Basic Written Chinese Practice Essentials

Basic Written Chinese is a beginning-level course in written Chinese that employs a revolutionary new method designed to have you quickly reading and writing simple, connected Chinese sentences. It teaches you to recognize the 600 most basic characters and 1,000 words used every day by millions of Chinese speakers. It explains the history and development of the writing system over many centuries, teaches you how Chinese characters are built up from more basic elements, and how to use those elements to write them, read them and remember them. All the characters presented in the lessons correspond to those in Basic Spoken Chinese—the companion volume which helps you acquire rapid proficiency in speaking the language.

Basic Written Chinese Practice Essentials is the companion workbook for Basic Written Chinese. This practical guide includes a broad range of drills and exercises designed to dramatically enhance your proficiency in reading and writing Chinese. While designed for use with the companion textbook, it can be used together with any Chinese textbook or teaching program to hone your Chinese reading and writing language skills.

Cornelius C. Kubler is Stanfield Professor of Asian Studies at Williams College, where he teaches Chinese. He was formerly Chinese Language Training Supervisor and Chair of the Department of Asian and African Languages at the Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State, where he trained American diplomats in Chinese and other languages.

Jerling Guo Kubler is a graduate of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of Soochow University, Taipei. Her experience in language education spans more than 35 years. She has taught all levels of Chinese as a Second/Foreign Language from pre-kindergarten to university level at institutions including Williams College, Eisenhower College and Taipei Language Institute.