All Things Considered: Advanced Reader of Modern Chinese.

The text is divided into two parts. The first section consists of twelve dialogues; the second is a selection of recent newspaper articles about contemporary Chinese society. A novel feature of All Things Considered is that several topics appear in both dialogue and essay forms. This repetition is designed to improve students' retention of grammar and vocabulary as well as to highlight differences between spoken and written Chinese.

All of the articles and dialogues center on everyday issues in contemporary China. Several of the topics featured are controversial in the hope that they will spark students' interest and promote participation in class discussions.

I also like how each chapter is relatively short. If you find it uninteresting for some reason, you don't have to suffer too long; there's another one coming up behind.


All Things Considered: A good textbook   May 24, 2004
A. J. Huang (Cleveland, OH)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This book progresses from traditional speech lessons to more difficult newspaper readings that have been edited to better suit the level of students. The vocabulary/crib sheets are extremely helpful as well as the exercises. The only slight drawback is that while the text is written in both traditional and simplified characters,the exercises are written only in simplified characters.


a comprehensive Chinese language textbook   September 4, 2003
orbit13
17 out of 17 found this review helpful

This Chinese language text is appropriate for intermediate to advanced students. It contains 32 passages divided into two sections. The first part is a series of dialogues while the second part is a collection of newspaper articles. Each lesson is followed by grammar points used in the text, with additional examples, and by exercises based on grammar and vocabulary. Both vocabulary and passages are given in simplified and traditional characters. Chinese (pinyin) and English indexes with page references are also provided.

This book has many strengths and, as a student, it's one of the better Chinese language textbooks I've come across. The dialogue and article format exposes students to both spoken and written Chinese. Also, passages are long enough to familiarize one with vocabulary and grammar but not so long as to become repetitive. Occasionally subjects are recycled but in a way that reinforces vocabulary and/or demonstrates variations within the language. Probably the most refreshing asset is the scope of topics. Everything from food, travel, and etiquette to Chinese culture to social and political issues (and yes, even sex) are covered. This is one of the few books that provide relevant vocabulary and discussion for students and does not feel vocab force feeding.