The book "Chinese for Dummies" - have you used this book?

[pq7878]

Hi - I'm writing an article about the author of the book "Chinese for Dummies" and need to find someone who has used this book and would like to comment on it. Anybody out there used it?

Thanks.

[mirgcire]

I have never read it, but just for grins I checked out Amazon for the reviews. Most labeled it "not for beginners", but several thought it was useful as supplementary book. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Dummies-Language-Literature/dp/047178897X/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

[Shadowdh]

I do have this book (was a gift from my wife just before I came over to China, a bit of a gag gift I thought at the time) but have not really looked at it yet as it is in the UK and I am in China, I will be returning in about 2,5 weeks and if you like can go through it and report back...

[Lu]

My dad used it in an attempt to study Chinese, so I had a look. I wouldn't recommend it. It might be useful as additional material, but an attempt to learn Chinese from this book without the help of a good teacher can almost only fail. Best pick something else.

[SkyFitsHeaven]

Lots of the Chinese in this book is geared for people in Taiwan. Some of the sample statements would seem odd in Mainland China.

[The Elf Piper]

I checked it out of the library to see if I wanted to own it, but I found that having the more-or-less English pronounciation under the pinyin just threw me off entirely.