FOREVER FREE: Elsa's Pride
Average customer rating: Not rated
    FOREVER FREE: Elsa's Pride
    Joy Adamson
    Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 0006328857
    FOREVER FREE: Elsa's Pride
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      FOREVER FREE: Elsa's Pride
      Joy Adamson
      Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback
      ASIN: B000O8UYKE

      The Weightlifting Encyclopedia: A Guide to World Class Performance
      Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
      • highy recommended
      • NOT for beginners, very good for more advanced lifters
      • It is about time to have a Second Edition.
      • Awesome
      • The Best Book On The Subject - but...
      The Weightlifting Encyclopedia: A Guide to World Class Performance
      Arthur J. Drechsler
      Manufacturer: A is A Communications
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      SportsSports | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
      Bodybuilding & Weight TrainingBodybuilding & Weight Training | Training | Sports | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Sports | Subjects | Books
      Look Inside Nonfiction BooksLook Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
      Look Inside Reference BooksLook Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
      Look Inside Sports BooksLook Inside Sports Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
      Similar Items:
      1. Essentials of Weightlifting and Strength Training Essentials of Weightlifting and Strength Training
      2. Starting Strength: A Simple and Practical Guide for Coaching Beginners Starting Strength: A Simple and Practical Guide for Coaching Beginners
      3. Practical Programming for Strength Training Practical Programming for Strength Training
      4. An Introduction to Olympic-Style Weightlifting An Introduction to Olympic-Style Weightlifting
      5. Explosive Lifting for Sports: Enhanced Edition Explosive Lifting for Sports: Enhanced Edition

      ASIN: 0965917924

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars highy recommended.......2005-07-03

      This book is the real encyclopedia with thorough contemplation of a very experienced author. You will not find numerous pictures or the beginning stuff several times repeated in this work. But you will find two-column dense text of pure-gold information that every good and skillful weightlifter or bodybuilder should know.
      Up to now I gave a very good recommendation for Mr. El-Hewie’s ‘Weightlifting & Strength Training’, which is also encyclopedic work on the same subject. It is interesting to compare these two books.

      Shortly said: ‘Weightlifting & Strength Training’ by Mr. El-Hewie is full of pictures and a little more on the beginner’s side when compared to the Mr. Drechsler’s book. On the other edge is the ‘Weightlifting Encyclopedia’ by Mr. Drechsler which has almost no pictures, but is much more dedicated to the experienced lifter; it does not repeat itself through it’s contents, and it has a very deep treatment of the weightlifting practice, which is more suitable for experienced practitioner; also it is cheaper.

      But this distinction is not quite justified: El-Hewie`s book have the outstanding analysis of muscular imbalance in relation to Olympic weightlifting, which I could not find in Drechsler`s book at all. Some pictures from El-Hewie`s book are really worth thousands of words. It seems that the books complement each other beautifully.

      Which book should you buy after all? I think you should have both books; either as a professional or a beginner you will have extremely valuable information in both books.

      I recommend this book highly for every experienced weightlifter and for the inspired beginners.

      3 out of 5 stars NOT for beginners, very good for more advanced lifters.......2004-07-01

      The book is huge and really explains every tiny aspect of O lifting. If you are a beginner it can actually be a bad thing since you're flooded with an enormous amount of information, but when you have a solid foundation and you aren't just lifting to improve your performance but participating in the sport of weightlifting this book is for you.
      Too little pictures to demonstrate technique.(there is a videocompagnon available however)

      5 out of 5 stars It is about time to have a Second Edition........2004-05-25

      It is about time for Mr. Drechsler to refine his encyclopedia in a newer edition. He must find ways of reducing the lengthy pages of text, without illustration or appropriate paragraph breaks, into less boring and modern style. His wealth of knowledge is greatly undermined by his extensive literal description of techniques and approaches, with skimpy illustrations.

      The book contents attest to the dedication and genuine desire of its author to enhance the sport of Weightlifting and to convey the best information the author could offer.

      The design of the book cover is poor where the title is pushed aside and reduced into a tiny unnoticeable scratch. A book with such wealth of knowledge deserves better cover design, better paragraph design, and attractive illustrations and quotations between transitions of thoughts in order to keep the reader interested and staying awake while reading.

