Topics you don't find in textbooks, but you need!

[Angelina]

Because people need friends.

If you don't have a job, it does not mean that you are not an interesting person. Thus, you can be a cool person who can speak Mandarin with your cool Chinese friends, who just happens not to be earning a salary.

[xuefang]

@Silent 

 

I just saw you are beaten.... by about 10 years: http://en.people.cn/...222_174296.html

 

I have both the older My Chinese Classroom and the newer Our Chinese Classroom, I use them with my students. They are the best books I've found so far for foreigners that are working or staying at home, but there are things I'm not happy with them. And they aren't concentrated only for housewives, so there are dialogues and vocabulary that isn't relevant to housewives, also important topics missing that would be crucial.

 

If there are other textbooks out there meant for housewives, I'd love to know!

 

What do housewives need Chinese for apart from shopping, traveling, going out and obviously the handsome handyman?

 

 

It is true that most housewives living in China are here only temporarily and aren't looking to getting fluent in Chinese. But they need Chinese for the practical stuff like shopping, traveling, going out, but also for talking with the taxi driver or a private driver, ordering clothes at the tailor's, shopping online and talking with the delivery guy on the phone, having a massage, a haircut or a manicure. These are very important topics and make their life much easier and independent here.

[ChTTay]

I always find the topics of the texts in textbooks really boring. I know you can't cater for everyone's interests ... but actually I'm kind of interested in anything interesting haha At least in terms of online articles and stuff, I'll read anything.

 

I'd like a textbook to use some hard-hitting news articles or stories that have actually happened in the modern world, rather than just made up stories or Dynasty era stories. For example, in recent history, the Sichuan earthquake, the world cup, Crimea/Ukraine etc etc

[Silent]

 

It is true that most housewives living in China are here only temporarily and aren't looking to getting fluent in Chinese. But they need Chinese for the practical stuff like shopping, traveling, going out, but also for talking with the taxi driver or a private driver, ordering clothes at the tailor's, shopping online and talking with the delivery guy on the phone, having a massage, a haircut or a manicure. These are very important topics and make their life much easier and independent here.

This is pretty much the idea I had and all the subjects you mention are covered by previous posts. So was wondering what winterpromise meant with "I'd be interested in something for housewives". I imagine that talking about cleaning hasn't real priority. Though getting tips on cleaning problems or even more on how to prepare typical chinese food products may be of interest.