Beginning Chinese Reader

A complete revision. this new version, in _Pīnyīn_ romanization, is aimed at secondary school and college levels. It is an introduction to spoken Pekingese or standard Mandarin, the most widely used Chinese dialect.

Based on a vocabulary of some 600 items, the lessons include dialogues, pronunciation drills, sentence-building games, and substitution exercises. Two lessons are devoted to instruction in Chinese characters. There is a combined glossary-index, supplementary vocabulary, and a detailed suggested study guide.

John DeFrancis is research professor of Chinese at Seton Hall University.