Schaum's Outline of Chinese Vocabulary

This vocabulary book is the greatest idea in the world! I used Pimsleur (Mandarin I, II & III) along with the Oxford Starter Chinese Dictionary as my collective foundation for learning the Chinese language (Mandarin). Both of these tools were GREAT but now that I'm trying to have actual conversations with Chinese people (using VoIP - voice communication over the internet) I've discovered that my vocabulary is a little (a lot?) weak. (I know I'm stating the obvious here, but when it comes to having REAL conversations in ANY language, a well developed and modern vocabulary is a MUST.) I think the major strengths of Schaum's Outlines Chinese Vocabulary can be reduced to just one word: practicality. In this respect, I think it is far superior to just a standard dictionary. Don't get me wrong, its not a replacement for traditional and complete English-Chinese and Chinese(pinyin)-English dictionaries, but the filtering, organization and presentation of its content are PERFECT for rehearsing and quickly developing a large, PRACTICAL and MODERN vocabulary. Great stuff. I also found Schaum's Chinese Grammar to be a useful book as well.

Schaum's Outline of Chinese Grammar chose to include both the traditional form and the simplified form in the book. I really think that's a very smart and considerate decision. For people who want to learn the Chinese characters, you need to get familiar with both forms. If you're taught only in simplified form, you're missing a lot -- especially the beauty of the Chinese characters. I strongly recommend that Schaum list both forms like you did with the grammar book. Besides, I guarantee that if you make this small change, the book will sell better. Otherwise, I won't buy it.

This book presents lots of useful vocabulary, often with a helpful sketch. For example the At the Hotel chapter shows a picture of the room and bathroom, with callouts for the Chinese words for the bed, sink, shower, etc. in characters and pinyin.

Sample dialogs are presented to demonstrate the use of the vocabulary. However, the presentation could be improved simply by using the form in the Schaum's Chinese Grammar book, where every sentence if provided in traditional and simplified characters, pinyin, and English. Instead, the Vocabulary book usually gives the English for only one word in the sentence. That's fine if you already have a working knowledge of Chinese, but for beginner's it would be nicer to have a translation of the whole sentence.

I purchased this book several months ago, to complement my chinese classes, it helped me to learn much more new words related to some commom everyday conversation topics. Although I wish the chinese character printed were a little bigger for easier reading, other than that It has been a worthy buy.

I've studied Mandarin (off and on... too much off) for about twelve years. I have many books that teach me obscure Chinese history or the names of Chinese minority groups' clothing and holidays. But I have sketchy knowledge of many fundamental words, like "water faucet." This book systematically plows through commonly used vocabulary. It tells you, for example, how to say "web browser" and "mouse" in Chinese (which I find essential for showing my in-laws how to use a computer). And, unlike a Mandarin pictorial dictionary I have that displays only Chinese characters, this book also has pinyin and uses the words in sentences.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who can pronunce pinyin and wants to build up a practical vocabulary.