Learn in Your Car Mandarin Chinese - 9 Audio CDs
Brand New : 9 Audio CDs - plus three listening guides plus zippered carry case plus bonus DVD
This exciting new edition includes a 60-minute Travelogue DVD of the relevant destination countries for each language. This added feature will enrich the learning experience and add that extra stimulus to motivate users with their studies. New material in this second edition includes a variety of internet and digital media/technology terms. It features: nine 60-minute CDs; full text listening guide; and zippered CD carrying case. It includes: Level 1 - introduction to key words, numbers, phrases, sentence structure, and basic grammar; Level 2 - more challenging vocabulary, more grammar, more complex sentences generate confidence in your ability to comprehend and converse; and Level 3 - expanded vocabulary, advanced grammar and complex sentences to expand your conversational skills.
Three Levels Designed to Make You Fluent!
Level 1 Beginning Level
# Introduces key words and phrase
# Develops basic grammar skills
# Emphasizes travel needs
Level 2 Intermediate Level
# Increases vocabulary
# Presents new grammar concepts
# Includes more routine, day-to-day experiences
Level 3 Advanced Level
# Broadens Vocabulary base
# Adds even more grammar skills
# Enriches conversational abilities
About the Mandarin Chinese Language
Mandarin , a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and south-western China. When taken as a separate language, as is often done in academic literature, the Mandarin dialects have more speakers than any other language.
In English, Mandarin can refer to either of two distinct concepts:
* to Standard Chinese or Standard Mandarin (Putonghua/Guoyu/Huayu/Hanyu), which is based on the particular Mandarin dialect spoken in Beijing. Standard Mandarin functions as the official spoken language of the People's Republic of China, the official language of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and one of the four official languages of Singapore. ‘Chinese’ — in practice Standard Mandarin — is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
* to all of the Mandarin dialects spoken in northern and south-western China. This group of dialects is the focus of this article.
In everyday use, Mandarin refers usually to just Standard Mandarin (Putonghua/Guoyu). In its broader sense, Mandarin is a diverse group of related dialects, some less mutually intelligible than others. It is a grouping defined and used mainly by linguists, and is not commonly used outside of academic circles as a self-description. Instead, when asked to describe the spoken form they are using, Chinese speaking a form of non-Standard Mandarin will describe the variant that they are speaking, for example Sichuan dialect or Northeast China dialect, and consider it distinct from ‘Standard Mandarin’ (putonghua); they may not recognize that it is in fact classified by linguists as a form of ‘Mandarin’ in a broader sense. Nor is there a common ‘Mandarin’ identity based on language; rather, there are strong regional identities centred on individual dialects, because of the wide geographical distribution and cultural diversity of its speakers. Moreover, it is of note that despite its wide use in the Occident, most native Mandarin speakers are reluctant to recognize the term 'Mandarin', since the word does not reflect any Chinese origin. Instead, they would rather call the language simply 'standard Chinese'.
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