Elementary Mandarin Chinese Textbook

The 24 lessons in this book are meant to be used in 3 hours per week of class instruction over one academic year. Students will need another 2–3 hours of outside practice and review for every hour of class time, using the materials in the accompanying Elementary Mandarin Chinese Workbook.

These books can also be used by self-study learners due to the extensive explanations and free supplementary materials available — including online audio and video recordings and flash cards.

The entire course can be completed in 25 to 35 weeks and teaches you the basic skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing Mandarin Chinese at a conversational level. Each lesson starts with a dialogue and includes a list of new and supplementary Chinese vocabulary along with questions and grammar notes about the dialogue, a reading section and extensive exercises.

About the Author

Cornelius C. Kubler, Ph.D is Stanfield Professor of Asian Studies at Williams College, where he teaches Chinese and for many years chaired the Department of Asian Studies. He was formerly Chinese Language Training Supervisor and Chair of the Department of Asian and African Languages at the Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State, where he trained American diplomats in Chinese and other languages, and he served for six years as Principal of the American Institute in Taiwan Chinese Language & Area Studies School.

Kubler, who has directed intensive Chinese language training programs in the U.S., mainland China, and Taiwan, has been active in Chinese language test development and has authored or coauthored over 13 books and 50 articles on Chinese language pedagogy and linguistics.