Author Vivienne Zhang is a native Chinese speaker fluent in English who has been translating, interpreting and teaching for many years. She has tried, tested and perfected various lessons and techniques that apply well to Chinese studies. These modern techniques are now published in a series of four books.
Each book teaches the reader both Pinyin and Hanzi (Chinese characters). One of the unique features in these books is the literal translation into English of common Chinese expressions and vocabulary. For example, you can often see the annotation "lit." with the grammar points in BOOK 1, showing the direct translation of the Chinese text. This technique reinforces an understanding of sentence structure and grammar which has proven to be instrumental in helping the students and readers to retain the Chinese that they have already learned. Other Chinese language books do not use this approach.
In BOOK 1, Part 1 teaches the Chinese Pinyin system, the Romanization of Mandarin, often considered the foundation for learning the language. After Part 1 is completed, you can move on to Part 2 which provides an understanding of grammar points. There are useful examples to help you grasp each of the grammar points. Part 2 is arranged in such a way that any topic in this part can be studied independently.
Upon completion of this book, you will attain mastery of Chinese grammar and vocabulary.
NOTE: After you have learnt Pinyin (initials, finals and tones) in Part 1 of BOOK 1, you are ready to continue studying any books within the Modern Chinese series...BOOK 1, 2, 3 and 4.