Help finding a suitable textbook

[Simahui]

Hi all, I am turning to the collective wisdom of Chineseforums to help me out with a delicate issue. Me and some friends have managed to set up an upper-intermediate group to study Mandarin in a private school in Taiwan, but our group still hasn't got a textbook and we are looking for a suitable one.

We need a textbook that is available both in simplified and traditional characters, since half of us use simplified and the other half use traditional, so PAVC is out of the question. I suggested NPCR, which has a traditional characters edition, and although the teachers liked it we ran into management which said no Mainland China books could be used in class, so it's back to square one.

My guess is that an American textbook could fit the bill by reconciling our practical needs and the political obstacles, but so far most of what I've found is from Mainland China. Any help? Thank you in advance.

[roddy]

Welcome to the site! Hope your group works out well, don't forget to ask the others to join ;-)

 

Is Integrated Chinese any use. I'm not sure if they have traditional for everything, but looks like it might be an option. 

 

Is that an actual legal prohibition on mainland textbooks, or just school policy. I'd be inclined to push back on that if possible, would be a shame to use a second-choice textbook. 

[grawrt]

I used Integrated Chinese during university (traditional) and I kind of liked it better than NPCR. The textbook had more practical texts, although they were much more simple, the vocabulary I used and learned were more useful and avoided overdosing on useless vocabulary.

[oceancalligraphy]

NPCR is from Beijing University Press and "Compiled under the sponsorship of the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOTCFL), and in consultation with the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) Guidelines". It's based on China's education guidelines, so I'm not surprised the school won't allow it.

What concerns me is finding an upper-intermediate textbook. Maybe knowing which PAVC or NPCR level/book you were considering would help. 遠東生活華語 Far East Everyday Chinese (link to book 3) has simplified versions. Integrated Chinese (link to publisher) level 2 has simplified and traditional characters. That's equivalent to 2nd year college, and as high as the series goes. There are a couple from Yale University Press: Traditional Chinese Tales: A Course for Intermediate Chinese has both simplified and traditional versions, as does David and Helen in China, which is "an intermediate course". I haven't seen or used any of these books myself, so I can't comment on the content.

[Simahui]

Thanks for the answers! I'll look into the books you've mentioned. In what concerns our level, the "standard" book to be used in this course would be PAVC 5, but we have decided against using it and are looking for alternatives. Another candidate was Taiwan Today, which one teacher seemed to dislike for some reason. I'll look into the Integrated Chinese series, and the Yale books look really good. If it was up to me, I'd definitely love to use the "Traditional Chinese Tales" book

[OneEye]

I personally really liked Taiwan Today. It was a great textbook. The texts are all in both simplified and traditional. The Princeton series (by Chou Chih-p'ing) is another option, especially if you can find audio. Advanced Reader of Modem Chinese I: China's own Critics is a good one.

[oceancalligraphy]

I looked at the MTC book list to get an idea of level equivalency. It looks like 遠東生活華語 Far East Everyday Chinese 3 would be equivalent in level to PAVC 5. 

 

Did a search for the Princeton series and found a page of clearance sale books from the Princeton Chinese Linguistics Project, including some Advanced Readers. 

[Simahui]

Just a heads up -- we have settled for Far East Everyday Chinese 3 as our textbook. Thank you all for your suggestions, you've been very helpful!

[roddy]

Excellent, let us know how you get on with it.