Are there any really good textbooks out there?

[Qiuyue]

I am a student of chinese 3 since years, although intensively only the last.

As chinese is difficult and I lack time, I like to be as effective as possible when studying (which I do on my own, with some help from my wife).

I´ve been looking for really good textbooks for quite some time, in different countries and in many stores. But I haven´t really found what I am looking for.

I have tried quite a few books, and most of them are really unsatisfactory.

For me (!), the ultimate "Learn chinese textbook" would at least include:

- Plenty of text. Both pinyin and characters, with english translation attached. Pinyin should be below characters.

For me, who likes to rehearse, it is a problem that I, after having read them 5 times, know the texts.

- Vocabulary lists. Of course characters. But not just the meanings of words, but also meanings of the single character. Preferably also showing radicals.

You win a lot, in short- as well as longterm, by learning all the components of each character.

Have you seen it?

Please tell me!

[kudra]

As a list, this might get you started. There are no reviews attached to that thread, but with the book titles you can start searching for reviews on these forums and amazon, etc.

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/8091-texts-used-in-us-university-programs&

The table should help you figure out what books are right for your level.

[patvas2004]

Do you know the new "Boya hanyu (9 books) from beijing daxue" ??

They seems to be the hardest among all others books (level 1 to max level 11 HSK, they wrote on backcover), I ask a friend to bring me back all of them from China.

All these books + CDROMs for about 50 $ in China, it's a real gift for this price, isn't it ?

(Instead of 300 $ even more in western countries)

[Qiuyue]

That sounds good. I´ll look for them, should be available at a Xinhua store somewhere, perhaps even from some website.

Have you hade a look at them, do you if they meet my wishes?

Thanks

[pattifranklin]

"China Scene" is a good book that I have used. It has audio/video, grammar, culture, and plenty of reading (vocab lists included)

Check it out and let me know what you think. You should be able to find it on amazon.