      5 out of 5 stars Awesome.......2003-12-30

      Great for a beginner or advanced lifter. Great for a coach trying to teach the lifts.

      4 out of 5 stars The Best Book On The Subject - but..........2001-12-20

      Given that there are so few books about Weightlifting and given Dreschler's exhaustive treatment on the subject in this book, based on his valuable personal experience, this is a must-have book for any weightlifter. This book is without peer.

      That said, Dreschler could have used a good editor. The book could have covered the same material minus a few hundred pages. In addition, the book is text-long and diagram-short. Essays can be a wonderful tool, but so much of weightlifting can be explained better with photos and diagrams. For example, there is no freeze-frame analysis of lifting technique. How better to correct technique problems than to display examples of proper and improper technique? In this case, a picture truly is worth a thousand words.

      That said, the reader should also purchase Dreschler's companion video or some other weightlifting video.

      Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 2: Workbook (Simplified Character Edition) (C&T Asian Languages Series.)
      Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
      • A Great Text Book
      • Don't buy it!!
      • Excellent Supplemental Material for IC Users.
      Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 2: Workbook (Simplified Character Edition) (C&T Asian Languages Series.)

      Manufacturer: Cheng & Tsui
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback
      Similar Items:
      1. Integrated Chinese Level 1 PT. 1, Character Workbook, Trad. and Simp., 2nd Edition Integrated Chinese Level 1 PT. 1, Character Workbook, Trad. and Simp., 2nd Edition
      2. Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Simplified Character Edition (Integrated Chinese) (Integrated Chinese) Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Simplified Character Edition (Integrated Chinese) (Integrated Chinese)
      3. Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 1: Textbook (Simplified Character Edition) (C&T Asian Languages Series.) Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 1: Textbook (Simplified Character Edition) (C&T Asian Languages Series.)
      4. Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 2: Workbook, Simplified Characters, Second Edition Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 2: Workbook, Simplified Characters, Second Edition
      5. Integrated Chinese: Level 2 Textbook: Traditional and Simplified Character Edition Integrated Chinese: Level 2 Textbook: Traditional and Simplified Character Edition

      ASIN: 0887272711

      Book Description

      The Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part 2 Workbook contains exercises to accompany the material introduced in the Level 1 Part 2 Textbook and audio CDs. This acclaimed, best-selling series is successful because it "integrates" all four language skills--listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Integrated Chinese helps you understand how the Chinese language works grammatically, and how to use Chinese in real life—how to understand it on the street, speak it on the telephone, read it in the newspaper, or write it in a report. The materials within Integrated Chinese's set of textbooks, workbooks, character workbooks, and audio CDs are divided into sections of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Two types of exercises are used: traditional exercises (fill-in-the-blank, sentence completion, translation) to help learners build a solid grammatical foundation, and communication-oriented exercises (speaking drills, discussion topics, etc.) to prepare them to function in a Chinese language environment. Frequently, authentic materials written for native Chinese speakers and realia (newspaper clippings, signs, tickets, etc.) are used. Notes on language use and Chinese culture are found throughout the textbooks. Textbooks and workbooks are available in simplified or traditional characters.

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars A Great Text Book.......2006-03-10

      As it's name indicated this set is "integrated". It is well structured, provids constant reviewing. In addition, because it's a college text book, there are many resources you can use to help you study.
      The contents are every day Chinese that you can apply in your daily life. Some students of mine using this book can write Chinese notes after learning just a few lessons.

      1 out of 5 stars Don't buy it!!.......2006-01-14

      The workbook is very boring and not useful at all. I would hihgly recommend the new integrated multimedia course that just came out, called Chinese Odyssey. My sister, roommate, and I have all been using it -- and it's a wonderful integrated approach to Chinese learning that makes language learning both fun and informative! Try the Chinese Odyssey! You'll love it!

      5 out of 5 stars Excellent Supplemental Material for IC Users........2003-11-16


      On Integrated Chinese in General:

      Integrated Chinese is one of two programs commonly used in U.S. University and College Chinese programs, and is, in my opinion, the best program for English speakers to learn Chinese that I've ever seen. [The other program, the Practical Chinese Reader series, is also reasonably good, but doesn't introduce the key grammar, writing and pronounciation rules from the beginning, doesn't focus as heavily on radicals early on as it should, and the sequence of lessons isn't as useful.]

