Beginning Chinese reader cover

Beginning Chinese reader

by John DeFrancis

A complete revision. this new version, in _Pīnyīn_ romanization, is aimed at secondary school and college levels. It is an introduction to spoken Pekingese or standard Mandarin, the most widely used Chinese dialect. Based on a vocabulary of some 600 items, the lessons include dialogues, pronunciation drills, sentence-building games, and substitution exercises. Two lessons are devoted to instruction in Chinese characters. There is a combined glossary-index, supplementary vocabulary, and a detailed suggested study guide. John DeFrancis is research professor of Chinese at Seton Hall University.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?