Instant Chinese: How to express 1,000 different ideas with just 100 key words and phrases! (Instant Phrasebook Series) Paperback – November 15, 2004

This booklet needs to be revised for beginners. It is unusable for someone who does not know Mandarin. The glossary is incomplete because many words in the sentences are not in the back to be checked. Moreover, and this really disturbs me, verbs are nowhere to be found in the glossary. Verbs not only make the sentence but are the heart of a language. It is not a phrasebook without this and it is impracticable for a beginner to use. I am not sure who it is good for except for those who already know Mandarin practically fluently. Needs to be redone.

I purchased this book, and a few others, before going to China for a month. Not knowing ANY of the language, this book was by my side the whole time! It fits in pockets, purses, anywhere. Many of the phrases were used again and again...Especially when I was lost. It has the word or phrase, the pronunciation, and the meaning, as well as Chinese characters. Many of the Chinese language isn't translated into our alphabet or taught with the alphabet so even showing people the words didn't work out well. Having the pronounciations and some characters was the key to my success! A great book to have along.

Very Good Quality. Great Seller. I will buy again. Thank you

I am living in China and taking Mandarin lessons for the past 9 months - I bought this book on Amazon without having looked at it. It has a major flaw - the Pinyin (the a-b-c version of Characters) does not have the tone markings. This means that you will not be understood without the correct tone - I know that from repeated experience.For instance "mai" can be pronounced 4 different ways each with a different meaning - pronounced in 4th tone is to SELL and 3rd tone is to BUY and 2nd tone is to BURY. Quite the variety.Look at the learning dictionaries by Tuttle publishing with the author of Li Dong and then get a Rough Guide or Lonely Planet phrase book -they show Pinyin with tone marks. All have pronunciation guides in them and some grammar and phrases. The phrase books are pocket size with menu list and Chinese Characters-PinYin-English in them. I have a mountain of language books but regularly use the 3 by LiDong and my pocket phrase books.A language DVD/CD and hand recorder to compare your voice to the DVD/CD would help you to match the tones very well if you are serious about speaking the language.

With plans to study at Beijing University next spring, I thought that it would be helpful to purchase a Chinese phrasebook so as to be able to fully take advantage of all that Beijing has to offer. From what I have already read of this little, but surprisingly effective, book, I am quite confident that I will have no problems at all exploring the city.The phrasebook is broken into several practical sections, including ones concerning greetings and introductions, eating out, shopping, doing business, and almost anything else imaginable. Do not be fooled by the book's diminuitive size; it certainly packs a punch!Although this phrasebook is by no means a comprehensive guide to the Chinese language, it is extremely helpful for anyone wanting to gain a basic understanding of the language before venturing out to China for a trip.

I just returned from China and this is a convenient and perfect phrasebook for a traveler. It has the 1,000 most used phrases logically grouped together into 100 categories that are easy to find. You will see the English phrase, Pignon translation, Phonetic pronunciation (not all books have phonetics), and the Chinese characters.I practiced the Phonetic pronunciations with my Chinese friends and they understood me! The previous reviewer states that tones are not in the book, but I found that they were expressed in the English phonetic pronunciation. The book also has Chinese characters, so if someone doesn't understand you, you just point to the phrase in Chinese characters.For someone traveling to China and not wanting to take a long class to learn the nuances of the language or a giant book of phrases to lug around (ie, Speak E-Z book), this book works fine. And you can slip it conveniently in a pocket, purse, or camera bag as it is the size of a wallet.

Awesome!

Little handy phrasebook. Pity the tones are not marked, which makes it impossible for a beginner to pronounce the phrases correctly. Sometimes the English phonetics is misleading. More often than not it makes you pronounce some words as if there were two syllables where in fact there is just one. Good thing that the Chinese script is given for each sentence so that you can show to a Chinese person when in doubt.

Bought for my son who has gone to live in china . It has helped him really well so might buy another for me to learn . When I go visit

Useful to carry around with you. My husband is Chinese however and he said the translations are a little too literal. Learning a language on your own is not always the best way and talking to someone of that culture is much preferred.I still think it's good if you want a basic understanding of the language or need it for simple interactions.

Good summary of useful words and sentences but it still takes a lot of work to speak "instant" Chinese. Not a bad supplement.