      Unlike so many other programs, IC doesn't just focus on speaking the language, but incorporates all areas that make learning a language complete (listening, speaking, reading and writing). But, what makes this program excellent isn't merely the integrated approach, but its sequence and methodology that lay a solid foundation to build upon, making learning the language much easier and faster.

      On this workbook in particular:

      This workbook is a very useful companion to the Integrated Chinese text book, giving you additional hands on, practical experience in listening to and speaking the Chinese language. NOTE: It primarily focuses on listening comprehension and reading exercises, which requires the workbook audio (cassette or CD). Reading comprehension, writing and grammar are covered to a lesser extent.
      Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 2: Character Workbook (Traditional Character Edition) (Level I Traditional Character Texts)
      Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
      • No longer the best
      • A Good Place to Start, in an Academic Setting
      • Cannot stress it enough
      • Integrated Chinese is fantastic
      • A good choice
      Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 2: Character Workbook (Traditional Character Edition) (Level I Traditional Character Texts)
      Tao-Chung Yao , Yuehua Liu , Nyang-Ping Bi , Yea-Fen Chen , Liangyan Ge , Yaohua Shi , Xiaojun Wang , and Jeffrey J. Hyden
      Manufacturer: Cheng & Tsui
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback
      Similar Items:
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      3. Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Simplified Character Edition (Integrated Chinese) (Integrated Chinese) Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Simplified Character Edition (Integrated Chinese) (Integrated Chinese)
      4. Integrated Chinese: Traditional Character Edition, Level 1 (C&T Asian Languages Series) Integrated Chinese: Traditional Character Edition, Level 1 (C&T Asian Languages Series)
      5. Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 Traditional Character Edition Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 Traditional Character Edition

      ASIN: 088727272X

      Book Description

      The Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part 2 Character Workbook introduces how to write Chinese characters in their correct stroke order, and accompanies the Level 1 Part 2 Textbook. This acclaimed, best-selling series is successful because it "integrates" all four language skills--listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Integrated Chinese helps you understand how the Chinese language works grammatically, and how to use Chinese in real life—how to understand it on the street, speak it on the telephone, read it in the newspaper, or write it in a report. The materials within Integrated Chinese's set of textbooks, workbooks, character workbooks, and audio CDs are divided into sections of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Two types of exercises are used: traditional exercises (fill-in-the-blank, sentence completion, translation) to help learners build a solid grammatical foundation, and communication-oriented exercises (speaking drills, discussion topics, etc.) to prepare them to function in a Chinese language environment. Frequently, authentic materials written for native Chinese speakers and realia (newspaper clippings, signs, tickets, etc.) are used. Notes on language use and Chinese culture are found throughout the textbooks. Textbooks and workbooks are available in simplified or traditional characters.

      Customer Reviews:

      2 out of 5 stars No longer the best.......2005-02-03

      I have used Integrated Chinese (IC) for a semester. This fall I changed to the Interactions/Connections series. My reasons and recommendations are given below.

      I do not recommend Integrated Chinese (IC). Teachers may like it because all the course materials come in the each set of books: Textbook, Workbook, Character Workbook. The problem: the pedagogy and the Chinese is out-of-date, the dialogues are poorly written, the grammar explanations and exercises are not great and the audio CDs are poorly structured and poorly recorded. I recommend only the Character Workbook from IC

      As an example, here is a translation of the first dialogue from IC.
      IC-I Dialogue 1
      Mr. Wang: Hello!
      Miss Li: Hello!
      Mr Wang: May I ask your last name?
      Miss Li: My last name is Li. What's yours?
      Mr Wang: My last name is Wang, Peng Wang. What is your (whole) name?
      Miss Li: My name is You Li.

      Now, here is a translation of the first dialogue from an alternative course: Interactions/Connections by Yan & (J. L-C. Liu

      Interactions I Dialogue 1
      [young] Gao: Hey! Li, what day are you going to register on?
      [young] Li: I'll register tomorrow. What about you? Today?
      Gao: No. I'll register the day after tomorrow. Classes start next Monday.
      Li: Isn't next Monday August 31st?
      Gao: No. Next Monday is August 30th, not the 31st.
      Li: August 30th isn't your birthday, is it?
      Gao: No. My birthday is August 23rd, day before yesterday. What day is your birthday?
      Li: I'm August, too. August 26th -- tomorrow.
      Gao: Happy birthday!

