Free Chinese Textbooks! No catch!

[roddy]

Ok, maybe one catch . . .

Edit: For now, all available books have been taken. But please do read through and post if you are interested - the more interest is generated, the more likely we can keep this going again in the near future.

After recent discussions with the folks at Studychineseculture.com, we are going to be providing a significant number of free Chinese learning textbooks to forums members, in return for these members undertaking to write a review of the books for use on the forums and Studychineseculture.com.

A list of these books is below. If you are interested in obtaining and reviewing any of them, please post with:

*The books you are interested in (limit it to three, and place in order of preference). Say why if you want.

*Country you are in

*If you've done any review-type writing, you are free to mention that, or pm me if you'd rather not make it public. This isn't essential.

Some frequently anticipated questions:

• What? Free? Yes, entirely free, you don't even pay postage. Import taxes , if there are any for your country, are however your responsibility
  
• What if I don't write the review? Then there's not much I can do. But don't expect any more free books.
  
• How long will this last? Consider this the first round. If it works out well for both the forums and Studychineseculture.com, we'll look at longer term plans.
  
• How do you choose who gets the books? A range of factors, some admittedly quite arbitrary. Basically you have a better chance of getting a book if you are in China (cheaper postage), have made some substantial posts on here already, and have an air of reliability about you.
  
• How do you choose who gets what books? Don't know yet. I'll try to make sure people get the books they want (assuming anyone wants any of them) but at the same time I'm not gong to sit down and make a spreadsheet to ensure maximum satisfaction. Nor is it first come first served, so feel free to ask for something that someone else also wants - we may even end up sending out multiple copies.
  
• How many books can I have? I don't know yet. Originally I figured one per person, but that might increase postage costs. I'll need to look at that. Ask for as many as you want, but be clear about which ones you would prefer, and limit yourself to ones you are actually interested in enough to use and review.
  
• How did you decide on this list of books? They were chosen by Studychineseculture.com as being popular, or new, etc.
  
• How long have I got to write the review? As long as you need, I guess. I'm not going to chase you for it, I'm just going to hope you do it. Obviously you'll need to spend a bit of time working with the book, and depending on postage method it may be a while before you even get it.
  
• What if I don't like the book? Tell us why.
  
• Great! When do i get my book? Again, I don't know. Once (if) we've got a reasonable number of replies I'll figure out where the books are going and let you and Studychineseculture.com work it out among yourselves.
  
• Who are these Studychineseculture.com people? Online bookstore specializing in Chinese learning materials, and long-time posters and sponsors on the forums.
  
• What if I already have a book, and I want to write about it? Then do so, please
  
• Excellent, I'm going to register so I can post and get free books. Tragically I think I'll restrict this to people who were members as of the time of writing this. But please to register, we're lovely people.
  

That's all I can think of at the moment - if you have any queries ask and I'll try to edit the answers in. List below.

I'm planning to leave this open for a week, then decide where the books go. However if we get a large response it may close sooner. Get your requests in quickly.

[roddy]

Integrated textbooks：

A NEW CHINESE COURSE (1)

新编汉语教程课本（第一册）

Seems this new book is revised from this book, which was popular and is sold out.

Boya Chinese-Elementary Start (Volume 1) (with 3CDs)

博雅汉语—初级起步篇（1）（附3CD）

China Panorama-Approaching Chinese (1)

中国全景—初级汉语（1）

Chinese Made Easier (1) (second edition ) (with 2 MP3)

实用速成汉语（一）（第2版）（附2 MP3）

New Practical Chinese Reader Textbook (1)

新实用汉语课本（第一册）课本

Spoken Chinese:

Communicate in Chinese (1) (English)

交际汉语1（英语）

Conversational Chinese 301 (Volume 1) (Third Edition English)

汉语会话301句（上）（第三版英汉注释）

Questions and Answers: A Course of Speed-up Oral Chinese for Beginners (2nd edition with CD) (Chinese-English, Chinese-French)

问和答—速成汉语口语（第二版+CD）（汉英•汉法对照）

Chinese characters：

A Speedy Elementary Course 500 Basic Chinese Characters (Chinese-English)

外国人汉字速成（修订本）（汉英对照）

Easy Way to Learn Chinese Characters

汉字速成课本

Learning Chinese Characters from Ms. Zhang: Reading and writing Chinese Characters (A)

张老师教汉字：汉字识写课本（上）

New Approaches to Learning Chinese: The Most Common Chinese Radicals (Chinese-English)

新编基础汉语（写字篇）常用汉字部首（汉英对照）

New Approaches to Learning Chinese: Rapid Literacy in Chinese (Chinese-English)

