Welcome to the new method of learning Chinese with the widely-acclaimed Cornelius C. Kubler series! Intermediate Spoken Chinese allows you to experience real-life situations in different Mandarin-speaking locales, each one representing an actual situation which English-speaking foreigners are likely to find themselves in when interacting with Chinese speakers.

The basic premise underlying these books is that you don't need to know the characters in order to speak Chinese. For English speakers, learning Chinese characters is a slow and painstaking process which can dramatically slow your progress in learning to speak the language.

This series provides separate "tracks" to help you master the skills of speaking and writing Chinese at your own pace. Some learners choose to place greater emphasis on reading and writing, while others focus on developing a knowledge of spoken Chinese first, and then learn the characters later. Both approaches are perfectly valid, and the one you adopt will depend on your personal goals and the amount of time you have for weekly study. This series allows you total flexibility in this regard.

Additional key features of Intermediate Spoken Chinese:

• Clear and detailed explanations of natural, colloquial Chinese pronunciation, grammar and usage
  
• Recommended strategies to help you learn to speak Chinese more efficiently
  
• Notes on Chinese culture and society allow you to understand situational etiquette
  
• Discussions of challenges faced by English speakers who are learning Chinese and how to overcome them
  
• A digital Instructors Guide is available gratis from the publisher
  
• A digital Chinese Character Transcription (simplified and traditional characters)