Teach Yourself Cantonese (TY Complete Courses) (Paperback)

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• This item: Teach Yourself Cantonese (TY Complete Courses) by Hugh Baker

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• Cantonese (Lonely Planet Phrasebook) by Chiu-Yee Cheung

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• Pocket Cantonese Dictionary (Periplus Pocket Dictionary) by Philip Yungkin Lee

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Cantonese (Lonely Planet Phrasebook) by Chiu-Yee Cheung 2.5 out of 5 stars (2)  £4.49

Pocket Cantonese Dictionary (Periplus Pocket Dictionary) by Philip Yungkin Lee 4.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £6.29

Easy-peasy Chinese: Mandarin Chinese for Beginners (Book & CD) by Dk 4.8 out of 5 stars (8)  £6.99

Beginner's Chinese - Book and double CD pack (Mandarin)(Teach Yourself Languages S.) by Elizabeth Scurfield 4.2 out of 5 stars (5)  £23.99

Colloquial Cantonese: A Complete Language Course (Colloquial Series) by Keith S.T. Tong 2.5 out of 5 stars (2)  £16.14

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Product Description
Cantonese is a vital living language spoken by upwards of a hundred million people in Southeast China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Malaysia, Europe, Australia, Fiji, North America, and many other parts of the world where the adventurous Cantonese people have settled. It is one of a large family of Chinese languages and retains many more traces of its ancient roots than do most of the other languages. On the other hand it is a language which seems unafraid to adopt or adapt, notably from English in the past century or so, and it invents, evolves and discards slang at a frenetic rate. As a result it is a very rich language.

Teach Yourself Cantonese will introduce you to a wide range of topics and language structures and progresses quickly beyond the basics to a level where you can speak and understand with confidence. The key structures are introduced in 26 thematic units progressing from introducing yourself and everyday situations to work and finance. Most of the units follow the same pattern: two dialogues, each with a list of new words used and explanations of new grammar points, followed by some exercises. There are four revision units giving more material based on what has been learned but not introducing anything new. The Appendices summarise the most important grammar points and refer you to the units of the book where they are first explained, and they also introduce you to Chinese writing. We have supplied Chinese characters for all the dialogues and new word lists in case you have the chance to get help from a native speaker but we are not attempting to teach you characters beyond the briefest of introductions. You will learn to speak and to understand much sooner if you ignore the script and you can always move on to learning it later. There is no 'official' romanisation of Cantonese and many different systems are in existence. In this new edition, the authors have chosen to use a version of the Yale system which clearly distinguishes the sounds and tones and is used widely in other reference material.

The accompanying CD is available separately (0340912456) or in a pack with the book (0340912464).

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About the Author
Hugh Baker is Professor Emeritus of Chinese at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London where he taught Cantonese and Mandarin for 35 years. Professor Baker has published extensively on Chinese culture, the Chinese family system, Chinese language, and Hong Kong history and society. He was Chief Editorial Consultant to the Channel 4 TV documentary series 'The Heart of the Dragon', and has frequently broadcast on radio and television in Britain and in Hong Kong. Ho Pui-Kei was born in Hong Kong and studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Mr Ho has more than 30 years' experience of teaching Cantonese to foreign adults from all walks of life, and he brings to his teaching an approach which emphasises humour and down-to-earth everyday language, the ideal register for the extrovert people of Hong Kong and South China.

3 Reviews 5 star:    (0) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:  (2) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 2.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   9 of 9 people found the following review helpful: 2.0 out of 5 stars NOT FOR BEGINNERS, 7 Nov 2003 By A Customer This review is from: Cantonese (Teach Yourself Languages) (Paperback) Beware. This pack is NOT for beginners. You are launched into the deep end far too quickly and you are expected to remember how to ask if someone sells cars before you can even ask for a drink...I think the main flaw is that it's intended for business use, and this is not clearly stated. The tape is low quality, with background noise and breaks in sound quality. There may be nothing else on the market for Cantonese, but have a good look before buying this pack. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   3 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars It's good if you have someone who can speak Cantonese., 9 Nov 2001 By A Customer This review is from: Cantonese (Teach Yourself) (Hardcover) The book is a good starter kit for anyone who would like to learn Cantonese. It builds up the vocabulary gradually and explains the sentence structure and grammar well. However some of the sentences are not useful in every-day situation. The book can be accompanied by cassette tapes and I fully recommend that. The pronunciation provided by the book can be misleading. It is necessary to listen to how the words are pronunced. I find certain words sound different when pronunced according to the book and from a friend who can speak Cantonese fluently. The first few chapters can be quite hard to get through as the materials are difficult. However once a certain amount of vocabulary is built up it is easier to continue to the later chapters. Overall the book is worth buying as long as you don't solely depend on it to learn Cantonese. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   4 of 6 people found the following review helpful: 2.0 out of 5 stars Reasonable standard, 27 Mar 2001 By A Customer This review is from: Cantonese (Teach Yourself) (Paperback) A relatively simple book which will cover some basic language structures and every day pharses. However romanisation of chinese words is not very good. Does not sound anything like the real thing. Book forms a foundation for learning. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 3 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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