Ideal for: Beginning-level students preparing to work or study in China. English speakers learn to converse in Chinese faster than they learn to read and write it.The two-part structure allows for flexibility in designing the instruction and learning process, and empowers students to learn more effectively by first concentrating on speaking and listening, and then learning reading and writing at a slower pace.In the Speaking/Listening section, each lesson includes key expressions and sample conversations, pronunciation exercises, notes on grammar, sentence pattern drills, and communicative exercises. teaches around 400 vocabulary items and 240 characters. In Simplified Chinese characters.