Speed up your Chinese is a unique and innovative resource that identifies and explains the common errors that English-speaking learners of Chinese repeatedly make. The book brings together these common errors to offer a valuable insight into the differences between English and Chinese and to reveal the inner workings of the latter allowing students to enhance their understanding and mastery of the Chinese language. Key features: organizes basic principles of Mandarin grammar into coherent categories. learner-oriented and problem-solving approach analysis approximately 150 commonly made errors. highlights and explains differences between Mandarin and English mnemonic devises provide vital learning strategies exercises with full answer key to reinforce learning examples in traditional characters provided in the appendix. Speed up your Chinese is the ideal reference for all learners of Chinese.

Learning Chinese can be frustrating and difficult, partly because it's very different from European languages. Following a teacher, textbook or language course is not enough. They show you the characters, words and grammar you need to become proficient in Chinese, but they don't teach you how to learn them! Regardless of what program you're in (if any), you need to take responsibility for your own learning. If you don't, you will miss many important things that aren't included in the course you're taking. If you study on your own, you need to be even more aware of what you need to do, what you're doing at the moment and the difference between them. Here are some of the questions I have asked and have since been asked many times by students: How do I learn characters efficiently? How do I get the most out of my course or teacher? Which are the best learning tools and resources? How can I become fluent in Mandarin? How can I improve my pronunciation? How do I learn successfully on my own? How can I motivate myself to study more? How can I fit learning Chinese into a busy schedule? The answers I've found to these questions and many others form the core of this book. It took eight years of learning, researching, teaching and writing to figure these things out. Not everybody has the time to do that! I can't go back in time and help myself learn in a better way, but I can help you! This book is meant for normal students and independent language learners alike. While it covers all major areas of learning, you won't learn Chinese just by reading this book. It's like when someone on TV teaches you how to cook: you won't get to eat the delicious dish just by watching the program; you have to do the cooking yourself. That's true for this book as well. When you apply what you learn, it will boost your learning, making every hour you spend count for more, but you still have to do the learning yourself. This is what a few readers have said about the book: "The book had me nodding at a heap of things I'd learnt the hard way, wishing I knew them when I started, as well as highlighting areas that I'm currently missing in my study." - Geoff van der Meer, VP engineering "This publication is like a bible for anyone serious about Chinese proficiency. It's easy for anyone to read and written with scientific precision." - Zachary Danz, foreign teacher, children's theatre artist About me I started learning Chinese when I was 23 (that's more than eight years ago now) and have since studied in many different situations, including serious immersion programs abroad, high-intensity programs in Sweden, online courses, as well as on the side while working or studying other things. I have also successfully used my Chinese in a graduate program for teaching Chinese as a second language, taught entirely in Chinese mostly for native speakers (the Graduate Institute for Teaching Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University). All these parts have contributed to my website, Hacking Chinese, where I write regularly about how to learn Mandarin.

The Routledge Intermediate Chinese Reader is a comprehensive reader designed to provide varied, stimulating and up-to-date reading material for learners of Chinese at the intermediate level. The Chinese Reader provides a bridge between basic literacy skills and the ability to read full novels and newspapers in Chinese. It consists of forty readings, graded on the basis of complexity of vocabulary, grammar and syntax. These readings present a range of different text types representative of modern Chinese popular writing which will inspire students to continue reading independently in Chinese. It is ideal for learners who already possess a knowledge of essential grammar and vocabulary and who wish to expand their knowledge of the language through contextualized reading material. Key features include: Extracts from newspaper and internet articles Vocabulary annotation next to the reading paragraphs for quick reference Short grammar explanations of any complicated structures Comprehension and discussion questions Notes on culture and idioms Lesson structure maps to aid comprehension A companion website containing lesson audio and electronic vocabulary flash cards Full glossary at the back and answer key for reading questions Suitable for both class use and independent study, The Routledge Intermediate Chinese Reader is an essential tool for facilitating vocabulary learning and increasing reading proficiency.

…well-written and helps you speak Chinese in no time. --FluentU.com

Winner of the Lionel Gelber Prize National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist An Economist Best Book of the Year | A Financial Times Book of the Year | A Wall Street Journal Book of the Year | A Washington Post Book of the Year | A Bloomberg News Book of the Year | An Esquire China Book of the Year | A Gates Notes Top Read of the Year Perhaps no one in the twentieth century had a greater long-term impact on world history than Deng Xiaoping. And no scholar of contemporary East Asian history and culture is better qualified than Ezra Vogel to disentangle the many contradictions embodied in the life and legacy of China’s boldest strategist. Once described by Mao Zedong as a “needle inside a ball of cotton,” Deng was the pragmatic yet disciplined driving force behind China’s radical transformation in the late twentieth century. He confronted the damage wrought by the Cultural Revolution, dissolved Mao’s cult of personality, and loosened the economic and social policies that had stunted China’s growth. Obsessed with modernization and technology, Deng opened trade relations with the West, which lifted hundreds of millions of his countrymen out of poverty. Yet at the same time he answered to his authoritarian roots, most notably when he ordered the crackdown in June 1989 at Tiananmen Square. Deng’s youthful commitment to the Communist Party was cemented in Paris in the early 1920s, among a group of Chinese student-workers that also included Zhou Enlai. Deng returned home in 1927 to join the Chinese Revolution on the ground floor. In the fifty years of his tumultuous rise to power, he endured accusations, purges, and even exile before becoming China’s preeminent leader from 1978 to 1989 and again in 1992. When he reached the top, Deng saw an opportunity to creatively destroy much of the economic system he had helped build for five decades as a loyal follower of Mao—and he did not hesitate.

Two leading experts on China evaluate its rise throughout the past one hundred fifty years, sharing portraits of key intellectual and political leaders to explain how China transformed from a country under foreign assault to a world giant.

‘Excellent book. The chapters put together and systematise a lot of material that is often taught in an anecdotal or haphazard sort of way, if at all. Students will learn a great deal from the book and have their confidence in using Spanish considerably boosted as a result.’ – Jonathan Thacker, Merton College, University of Oxford, UK ‘An invaluable, highly original and methodically sound approach to correcting and eliminating common, yet difficult-to-eliminate errors.’ – Manuel Delgado, Bucknell University, USA ‘The user-friendly format and page layout makes Speed Up Your Spanish a highly practical reference source for students and teachers.’– Ma Victoria García Serrano, University of Pennsylvania, USA False friends, idiomatic expressions, gender and capitalization are just some of the areas that cause confusion for students of Spanish. Learning how to avoid the common errors that arise repeatedly in these areas is an essential step for successful language learning. Speed Up Your Spanish is a unique and innovative resource that identifies and explains such errors, thereby enabling students of Spanish to learn from their mistakes while enhancing their understanding of the Spanish language. Each of the nine chapters focuses on a grammatical category where English speakers typically make mistakes in Spanish. Each chapter is divided into sections that classify the concepts and errors into subcategories. Full explanations are provided throughout with clear, comprehensive examples and exercises to help the learner gain an in-depth understanding of Spanish grammar and usage. Key features: carefully selected grammar topics and examples based on the most commonly made errors exercises throughout to reinforce learning shortcuts and mnemonic devices providing vital learning strategies a Companion Website available at www.speedupyourspanish.com providing supplementary exercises as well as audio files. Suitable both for classroom use or self-study, Speed Up Your Spanish is the ideal resource for all intermediate learners of Spanish wishing to refine their language skills. Javier Muñoz-Basols is an Instructor in Spanish at the University of Oxford. Marianne David teaches Spanish at the Trinity School in New York. Olga Núñez Piñeiro is Senior Lecturer in Spanish at the University of Westminster.