Learning the Language 207For Further Learning
There are many, many resources available today for native
English-speakers seeking to learn Chinese: books, tapes, videos,
DVDs and websites abound. There are classes and tutors
available in every Chinese city (and most good-sized US and
EU cities, should you want to prepare a little before you go).
In every issue of every English-language expat-oriented
publication in China (Beijing’s Beijing Scene, Shanghai’s City
Talk and so forth), you will find ads for classes and tutors, and
from individual Chinese people looking to exchange language
learning with native speakers of English. Some of these ads are
for people seeking romance as much as language, but many
are straightforward, and finding a language buddy can be an
excellent way to gain insight into the local culture that goes
beyond language. A few of our favourite resources include:
Books and Tapes Combos
Spoken Standard Chinese. Hugh M Stimson and Parker
Po Fei Huang. New Haven, CT: Yale Far Eastern Publications,
1976.
Chinese for Today. Beijing Language Institute. San Francisco:
China Books and Periodicals Inc, 1996.
Chinese Language Learning for Beginners. Sinolingua, 1993.
Software, Video and DVD Packages
The Rosetta Stone series (http://www.rosettastone.com)
The China Horizon series (http://www.chinesehorizon.com)
Clavisinica (http://www.clavisinica.com)
Useful Websites
For general information and sale of many Chinese
language and cultural or educational products: http://www.
chinasprout.com
A great on-line audio resource for spoken Chinese, plus
many fun features: http://people.wku.edu/haiwang.yuan/
AudioChinese/index.html
A book-website combo for conversational Chinese that
is worth looking at: http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/ccol/
content.htm