Preface

This book is intended for adults, such as diplomats, businessmen, and journalists, who want to learn Chinese because they plan to work or live in China. It is designed to train beginners to communicate effectively in Chinese and can be used as a textbook by both those who study with teachers and those who study on their own.

The book is an adaptation of Elementary Chinese Reader (in two volumes), which was compiled by the Chinese Teaching Staff of the Beijing Service Bureau for Diplomatic Missions and was published in 1978. (Volume II was revised in 1984. ) During the past decade, that text has been well received by teachers and foreign students. But some of the contents of the original book have inevitably gone out of date as the years have passed. This revision aims to maintain the concise and practical nature of the original Reader while offering a greater variety of topics, notes and exercises. Brief explanations of each text's grammar and difficult usages are provided, and a Brief Summary of Chinese Grammar is appended after Lesson 20 and Lesson 40. After every ten lessons, there is a test for self — examination. Hanyu Pinyin (an alphabetic transliteration) is used in the texts and exercises for those who do not want to learn Chinese characters. Keys to all the exercises are included in the appendix.

The book has 40 lessons and a vocabulary of over 1, 500 words and expressions and can be finished within 100 one —hour classroom sessions. Students, both tutored and self-taught, can obtain the basic fluency necessary for social conversation in Chinese by studying this book.

The 1978 book was compiled by Ms. Wang Ye, Mr. Yin Huafu, Mr. Wu Fengtao, Mr. Zu Zhenkou, Mr. Li Keqian and Mr. Sun Zengsen.
In 1984, Volume II was revised by Mr. Li Changwu, Mr. Yin Huafu, Mr. Zu Zhenkou, Mr. Wang Yuju and Mr. Li Yu.

We would like to express our thanks to Prof. Yin Huafu and Prof. Li Keqian for reviewing the manuscript and making suggestions, to Ms. Lii Xinli and Mr. Li Yu for editing the English parts of the book and to Ms. Jennifer Clibbon for reviewing parts of the manuscript. And also to Ms. Long Yanli and other members of Sinolingua for their valuable suggestions concerning the style and contents of the book.

We welcome all comments and suggestions from both students and teachers who use the text and from professional colleagues.

Writers
Jin Nailu, Song Yankun, Hao Jie

1992