Beth McKillop

In 2009 now rather dated with its references to Foreign Exchange Certificates and Peking. Written by a non native Chinese it automatically raises my hackles as I am personally very dubious of all language books written by a non native. The book uses a combination of simplified characters, pinyin and English as it is sounded wording. The characters are for showing to a native when all else fails but are very small in font so I feel quite limited in their use. They appeared accurate however. The pinyin is equally accurate although not perhaps always consistent in style. The English is by definition written for a non native to pronounce and provide a close approximation for a native to understand. Sadly apart from some glaring inconsistencies – many of the English ‘words’ are non pronounceable in their own right – an attempt to eliminate linguistics has not been a success… (altro)