      The Interactions/Connections dialogue is meatier and more challenging. More important, it is real people talking conversational Chinese, and it has strong rhythm and comic and dramatic values (mistaken dates). Those contrasts continue throughout the books. The most common comments from a native Chinese speaker when reading
      a) Interactions or Connections: "Yes! That's the way we talk."
      b) IC: "Well ... we usually don't say it that way."

      The IC dialogues are extremely dull, not really colloquial and have very stilted rhythm. Ideally, you want to MEMORIZE the dialogs in a language course, so you burn the speech patterns into your brain. I challenge anyone to do that with the Integrated dialogs.

      AUDIO: I haven't heard the Interactions/Connections CDs so I can't comment on whether they are worth the $100 (Indiana University publisher). The IC CDs are pretty bad. They seem to have been made from a cassette master. The have poor miking and uneven volume levels -- when you turn the sound up high enough to hear the man's voice clearly, the distortion on the woman's voice will drive you nuts. The speaking pace is too fast for a beginning level, the pronunciation is not clear and the organization is poor. You can't listen to the tapes without the book in front of you: the vocabulary lists go: "Number 1: 'xiansheng'". Why they wasted precious space giving you a useless item number rather than the english meaning is one of the great mysteries of life.

      DIFFICULTY: Interactions/Connections is a college-level course and it challenges you from the start. IC appears to be a high-school or middle-school level book. Not much meat, lots of repetition of vocabulary words from chapter to chapter (filler?).

      PEDAGOGY: IC extremely old-fashioned -- circa 1950's. Interactions/Connections very up-to-date and cognitively savvy; especially note presentation of written characters, presentation of cultural material and snappy dialogue.

      GRAMMAR: the Interactions/Connections grammar material is much clearer and more up-to-date.

      EXERCISES: I stopped using the IC workbook pretty early on because the material was both excruciatingly boring and not useful/challenging enough. Level 1, Part 2 textbook exercises become so cryptic as to be useless. Not hard material, just inadequate editing.

      Recommendation for beginners:
      1. Start with at least Pimsleur Mandarin I (full course -- buy, borrow or rent) to get exemplary pronunciation and a strong aural base for the language.
      2. Progress to Interactions I. Get a tutor to help you get into the first chapters, and give you information about Chinese culture and up-to-the minute expressions. (You will need a tutor or class for any course except Pimsleur audio courses.)
      3. If you have a computer and you can afford it, get Wenlin3. It's worth every penny: built-in dictionary, rich character help and lots of readings. Palm and pocket computers also have very nice dictionaries and Chinese tools.

      Non-beginners: If you are switching from IC to Interactions/Connections you may have to step back a couple of chapters to catch up. Get the previous book from the library if necessary.

      5 out of 5 stars A Good Place to Start, in an Academic Setting.......2004-05-29

      This is not a phrase book, and not usefull for those wishing to independently learn some Chinese before going on vacation or some tour package. For that you should realy get a phrase book, like Lonely Planet.

      This is good for an academic, and thus slower, study of Chinese. I have studied Chinese at the University of Washington, and my first year was taught by Bi Nian Ping, one of the contributors for this book.

      The reason I recomend this book is, obviously, it's integration. Typicaly people bring lots of very narrow interests to the table when they decide to learn Chinese. Some just want to learn to speak, some want to learn for buisness, some just want to learn to read classical Chinese. The truth is that you realy can't break off part of the language and ignore the other parts, otherwise you will be hard pressed to make sense of the overall system that is the Chinese language. This book forces the student to, in equal parts, listen, read, write, and speak. That way a full comprehension can be developed, not a fragmented and specialized one.

      There are some criticisms of the book: When I was a first year student, the main one was of the books artwork, which is either awfull or hillarious. But that's not realy fair. Other criticisms are that the book is prone to using words it hasn't explained yet. This, however, is an important strategy in language learning. When the student is confronted with actual Chinese speakers, they will hear lots of words that they don't necessarily know, but will need to judge from context what they mean. A lot of students who have only studied in the classroom experience a panic-paralyisis when confronted with and actual Chinese speaker, because if they can't understand every single word they are hearing, they assume they can't understand what the person is saying. Of course, that's not the case, but we need to get in the habit of being ambushed by unfamiliar words, and be comfortable with that. This eleminates a major barrier to open practice of talking, reading, and writting Chinese.