新编基础汉语（识字篇）集中识字（汉英对照）

Vocabularies：

Chinese Near-synonyms (English Annotation)

汉语学习手边册丛书—汉语近义词学习手册（汉英对照）

Gems of the Chinese Language Through the Ages–100 Pearls of Chinese Wisdom (Chinese-English)

博古通今学汉语丛书—谚语100（汉英对照）

Practical Chinese Study Series: The Prompt Understanding of Measure words

实用汉语学习丛书：量词一点通

Audio books：

Chinese Breeze Graded Reader Series: Wrong, wrong, wrong! + MP3

汉语风中文分级系列读物：错，错，错！（附MP3）

Graded Chinese Reader 1: Selected, Abridged Chinese Contemporary Short Stories+MP3

汉语分级阅读 1(附MP3)

Interesting Chinese Reading New Edition+2CD

新编趣味汉语阅读（附2CD）

The Besieged City (Abridged) (book + MP3)

围城(简写本+MP3)

Wit and Humor: An Easy Chinese Reading Series: A Simple But Difficult Problem (with CD)

简易汉语趣味阅读－简单的难题（含光盘）

Business Chinese：

Advanced Business Chinese: Social Gatherings, Office Work, Day-To-Day Operations

商务汉语提高：应酬篇、办公篇、业务篇

Basic Business Chinese (BBC) (with 3CDs)

BBC初级实用商务汉语（附3CD）

Business Chinese Conversation One: Elementary (2007 Revised Edition)+CD

经贸初级汉语口语上册（2007年修订本）（附光盘）

Seems this new book is revised from this book, which was popular and is sold out.

Reading materials:

Common Knowledge About Chinese Culture (Chinese-English)

中国文化常识(中英对照)

Intercontinental’s Best of China (English)

中国旅游指南（英语）

Edited August 14, 2008 at 09:34 AM by roddy

[Guest realmayo]

Smart idea. I live in the UK which probably rules me out but --

I'd happily take one of the audiobooks:

Chinese Breeze Graded

Graded Chinese Reader 1

or Wit and Humor.

No air of reliability but I'm sure I have a whiff of something.

[roddy]

Thanks. Being overseas is a bit of a disadvantage I'm afraid, as there are major cost / time issues, but hopefully we'll be able to get at least some books sent out of China. What I might do is send a batch out to China normal mail, and a batch overseas by cheap / slow methods and try and time it that we get a steady flow of reviews over the next few months.

But basically we're just starting and we're going to be working things out as we go along.

[Guest realmayo]

Fair enough. Though the postage costs (I go for the +250% option) do add up, compared with finding similar books in the UK or via Amazon, Studychineseculture.com feels like v good value. Maybe next time I'm placing an order I'll check in with this thread & see how things stand then.

[elina]

I suddenly remember one thing that might be necessary to mention:

As far as we know, our overseas customers do not need to pay import tax for “pure” books mailed to their countries. But for multimedia products, such as CD, DVD, MP3, etc., various countries have different customs regulations, some buyers may need to pay the import tax for them, according to the amount of money or quantity of products, but for ≦3 products, it will be free of duty, I just guess. It’s better to ask your local customs organization.

[roddy]

Good point, will add that.

[mirgcire]

Do you want us to add our requests to the thread, or send you a PM?

I am interested in reviewing "Graded Chinese Reader 1". Although I live in the US, maybe the quality of my reviews make it worth the extra time and effort.

[roddy]

Add them to the thread, it'll keep the thread active and visible and it means everything is in one place. Unless you are embarrassed by your choice of books, in which case I guess you can PM me.

[Artem]

I haven't posted before, but I am an avid reader of these forums. I would be very interested in reviewing a book.

Country: USA

Books

1. 汉语学习手边册丛书—汉语近义词学习手册（汉英对照）

2. 实用汉语学习丛书：量词一点通

3. 新编趣味汉语阅读（附2CD）

One note of concern, I will be in China for a while starting September. So if the books can't arrive here (USA) before then, it's probably not worth considering me.

[Guest mamba9]

Firstly, thank you for giving us an opportunity like this. Though I have self-studied Chinese on and off for about two years, I've never actually owned a textbook. So most of the time I live in the library, and I've tried numerous textbooks/workbooks and know which work and which don't. Hopfully that should hold some merit. Since I have a Chinese friend to practice my speaking and listening, I am mostly interested in textbooks. I live in the US.

Books I'm interesting in:

1.) Basic Business Chinese (BBC) (with 3CDs) - Saw a few scans from the website and looks nice. I like the way it gives a quick explanation about what happens/what to do during business introductions and such. Very interested.

