All Things Considered (The Princeton Language Program: Modern Chinese) Revised edition by Chou, Chih-p'ing, Xia, Yan, Goh, Meow Hui (2011) Paperback

by Chih-p'ing Chou

Designed for students who have completed at least two years of college Chinese, this thoroughly revised edition of All Things Considered bridges the gap between intermediate- and advanced-level Chinese. Lessons promote student discussion and include thought-provoking topics relevant to contemporary Chinese society, such as the increasing divisions between the rich and poor, the conflict between economic development and environmental protection, and changing attitudes toward sex and marriage. The first twelve lessons in the book are in dialogue form, while the remaining lessons are adapted from Chinese newspaper and magazine articles, exposing students to spoken and written styles of Chinese. Some topics appear in both the dialogues and articles sections, giving students ample opportunity for review and reinforcement, improving their overall grammar and vocabulary retention. With a new user-friendly format, All Things Considered juxtaposes text and vocabulary on adjacent pages. Grammar explanations and exercises have also been fully updated to meet student needs.

Genres: Textbooks, China

Paperback Bunko

First published July 1, 2001

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

All Things Considered is a great Modern Mandarin Chinese textbook to help one make the leap from intermediate to advanced Chinese. I used it for that purpose and it helped me place into an advanced level of Chinese after less than a year since starting beginners' Chinese. The news articles in the back are very interesting for getting a sense of the identity crises felt in 1990s "post-socialist" China, but they are quite outdated for anyone trying to read Chinese news in 2015. This book is particularly good for those trying to boost their reading skills, maybe not so much for those trying to work on conversation fluency.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would've given it four stars because I fell like the articles get a little repetitive. That being said, I assume that reading a real newspaper would be worse, so I gave it five.

I think this is the perfect book for people who have a Chinese level equivalent to student learning 3rd year Chinese language in a US university. But a warning: if your teacher is from Mainland China, she might be offended or on edge to teach this material. Not that it is offensive at all--the articles are mostly from the Communist Party's newspaper--it's just a cultural thing.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Done with this fir now at Chapter 19 (we did not hit each chapter) as my class is over. Princeton does a great job. These books are well put together and offer the most useful vocab and grammar. Highly recommend!