      Also, the book is highly instruction-oriented. In other words, it can be dificult to learn from when not partnered with explanation from an instructor. A good solution for the independent student would be to find suplemental books, like the Routledge Comprehensive Chinese Gramar. Or on the other hand, one could just sit in a Chinese restaurant and study untill someone comes along who is eager to help you out. This has certainly never failed me.

      Finaly, I recomend the traditional version of this book because I believe that it is far easier to learn traditional first and transition to simplified than it is to learn simplified first and transition to traditional. If you think you don't need to learn both, you are kidding yourself. Almost all the books published in Chinese available in the US and Europe are in traditional characters. Almost all the classic literature was written in traditional, and the traditional characters represent an important aspect of Chinese culture and attitudes. If you think you can ignore this, you will never realy understand Chinese.

      5 out of 5 stars Cannot stress it enough.......2004-04-03

      I am currently studying in China right now, and this book as well as the second-year version formed the foundation of my Chinese. I have been studying Chinese for a little more than two years (almost all of which were in the U.S.) and I am now taking university courses at Tsinghua University. I cannot say enough good things about these books especially compared to other books like the Practical Chinese Reader. The only possible shortcoming (and that is if it is one) is that the grammar and phonetic explanations are sometimes unclear if you do not know the terms (although English is our mother tongue, so . . .), but very clear if you are familiar with English grammar. However, these words are very important if you ever study Chinese in China or use things like the Beijing University Press books which only use the Chinese words for these terms to explain grammar. I noticed that one person criticized the lack of English->Chinese glossary, but the implications and connations of words in Chinese are such that you require a Chinese dictionary to really understand them. My teacher constantly warned us about using an English-Chinese dictionary to find the words we were looking for. The first-year level of integrated Chinese gives you enough words and grammatical structures to survive and thrive in China upon first arrival, as well as flexible and reusable words to enable you to handle many situations.

      5 out of 5 stars Integrated Chinese is fantastic.......2002-12-27

      I've been studying Chinese for three semesters using the Integrated Chinese series (Level 1, Part 1; Level 1, Part 2; and Level 2), and I'm a BIG fan of these books. I went to Taiwan after learning only 18 chapters' worth of material, and found that the book had -- miraculously -- taught me most of the practical vocabulary I needed to survive. The grammar explanations following each chapter are clear and thorough, and the workbook is an excellent means of reinforcement.

      4 out of 5 stars A good choice.......2002-11-22

      This book is quite good. I've studied Japanese for a long time and have gone to great lengths to find a good book for learning it, and it took me about 15 books. I thought that would be the case with Chinese as well, so you can imagine my surprise when the first book I tried actually turned out to be good. This was actually the textbook we used for my class, and although I haven't used many other Chinese textbooks, I would highly recommend this one. There are a number of good points about this book, and a few bad ones:

      Pros
      1) The vocabulary presented is fairly useful, and the early chapters really do start you off with useful vocabulary. Not like some books where you learn how to say "rainy season" in chapter 1.
      2) The accompanying workbook is excellent. The only studying you need to do is the workbook exercises. With languages usually I have to study alot, and do many of the exercises twice, but with this book, I simply do the workbook exercises once and I really feel like I know the material.
      3) Although this book romanizes all dialogs, the later books do not. This is a _good_ thing. Believe me, after learning 2,000 Japanese words from a book that puts the phoenetic transcriptions everywhere, you'll be glad to put in the extra effort to simply learn how to read and write the characters early on. I can't stress this enough. Although it may seem hard at first to memorize and learn how to write 30 or 40 characters for each chapter, you will definitely be glad you did. Imagine getting to the point where you know 1,500 words and then deciding hey, I sure wish I knew how to read and write.

