Fundamental Spoken Chinese

Like its predecessor, the second edition of Fundamental Spoken Chinese places primary importance on providing a clear, systematic, and graduated introduction to the basic grammar and vocabulary of spoken Mandarin Chinese through chapters that center on identified sentence patterns and vocabulary items rather than particular social functions or daily activities. The authors continue the tradition of separating the teaching of oral and written skills, leaving the instruction of reading and writing in Chinese characters exclusively to the accompanying Fundamental Written Chinese, also in its second edition. The lessons in the two textbooks, however, are keyed to each other in terms of vocabulary and grammar, so they may be used simultaneously or the parallel written skills introduced at a later time. Both textbooks were developed for learning in the classroom and for independent study.
The exercise book contains a wide variety of exercises and activities specifically designed to reinforce a systematic progression of spoken Chinese that focuses on developing accuracy then fluency in conversations.

Jiayan Lin is a learning advisor at Massey University.
Margaret Lee taught Chinese at the tertiary level for more than thirty years and was a senior tutor at the University of Auckland.
Robert Sanders was a professor of Chinese language and Chinese linguistics for thirty-five years at universities in the United States, New Zealand and Japan.