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Practical Audio-Visual Chinese 5 2nd Edition (Book+mp3)
Level Basic Category Chinese Learning Textbooks for Adults Description The Practical Audio-Visual Chinese 2nd edition has been developed by the Ministry of Education of ROC, updated from “Practical Audio-Visual Chinese”, edited and written by the Editing and Compiling Committee of National Taiwan Normal University. The new version comprises a large-scale revision with regard to content, issue, lexicon, and up to date ways and practices. Meanwhile, the five major objectives of teaching this second language are designed to echo international Chinese teaching trends. These are incorporated within the teaching materials so that learning Chinese should no longer so difficult. It is thus considered to be the benchmark and practical learning material for domestic and overseas Chinese. Learners using this book can acquire language skills in modern Chinese, from listening and speaking to reading and writing. The book is found in 5 volumes, including, teacher’s manual, student textbooks, student’s workbook as well as a supplementary phonetics CD (MP3). The second volume is found in 13 lessons, and in continuation from volume of practice day-to-day wording it would help the students to express themselves with natural and lively language skills. Each lesson includes Dialogue, Pinyin, MPS, English translation, Narration, Vocabulary (and usage), Syntax practice, Application activities, Notes. After completing this text, learners should have learned approximately 625 Chinese characters, 1250vocabulary words and 119grammatical patterns.
333 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2008
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March 27, 2026
The step up in difficulty from book 4 to book 5 is noticeable, and this is by far my least favorite of the series. Gone are the bland adventures of 高偉立 and his gang; instead, heavy narratives drive the chapters.
There is a greater expectation on the reader to use Chinese to learn Chinese. The narratives introduce many words and phrases that are not covered in the 生詞 portions of each chapter. It is up to the reader to fill in these gaps. While I understand the thought process, it led to tedious searching on Pleco for these new words. Would it really have been so bad to include all new words in the 生詞 sections, especially if I'm going to be looking at a dictionary anyway?
Furthermore, my native Chinese speaking friends and family can attest that the narratives are written in very flowery, poetic prose. It is not colloquial at all, and it's fill with 成語 (many of which are not identified in the 生詞 portions). The first ten chapters of the book are particularly egregious in this regard, especially Chapter 4, with its incomprehensible soliloquy about ancient Pompeii giving me an enormous headache. The narratives at the end of each chapter wildly vary in difficulty; even my native Chinese wife had to take a moment to make sure she understood some of the material.
For its faults, I do appreciate the book went beyond the standard cookie-cutter situations present in books 3 and 4. Chapters do cover interesting and unique topics, ranging from lifelong learning, the impacts of divorce on family members, and the influx of consumer products marketed to children. That said, the book likes to make sweeping generalizations that are both inaccurate and out of date.
As I read this book, I am simultaneously reading John DeFrancis's Advanced Chinese Reader, and it amazes me how Practical Audio Visual Chinese, by taking a stance on issues in modern society, has managed to make itself more dated than the DeFrancis readers, which were published in 1968.
Looking back, would I have chosen a different textbook series? Perhaps. But Practical Audio Visual Chinese has been a landmark series, too entrenched to ignore. As I finish this series, my Chinese journey has only just begun.
There is a greater expectation on the reader to use Chinese to learn Chinese. The narratives introduce many words and phrases that are not covered in the 生詞 portions of each chapter. It is up to the reader to fill in these gaps. While I understand the thought process, it led to tedious searching on Pleco for these new words. Would it really have been so bad to include all new words in the 生詞 sections, especially if I'm going to be looking at a dictionary anyway?
Furthermore, my native Chinese speaking friends and family can attest that the narratives are written in very flowery, poetic prose. It is not colloquial at all, and it's fill with 成語 (many of which are not identified in the 生詞 portions). The first ten chapters of the book are particularly egregious in this regard, especially Chapter 4, with its incomprehensible soliloquy about ancient Pompeii giving me an enormous headache. The narratives at the end of each chapter wildly vary in difficulty; even my native Chinese wife had to take a moment to make sure she understood some of the material.
For its faults, I do appreciate the book went beyond the standard cookie-cutter situations present in books 3 and 4. Chapters do cover interesting and unique topics, ranging from lifelong learning, the impacts of divorce on family members, and the influx of consumer products marketed to children. That said, the book likes to make sweeping generalizations that are both inaccurate and out of date.
As I read this book, I am simultaneously reading John DeFrancis's Advanced Chinese Reader, and it amazes me how Practical Audio Visual Chinese, by taking a stance on issues in modern society, has managed to make itself more dated than the DeFrancis readers, which were published in 1968.
Looking back, would I have chosen a different textbook series? Perhaps. But Practical Audio Visual Chinese has been a landmark series, too entrenched to ignore. As I finish this series, my Chinese journey has only just begun.
Displaying 1 of 1 review