      Cons
      1) The grammar explanations aren't terribly descriptive. It turns out that for much of the grammar they are teaching there's many variants of the same pattern, which they don't teach. So you're stuck if somebody switches around the word order on you. Furthermore, they teach by pattern rather than by grammar. It's great to know "this is the pattern to use when you want to say this", but it's also nice to know that the function of a certain word is to turn an adjective into an adverb, which you won't get from this book.
      2) Sometimes the vocabulary can be presented in a weird order. For example, they will teach you the word fast in one chapter, and slow in another chapter. Eat in one chapter, drink in another chapter. Similar words should be grouped. This is of course, what they try to do but it could be done a little better.
      3) The glossary in the back is very annoying. There is simply no English->Chinese glossary. Good luck figuring out how to say a certain word in Chinese, because you'll have to scan through _every_ single word in the Chinese->English portion of the glossary until you find it, and you'll probably accidentally skip over it anyway.

      Overall though this is a solid book, and I would recommend it. Note that _the_ best book on Chinese is Beginner's Chinese, by Yong Ho. It is simply the best. Buy it. It's insanely cheap, and unbelievably well written.
      Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 2: Character Workbook (Simplified Character Edition)
      Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
      • Like a Practical Road Map for Writing Chinese Characters
      Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 2: Character Workbook (Simplified Character Edition)

      Manufacturer: Cheng & Tsui
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback
      Similar Items:
      1. Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 2: Workbook (Simplified Character Edition) (C&T Asian Languages Series.) Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 2: Workbook (Simplified Character Edition) (C&T Asian Languages Series.)
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      3. Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 1: Textbook (Simplified Character Edition) (C&T Asian Languages Series.) Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 1: Textbook (Simplified Character Edition) (C&T Asian Languages Series.)
      4. Integrated Chinese Level 1 PT. 1, Character Workbook, Trad. and Simp., 2nd Edition Integrated Chinese Level 1 PT. 1, Character Workbook, Trad. and Simp., 2nd Edition
      5. Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Simplified Character Edition (Integrated Chinese) (Integrated Chinese) Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Simplified Character Edition (Integrated Chinese) (Integrated Chinese)

      ASIN: 0887272738

      Book Description

      The Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part 2 Character Workbook introduces how to write Chinese characters in their correct stroke order, and accompanies the Level 1 Part 2 Textbook. This acclaimed, best-selling series is successful because it "integrates" all four language skills--listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Integrated Chinese helps you understand how the Chinese language works grammatically, and how to use Chinese in real life—how to understand it on the street, speak it on the telephone, read it in the newspaper, or write it in a report. The materials within Integrated Chinese's set of textbooks, workbooks, character workbooks, and audio CDs are divided into sections of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Two types of exercises are used: traditional exercises (fill-in-the-blank, sentence completion, translation) to help learners build a solid grammatical foundation, and communication-oriented exercises (speaking drills, discussion topics, etc.) to prepare them to function in a Chinese language environment. Frequently, authentic materials written for native Chinese speakers and realia (newspaper clippings, signs, tickets, etc.) are used. Notes on language use and Chinese culture are found throughout the textbooks. Textbooks and workbooks are available in simplified or traditional characters.

      Customer Reviews:

      4 out of 5 stars Like a Practical Road Map for Writing Chinese Characters.......2003-11-16


      I've been very impressed with the Integrated Chinese language series since I began to use it just a few short months ago, and am completely amazed by how much easier these books make learning such a complex language. This character writing book is no exception.

      The authors of this book have made a concerted effort to break down chinese characters in to memorable parts, focusing initially on key radicals (syllables) and more common components, then working up in a sequence that makes recognizing, learning and writing more complex characters much easier.

      Each character in the book is given in Chinese and Pinyin with the English definitions. Character variations and traditional characters also given, when appropriate. Each character is then broken down into individual strokes and the correct stroke order for that character is shown (numbered). Each character is also accompanied with a row boxes for tracing the character, a row of boxes with gridlines, and a row of empty boxes, so that you can progress quickly, and you will know the correct way to write each character. This system makes learning chinese characters (and writing them correctly) surprisingly fast and easy.