2.) Chinese Near-synonyms - I've noticed from the many books I've used, most of them usually just say a sentence or two and move on while this one covers them by "distinguishing and analyzing these words and providing corresponding exercises." I'd very much like to try it out.

3.) A NEW CHINESE COURSE (1) - looks similar to the book I am using now. It says it consists of 4 volumes but I assume you are only offering the first one.

[xtenhome]

I am from america. Native english speaker. Fluent chinese.

Have done reviews before basically academic reviews for my work.

I am in Shanghai.

The Besieged City (Abridged) (book + MP3)

围城(简写本+MP3)

Advanced Business Chinese: Social Gatherings, Office Work, Day-To-Day Operations

商务汉语提高：应酬篇、办公篇、业务篇

Wit and Humor: An Easy Chinese Reading Series: A Simple But Difficult Problem (with CD)

简易汉语趣味阅读－简单的难题（含光盘）

[Luobot]

I'd love to do a comparative review of the following:

Chinese Made Easier (1) (second edition ) (with 2 MP3)

实用速成汉语（一）（第2版）（附2 MP3）

New Practical Chinese Reader Textbook (1)

新实用汉语课本（第一册）课本

My idea is to compare and contrast the approaches taken in these two books with a eye on seeing which provides a better foundation for continuing with the more advanced editions in their respective series. I will take the perspective of someone who is a self-learner, without access to a classroom, but who fully utilizes online resources, such as this forum.

I'm in New York City, so I know there are extra shipping costs; however, if you are able to send them, then I promise a full and faithful review, as outlined above.

[xianu]

Roddy - I would love to review some of the books. I am in the market for something to use for the intermediate-advanced class in their 3rd year of study that is more content oriented than the basic language books. I also need to write a proposal for a literature class for the 3rd/4th year students. I live in the US, but will be in China (Xi'an) for a month this summer, so I could recieve the books there (have to find the mailing address) and cart the books around China/back to the US. I am looking for something to use as early as this fall, or possibly next spring/fall for the 2nd semester (school begins late August). I am most interested in:

1. graded Chinese reader

2. interesting Chinese Reading

3. Beseiged City

4. ** Or better yet: ANYTHING you think might be appropriate for intermediate-mid to advanced low native english speaking learners of Chinese.

5. Also interested in Practical Chinese Study Series: The Prompt understanding of measure words (They all seem to need this at all levels until they can internalize the whole concept of the measure word in Chinese).

I have never done any official reviews but I have looked at a ton of books in the last couple years for the purposes of finding the right course materials for my upper level classes, and to possibly replace the TB for the beginning and intermediate classes (I have used both Integrated Chinese and Practical Chinese Reader series). I have been teaching university level Chinese for more than 10 years, have a PhD in Chinese lit.

Also - I tried to access the links to the TB and got "HTTP not found" about 1/2 the time before I logged on, and 100% after I logged on. Don't know if it is something that happens when you log on to the forums, one of my settings, or if there are other technical issues going on.

[taryn]

I can't access the site either.

[elina]

Sorry, it’s our site server problem. It’s back to normal now.

[newyorkeric]

Chinese Made Easier

Questions and Answers: A Course of Speed-up Oral Chinese for Beginners

I am in Singapore but would be willing to help with the postage.

[xianu]

Do you have an actual storefront? or is this business strictly mail-order? I would like to peruse your other materials if I can get to your store.

[cdn_in_bj]

Wow, what a cool idea! I'm most interested in the business books, but I see that they've already been requested by others. If you're going to be sending out multiple copies of each title, then could you put me down for the following:

1) Advanced Business Chinese: Social Gatherings, Office Work, Day-To-Day Operations

商务汉语提高：应酬篇、办公篇、业务篇

2) Basic Business Chinese (BBC) (with 3CDs)

BBC初级实用商务汉语（附3CD）

If not, I'll choose some books dealing with Chinese characters:

1) New Approaches to Learning Chinese: The Most Common Chinese Radicals (Chinese-English)

新编基础汉语（写字篇）常用汉字部首（汉英对照）

2) A Speedy Elementary Course 500 Basic Chinese Characters (Chinese-English)

外国人汉字速成（修订本）（汉英对照）

Thanks!

Edit: I'm located in Beijing

[atitarev]

Thanks, Roddy. I always like Chinese audio-books.

My number one choice is:

Graded Chinese Reader 1: Selected, Abridged Chinese Contemporary Short Stories+MP3

汉语分级阅读 1(附MP3)

http://www.studychineseculture.com/book.asp?id=4237

It has accompanying pinyin, a time saver when reading large texts and you need to look up words quickly.

I wrote a quick review on the web-site as well.

I am in Melbourne, Australia

Regards,

Anatoli Titarev

安德利