China Simplified: Language Empowerment

by Stewart Lee Beck, Katie Lu

An entertaining journey to the heart of the Chinese language to deepen your understanding of China and its culture. A must-read for anyone who wants to improve their Mandarin or cultivate better relationships with Chinese worldwide.

"I wish a book like this existed when I moved to China."
— Dan Washburn, Chief Content Officer, Asia Society

"Ridiculously funny, uncomfortably accurate and totally memorable!"
— Grant Horsfield, Founder, naked Group

"I suddenly feel as if the scales have been lifted from my eyes."
— Carol Potter, Executive Vice Chairman at Edelman

"It’s not a textbook; it’s just stuff you should know."
— John Pasden, Founder and CEO, AllSet Learning

"Totally authentic."
— Christine Ng, CEO, BBH China

"A lively and original approach to navigating the bottomless mysteries of Chinese language and culture."
— David Brooks, Chairman, Coca-Cola Greater China & Korea

"Reveals insights that many teachers and textbooks overlook."
— Olle Linge, Mandarin Language Educator, Founder Hacking Chinese

"They’ve cracked the code: China Simplified demystified Mandarin for me, and now many of my clients."
— Mary Rezek, Founder & Principal Consultant, Saatori Ltd.

"Weaves together rich cultural and linguistic background information of the Chinese language with practical implications for daily communication."
— Michael Volz, Chinese Program Coordinator, University of Missouri

"This book should be required reading for every foreigner before getting on the plane to China."
— Miao Jun, former HR Director, Asia-Pacific, Milliken Inc.

The authors encourage you to discover the writers whose works influenced Language Empowerment:

The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
Language Evolution by Morten Christiansen and Simon Kirby
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language by David Crystal
Sinosplice blog by John Pasden
Hacking Chinese blog by Olle Linge
Language Log blog by Victor Mair
China in Ten Words by Yu Hua
My Life Story by Zhou Youguang
The Languages of China by S. Robert Ramsey
A Billion Voices: China’s Search for a Common Language by David Moser
Chinese History: A New Manual by Endymion Wilkinson
The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently and Why by Richard Nisbett
The Architecture of the Language Faculty by Ray Jackendoff
Postcards From Tomorrow Square by James Fallows
The Third Ear by Chris Lonsdale
Speak Like A Native: Professional Secrets for Mastering Foreign Languages by Michael Janich
Origins of Chinese Names by SK Lim and Chunjiang Fu
Popular Chinese Idioms by Jeffrey Seow and Yang Liping
A Chinese-English Dictionary of Chinese Idioms by Pan Weigui
The Pocket Linguist: A Practical Guide to Learning any Language by Gregg Miller

This book is intended to benefit readers who want to...

- better appreciate the origins of Chinese culture
- gain confidence and more fully enjoy China travel
- decide whether to study Mandarin part-time or full-time
- pick up an improved understanding of Chinese grammar
- discover a fun substitute to boring Chinese phrasebooks
- get the basic differences between simplified characters and traditional characters
- become familiar with Chinese dialects such as Cantonese, Shanghainese and Hokkien
- explore the future of language and the looming battle between English and Mandarin

China Simplified hopes you enjoy Language Empowerment!

Genres: Nonfiction

158 pages, Paperback

Published October 15, 2017

About the author

Stewart Lee Beck 李渡 during his 24 years in China worked as a marketing director, bartender, actor, columnist, screenwriter, and documentary producer. This diversity of experience, coupled with his endless fascination with Chinese culture, fueled his two books: China Simplified: Language Empowerment and China Simplified: History Flashback. Stewart now lives in SE Asia with a Chinese wife whom he refers to as "the crazy woman who keeps me sane."

Reviews

[Chelseyam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently started to attempt to learn Mandarin, so I found this book at a great time. I was feeling pretty hopeless about my ability to pick up the language. Luckily, this book has helped inspire me to keep trying. I love the author’s writing style and felt that it made the book a cinch to get through. Plus, it made me feel a lot less alone in the world of learning such a unique language with only having a background in English. I thought the cultural education in this book was very fascinating. More often than not, we only seem to get a few little tidbits about the life Chinese people live, when truly this culture is vast and varies between provinces. I would love to see China for myself someday, but for now this book has helped to make me feel a bit closer to the language. I’d recommend it to anyone hoping to broaden their horizons.

[Renee Spicuzza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asian cultures and beliefs have always been very intriguing to me, so Stewart Lee Beck’s, “China Simplified: Language Empowerment (Demystify Chinese Culture and Fire Up your Mandarin),” is a great way to have a better understanding of the Chinese culture and society specifically. Beck focuses on the vast majority of the population and their experiences, rather than on smaller and minute, but more popular topics that are more well known within society, this way you are able to have a more genuine understanding of what is occurring within their society. He breaks down the various dialects, which is something that I think many people struggle with when starting languages, as well as the grammar and this simplistic breakdown being helpful to get you going on the proper path to success. The book is easily organized in sections that focus on what you need to know in order to thrive with your studies of the Chinese culture.

[Jimmy Jefferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Understanding the language and different dialects of the Chinese culture.

Language empowerment is the second book in the China simplified series. This time the focus is on the language, the dialects, study of Mandarin Chinese, and the culture and environment of the Chinese. I enjoyed the read and found it to be very informative and educational. I have contemplated learning another language. I have been considering Chinese and this book is very helpful in the decession making process. The book is informative and well organized as well as written in an easy flowing style that keeps the interest of the reader through out the entire book. I recommend this one for anyone interested in the Chinese culture and language. These books are written by expert researchers who have a vast knowledge of the Chinese culture and language and use a flowing easy to follow method of presenting this information to the reader.

[Rachel Horon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chinese, particularly Mandarin, is more than a language where you memorize vocabulary and verb tenses. There is a beauty in the language full of origin and word combination. As an English speaker, Stewart Lee Beck brings humor to his own learning experience and how easy it can be to make errors just with an incorrect emphasis on the wrong syllable. From names to superstitions, this book has many interesting stories and insights. There is also a cultural lesson which can benefit visitors whether they are travelers or businesspeople. The expert opinion puts a Chinese perspective that is a wonderful part of the collaboration. If someone is learning Chinese for a trip to the country, this is a readable companion to any language learning resource.