Book Review for LiveABC’s Illustrated Chinese-English Dictionary
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 8:04AM LiveABC’s Illustrated Chinese- English Dictionary is a book designed for all Mandarin learners. Page by page, it covers commonly used Mandarin vocabulary with its English definition and colorful illustrations. Differing from most language learning textbooks, instead of listing a catalog of vocabulary with its literal definition in another language, Illustrated Chinese- English Dictionary takes its learners journey back to the stage when children begin to learn their vernacular tongue through the indication of an object. Such a learning technique should be applied by all second language learners, that we should learn vocabulary by building a perception of illustrations rather than memorizing lifeless word definitions.
While most learning tools for Mandarin simply present Putonghu(普通話) spoken in Mainland, China, to my surprise, Illustrated Chinese- English Dictionary covers a broader literal meaning in Mandarin; it clearly displays pinyin(拼音) along with simplified written characters and zhuyin(注音) with traditional characters in divided columns. Thus, learners are allowed to compare the great similarities and the slight differences between Putonghua(普通話) and Guoyu(國語).
Moreover, Illustrated Chinese- English Dictionary comes with two CD-ROMs; it provides an access to interactive learning with its designed software for its users. This way, learners are encouraged to listen to MP3 track for a more accurate pronunciation in Mandarin.
With all its advantages, Illustrated Chinese- English Dictionary is highly recommended for both beginners and inter-mediate level learners.
I give it 4.5 out of 5 Stars.
Happy Learning! :)
Peggy Lee
Reader Comments (9)
Why is the 0.5 point deduction (that made it 4.5 instead of 5)? What things you didn't like?
My (probably) only grief was that the section titles are only in English+Chinese, no pronountiation (at least in the book, i haven't checked the CD yet). Eg. "Traffic signs" or "In the bathroom".
When I was a kid, I had a similar book for learning English, it was amazingly popular one in Hungary, everybody knows it. So good memories. :D
something like this in chinese or the same book in hungarian :D
4.5 is a high rating. Overall, I really liked the book, though It's a little bit bulky.
There are pinyin and zhuyin on it to help you pronounce a word. :)
Thanks for being supportive and visiting my website!
Xie Xie and Jia You!
Peggy
You sound very professional.
Xie4 Xie4! :)
I actually just bought this book- a friend and I spotted it at Barnes and Noble. She's studying English, I'm studying Mandarin, so we split the book. As a beginner, it's incredibly useful to me so far. The CD is actually the best part- it's awesome! Rip the CD onto your hard drive using iTunes or something, play it- and it pronounces everything in English and Mandarin. You don't even need to carry the book with you, as it's super organized. It even displays a picture of the item as shown in the book where a song's album art is usually displayed! I love it.
Talking about learning a language, as we did when we were children, is actually how I am currently learning Mandarin, through a software called Rosetta Stone. It is entirely based on situations and you have to guess the meaning through the illustrations. You can choose to do a full year's course or customize it to your strengths and weaknesses. It relatively expensive if you think about it as a computer software but it is very comprehensive in its content and quite convenient.
Anyways, my main point is to inquire about the slight differences between Putonghua and Guoyu. I thought they were the same thing, except in the way your learn it (Pinyin vs Zhuyin).
I just started learning about two months ago and have been wanting to broaden my Mandarin scope, but most mediums have the mainland influence in them. Even Pimsleur audio lessons, are entirely focused on the Beijing dialect. But on the brighter side, you have definitely brought diversity into my learning! And I really admire the way Taiwanese girls speak Mandarin.
Hi,
I noticed you recommend the Live ABC Illustrated Chinese-English Dictionary...
I'm also thinking about Live ABC's Chinese Step-by-Step program:
http://www.liveabc.com/english/EDM/2010_01/main.asp
Are you familiar with their program? If so, would you recommend it? My friends recommended Rosetta Stone's Learn Chinese program.
Between the two, which one would you recommend and why?
Thanks for any help you can provide...
Regards,
Richard
Where can I find this in Chungli?
You can try bookstores like Eslite. Last time I saw it, last time I went there although it seemed to be a different edition. So the cover may not necessarily look the same. :)