reality chinese- any good?

[citambulos]

Is this item (http://www.chinabooks.ch/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3039

worth buying?

Edited January 3, 2009 at 01:56 PM by imron
fixed link so it will work for people who are not you.

[roddy]

Any information on your own level, why you're considering this book, what you've studied before, etc?

[citambulos]

I can follow with some concentration the upper intermediate dialogs of chinesepod or the the intermediate section on lingq Chinese. So I would say I'm intermediate to upper intermediate in listening.

I want to boost my listening capabilities towards understanding comfortably real conversations.

[imron]

In that case, this should help.

[citambulos]

Nice! Love the vocab lists.

Does anybody know a good reader, with newspaper reading and so on which comes with good vocab lists. I found out I still have to expand my vocabulary. Even though I keep feeding and feeding my brain with Chinese words, there pop up new unknown words everyday and everywhere.

[wrbt]

http://www.cheng-tsui.com/store/products/across_straits

Dialogs on variety of topics with audio, each with vocab lists and some grammar explanation. Great if your focus is listening comprehension and expanding usable vocab.

[citambulos]

Looks good. The price is a bit hefty, though.

[Radial]

I bought it a year ago... was a little too advance... decided to wait a while and get back to it... just put all the videos on to my ipod... and am looking forward to getting back to it.

I should note that the dialogue on most of these is quite hard to hear because of the background noise... you have to really work hard to hear clearly... of course... you have the written dialogue that you can look at... because these are based on actual television shows... should also be able to get the dialogue off the internet... may try doing that now.

I think this book will get on my studied list... rather than my bought and warehoused list...

[wrbt]

Same problem with the DVD for the textbook China Scene. Lots of background noise, even ear-pain-inducing music dubbed over from the original source newscast, etc.

They had some audio CDs they came out later that were studio recordings of dialogue which is much better... I realize one has to learn to hear thru less than ideal conditions but man the DVD was just brutal.

[Radial]

any idea where to get the audio cds?

[wrbt]

Here's another option of similar design that just came out:

http://www.cheng-tsui.com/store/products/scenario_chinese/scenario_chinese_i

The first part of the Scenario Chinese course introduces students to Stories Amid Ourselves, a series of mini-plays shown on television in Beijing. These ten episodes, each lasting around five minutes, revolve around various scenarios of urban life in Beijing, with characters drawn from a wide socioeconomic spectrum. Each unit in the book includes the text of the scene, new vocabulary, grammar notes and exercises that emphasize listening and speaking, with the accompanying DVDs providing the footage for convenient study. Designed by the authors to acquaint learners with contemporary Chinese society through authentic and living language, Scenario Chinese is a perfect supplement for college or AP Chinese classes.

[wrbt]

And yet more of the "watch video and have accompanying textbook" genre:

http://www.cheng-tsui.com/store/products/home_kids/home_kids_student_book

Based on the hit Chinese sitcom Home with Kids, this new intermediate textbook series encourages language learning while following the ups and downs of a fictional family. Each volume discusses four episodes from the series. The lessons each include warm-up questions, dialogue from the episodes, vocabulary, grammar points, cultural notes and exercises that test all four language skills. Grammar and vocabulary indexes, as well as answers to the exercises, are provided. DVDs, which contain full episodes corresponding to the textbooks, are available separately.

http://www.cheng-tsui.com/store/products/shower

The movie SHOWER depicts the sentimental reluctance of the Chinese people to part with their conventional lifestyle and ideology against the background of a fast-developing modern society. With its touching story and profound implications, this highly acclaimed movie has won a number of national and international awards, and has been chosen by many universities as materials for their TCFL audio-visual classes. This book selects 6 excerpts from the movie, adds detailed annotation and provides diversified exercises based on the audio-visual materials. The accompanying DVD contains 2 versions of the movie: a complete version to be watched for appreciation, and a reedited version for use in the classroom. The book is best suited for learners of Chinese with a vocabulary of 1500 words, and can be used for class as well as for self study.