Prime Ways - Chinese

Language Reviews

Spoken Chinese is distinguished by its high level of internal diversity, although all spoken varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic. There are between seven and thirteen main regional groups of Chinese (depending on classification scheme), of which the most spoken, by far, is Mandarin (about 850 million), followed by Wu (90 million), Min (70 million) and Cantonese (70 million). Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like Xiang and the Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms and some degree of intelligibility. Chinese is classified as a macrolanguage with 13 sub-languages in ISO 639-3, though the identification of the varieties of Chinese as multiple "languages" or as "dialects" of a single language is a contentious issue.

	Rocket Chinese ( by Lin Ping)
	Chinese has become very popular in recent times but despite this it has always remained a difficult language for non speakers. Rocket Chinese have really come up with a tremendously good package for beginners. The exercises are laid out in an easy to follow format and you really feel like you are progressing after just the first hour and its not as difficult as you think. Time: Course specifies 8 weeks for a good grasp of Chinese. Our reviewer completed the course in 14 weeks but that was with no previous knowledge. If you are not sure sign up for their FREE 6 Day Course. This is only the first few audio lessons.

Assimil Chinese With Ease ( by Assimil)

Assimil has a glowing reputation for language learning based on their simple two fold approach. The first stage is known as "Passive Learning" which requires you to listen to the lesson, say it aloud (or to yourself) so you get pronunciation right and then to follow it again using the translation conveniently written directly opposite. The second stage is called "Active Phase" and starts approximately half way thorough the book. At this time you carry on doing the Passive phase (daily) then you revert back to the first lesson and translate it yourself without looking at the translation. It is more effective if you approach this as a written exercise rather than trying to recall it in your mind only. Then you do your next passive lesson and go to the second lesson of the book to translate and so on.... Don't worry, though, the instructions are clear and you won't go wrong. You need to do one lesson a day (also a translation when you reach that second stage which adds another half an hour). The dialogues are expertly written and played out by professional voice actors of the country. They are lively and humorous and keep your interest. The lessons are ordered so you build gradually on what you have learnt. Don't be tempted to do more than one lesson a day, there is a reason why its "little and often" so to maximise your learning capability and keep you excited to continue.. This is an approach that will take at least 6 months to complete and by then you will acquire a level of understanding comparable to B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.  The lessons/stories are different for each language.

Tell Me More   Tell Me More is a revolutionary new approach to language learning. The Chinese software has 300 hours and 1500 exercises especially designed for English speakers and focuses on Mandarin, simplified writing and pinyin. Tell Me More will allow you to achieve fluency in Chinese and its not hard work, but really great fun. We especially loved the interactive conversations with the computer! A very addictive course, this will last you a long long time but its an enjoyable way to learn.

	Pimsleur ( by Paul Pimsleur)
	Pimsleur Chinese scored very highly in our tests. Myself and another reviewer used this and we both had no previous knowledge of Chinese. This really worked out great for us but unfortunately they only have the Level 1 beginner available and its expensive ~$300. This is a good place to start for conversational Chinese You can read about the method here

	Michel Thomas ( by Michel Thomas)  No memorizing, no text books, no drills, no homework!
	Michel Thomas unfortunately passed away and his method is left to his associates who have produced a large number of courses BASED on his method. For Mandarin Chinese there is a complete series from Introductory (taster) to Foundation (beginners) and Advanced and a Vocabulary course While the method is generally correct, the reality of the learning is not as good and requires many replays each time. Also the teacher's pronunciation is a bit suspect! The courses are all audio and are expensive to buy on CD.Please also look at the reviews others have given.

	Rosetta Stone ( by Rosetta Stone)
	Another language from the expensive Rosetta Stone range. As before there is no translations or explanations and you learn by intuition and association, matching words or sentences to pictures. Chinese is very much a tonal language and you can quickly differentiate the tones here and learn from them. It is quite passive but extremely effective. If you treat it like a game you can learn very fast because  its addictive. It is also structured in such a way as to give a defined progression which is so often lacking in traditional language learning methods. Worth 5 stars but because of the price we gave it 4.

	Earworms ( by Marlon Lodge)
	This is a very simple idea that makes learning Chinese fun and easy. Its an English man conversing with a Chinese woman and asking her how to say things in Chinese. All the time there is a rhythmic sound/beat going on to her syllables which is designed to stick in your mind rather like a catchy song. The vocabulary being taught is basic but essential and is a relaxing experience. You don't need to make any real conscious effort as your brain is absorbing it through the beats. There are two cd's in the Chinese range and you can listen to samples by clicking the pictures on the left. Overall a fun and enjoyable experience, reasonably priced and it works! But only for basic survival skills. Picture shows the full set Volumes 1 & 2