
So it is! There we go! It's a step in the right direction. However, though I hate to sound ungrateful, 500 words seems a very small step up from 300. But I'll probably order that one too anyway. And Snowflake, big thanks for that suggestion! I will check it out one of these days when I can spare a moment. And while I'm at it, I was reading through your study log the other day and found many valuable links and references there. Big thanks for that too! 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
