Larry Herzberg

I am traveling to China for the first time in a few months, and I wanted a book that would help educate me about the customs and culture, and also what differences to anticipate from American culture. This book delivered exactly what I was looking for. I learned some important bits of information, and it all meshed with what other people and other resources have told me. I know other reviewers tired of the authors' various anecdotes, but I enjoyed reading them, and I felt like they gave me a more personalized perspective. The only thing I can't confirm at this point is how useful and relevant the advice will be once I'm actually there, but if it varies greatly from my expectations, I'll be sure to update this review! At this point, I'd definitely recommend it to people traveling to Middle Kingdom for the first time, particularly if they will be venturing off the beaten path.… (altro)

Thank you so much, Larry Herzberg for your new book, Speak and Read Chinese: Fun Mnemonic Devices for Remembering Chinese Words and Their Tones. I have take Mandarin with a group of children and then a year at community college. I had to drop the second year because I could not keep up with the class. They were all Cantonese speakers. I am sure that they had a big advantage over me having already known a wealth of Chinese characters. This book gives me back the hope of improving my Mandarin. I am married to a Mandarin speaker who is not inclined towards teaching so I am on my own.

I love memory devices, mnemonic devices. They are fun, make learning easier and helps me closer to where I want to be with Mandarin. Larry Herzberg has figured out ways to make this doable with this non Romance language. Since we don't have cognates which makes French easier to learn, he has created devices to help us. He picked out 300 commonly used Chinese words for this book. One thing that I really love is that he illustrates with an English sentence, focusing on one word to help us get the tone right. Tones are the most difficult for me. He gives both the traditional and the simplified character for each word.

OK, I am making my flashcards and mean to tackle the 300, however, I already know a good portion and that knowledge gives me more confidence.

I highly recommend this book as an aid to learning Mandarin, probably after you have already done one year of study like me.

I received this Advanced Reading Copy by making a selection from Amazon Vine books but that in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings in this review. I also posted this review only on sites meant for reading not for selling.… (altro)

The tone of the humor here hits me wrong most of the time. The introduction asserts that China is better than most people expect, but does so in a way that grates on me. Then, in a contradictory move, the rest of the book discusses mild to horrific mishaps that are expressed as if they're hilarious, which to my mind they're really not. Perhaps 1/4 to 1/3 of the book is directly useful (e.g., what to expect in a Chinese hospital). The rest is perhaps better left to a memoir rather than as travel advice.… (altro)