      One key note on this text: Because it is intended to be used with the text book, this text itself is missing a proper explanatation (and the names) of each type of stroke, the correct way to draw those strokes and the general rules on stroke order, which is included in the corresponding text book (pages 16-17 & 20). This isn't a problem if you use it with the text, however, if you do wish to use this book without the text, you'll need to find this information elsewhere. F.Y.I., you can find most of this information online, for free. One page where this is available can be found at

      http://www.zhongwen.com/shufa/

      Best of luck to you!
      Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 2: Workbook, Simplified Characters, Second Edition
      Average customer rating: 2 out of 5 stars
      • Poorly done or maybe rushed second edition
      Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 2: Workbook, Simplified Characters, Second Edition
      Tao-Chung Yao , Liangyan Ge , Yuehua Liu , and Nyan-Ping Bi
      Manufacturer: Cheng & Tsui Company
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

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      Similar Items:
      1. Integrated Chinese Level 1 PT. 1, Character Workbook, Trad. and Simp., 2nd Edition Integrated Chinese Level 1 PT. 1, Character Workbook, Trad. and Simp., 2nd Edition
      2. Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Simplified Character Edition (Integrated Chinese) (Integrated Chinese) Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Simplified Character Edition (Integrated Chinese) (Integrated Chinese)
      3. Integrated Chinese, Level 1 Part 2 Integrated Chinese, Level 1 Part 2
      4. Integrated Chinese: Level 2 Textbook: Traditional and Simplified Character Edition Integrated Chinese: Level 2 Textbook: Traditional and Simplified Character Edition
      5. Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 2 Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 2

      ASIN: 0887274781

      Book Description

      The Character Workbooks are designed to help the student learn Chinese characters in their correct stroke order. In the Level 1 workbooks, stroke order for each new character is displayed, along with its pinyin pronunciation and English translation. Character boxes allow students to practice writing the characters. The Level 2 Character workbook, in addition to stroke order, presents example sentences to illustrate word usage in context. The Level 2 Character workbook includes both simplified and traditional character forms. Four useful appendices are included in the Level 2 Character workbook: A list of proper nouns and measure words; an English-Chinese glossary that includes all vocabulary in Levels 1 and 2; a Chinese character index that lists all characters appearing in Levels 1 and 2; and the simplified-form example sentences that appear in traditional characters throughout the book's text.

      Customer Reviews:

      2 out of 5 stars Poorly done or maybe rushed second edition.......2006-07-14

      I purchased the level 1 part 1 traditional book and was happy with that purchase. However, I wanted to start learning the simplified characters and had seen the level 1, part 1 simplified first edition and liked THAT, so thought that the second edition would be fine....WRONG. The biggest complaint is that in the level 1, part 2, unlike part 1, the characters are entirely too small so that not only is recognition difficult but trying to write them out is almost impossible for the more complicated characters requiring 5 or more strokes.

      Another pet peeve is that some chapters have cartoons that follow the dialogues, which is fine, but the characters in the cartoons are TRADITIONAL and NOT Simplified....! WHat's up with that?!

      Additionally, I purchased the 4 cd's that accompany the book at a cost of almost $50 and they are of extremely poor quality. You can tell that someone has overlaped the original recordings and on top of that, in many cases, the additions do not follow the BOOK! There is additional vocabulary on the cd's for some chapters, and the vocabulary is NOT in the book! They clearly either rushed this second edition or did a very poor editing job.

      I say check out OTHER resources before thinking about this book.
      Integrated Chinese: Level 1 Part 2 Workbook
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Integrated Chinese: Level 1 Part 2 Workbook
        Tao-Chung Yao , Yuehua Liu , Nyang-Ping Bi , Yea-Fen Chen , Liangyan Ge , Yaohua Shi , Xiaojun Wang , and Jeffrey J. Hyden
        Manufacturer: Cheng & Tsui
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Audio Cassette

        ChineseChinese | Languages | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
        ChineseChinese | Instruction | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
        ASIN: 0887272835

        Aprende a Dibujar - El ABC del Dibujo
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Aprende a Dibujar - El ABC del Dibujo
          Pierre Porte
          Manufacturer: Larousse Kingfisher Chambers
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

          GeneralGeneral | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
          SpanishSpanish | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Arte | Arte, arquitectura y fotografía | Libros en español | Formats | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Instrucción y Referencia | Arte | Arte, arquitectura y fotografía | Libros en español | Formats | Books
          No-FicciónNo-Ficción | Libros en español | Formats | Books | Automotriz | Ciencias Sociales | Crimen y Criminales | Educación | Estudios de la Mujer | Feriados | Filosofía | Gobierno | Hechos Verídicos | Planeamiento Urbano y Desarrollo | Política | Sucesos de Actualidad | Transportación
          ASIN: 9706077669

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