1-Minute Chinese (Volume 1)

http://www.learningchocolate.com/en-gb?st_lang=zh-hans

Chinese4Kids has lots of fun resources and clever ideas for
helping children to learn Mandarin:

http://chinese4kids.net

Digital Dialects is a great website for learning beginner’s
vocabulary, with games to listen to Chinese and read
characters and pinyin, covering all the basics of vocabulary:

http://www.digitaldialects.com/Chinese.htm

Semanda is very good for basic vocabulary, with printable
flashcards covering many areas:

http://www.semanda.com

BBC Languages has a selection of activities for beginners to
learn Mandarin, including videos and interactive games:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/chinese/

Hacking Chinese is a fascinating website full of useful
articles, tips and resources for helping you to learn Chinese
faster and better:

http://www.hackingchinese.com

Mandarin Chinese on About.com is a comprehensive
encyclopaedia on learning Chinese, full of useful facts and
tips:

http://mandarin.about.com

FSI Language: the materials which were developed to train
American diplomats who travelled abroad are now freely
available online – slightly dated, but comprehensive and very
useful:

http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php?page=Chinese

Pitch Perfect Pinyin is a great resource for overcoming the
challenges posed by learning Chinese tones:

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/ppp/learning.php?unit=0

Wo Mingbai – a website which, like this book and Chineasy
(see below) uses mnemonics to teach Chinese characters:

http://www.womingbai.com/en/

Growing Up with Chinese follows the adventures of a
Chinese family hosting a foreign student in Beijing.
Interspersed with presentations and cartoons on learning the
phrases presented, this series is fun and accessible. Each
episode also has an attached pdf file where you can read the
script in both characters and pinyin:

http://english.cntv.cn/program/learnchinese/growingwithchine
se/index.shtml

Toon Books: the Professor Garfield website has a section in
which you can read and listen to comic books in different
languages, including Chinese.

http://professorgarfield.org/toon_book_reader/index.html

This list of the three thousand most common Chinese
characters

(http://www.zein.se/patrick/3000char.html) was most useful in
compiling the material for this series of books.

Learning about China and Chinese with books

Other books by Rowan Kohll. Seriously, what else can I say?
Buy them, leave five-star reviews, and tell all your friends
about them. Thank you!
Fun with Chinese Characters, Volumes 1, 2 and 3, by Tan
Huay Peng and Huoping Chen. Each page is tells the story of a
different Chinese character. These books are packed with
information, including funny cartoons to help you remember
them, the origins of the characters, how to write each character
step by step, and related phrases.
Knee Howdy, by Nathan Cain. An excellent book, and notable
for being one of the few books which uses mnemonics to teach
Chinese words (although not characters).
Chineasy, by ShaoLan. Another book which uses mnemonics
to teach Chinese. This beautifully illustrated book makes
Chinese characters easy and fun to learn, although it does not
have mnemonics for Chinese words or tones.
River Town, by Peter Hessler. This wonderful story about
teaching English in rural Sichuan gives an insightful,
sympathetic and realistic glimpse into life in China. His other
two books about living in China (Oracle Bones and Road Trip)
are also highly recommended.
Chinese Business Etiquette: a Guide to Protocol, Manners,
and Culture in the People’s Republic of China, by Scott D.

Seligman. Don’t be put off by the fact that this is a book aimed
at business people – it’s a treasure trove of good advice on
everything you need to know about living and working in
China.
Guide books to China. There are plenty of these around to
choose from! In my experience the Lonely Planet guide to
China and the Rough Guide to China are two of the best, each
full of up-to-date information on all the places you can go to,
with useful appendices on Chinese culture and language.
The Complete Guide to Memory Mastery, by Harry
Lorayne. One of the best books on memory systems, this book
includes a chapter on learning languages through mnemonics.
How to Learn Any Language, by Barry Farber. This inspiring
book on Mr. Farber’s experiences of learning languages is full
of good practical advice and makes inspiring reading.

Answers to Set 1 Test

Answers to Set 2 Test

Answers to Set 3 Test

About the Author

I was born in 1980 and grew up in Swansea, UK. After studying History I
realised I had no idea what to do next, and so took a course in teaching

English, and hopped on a plane to China, where I have now lived for well
over a decade. I am currently a teacher at an international school in Suzhou.
My hobbies include travelling, juggling and clowning around with balloon
models, spending time with my beautiful wife Lulu and our wonderful son

Jamie, enjoying Chinese food and reading science fiction.
You can learn more about the 1-Minute Chinese series at
http://1minutechinese.my-free.website/, or contact me at

[email protected].

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Other books by Rowan Kohll

If you enjoyed reading this book then you’ll love reading 1-Minute Chinese
Book 2! This next volume in the series does more than just teach you the
characters. It is also crammed full of tips, tricks and shortcuts to make
Chinese not just easy, but fun! Look inside, and you will find:

Cartoons that make mysterious Chinese characters simple to
understand and easy to remember!
Brilliant mnemonics that will help you to remember how to
read, speak and understand Chinese – and even how to
remember those frustrating Chinese tones!
Fact files full of useful tips on the characters learned – where
they came from, other words they are used in, strange and silly
things about them, and tips on how best to use them!
A Chinese phrasebook that gives you the Chinese you’ll really
need, along with appendices on colours and numbers, with full
information on how to remember them and use them, as well
as fascinating facts and useful tips.
An introduction to Anglicisms, including a comprehensive list
of words that you can already say in Chinese, even if you don’t
yet know it!
A collection of Chinese characters that you can read just by
looking at them!
A wonderful array of two-for-the-price-of-one words to save
you time.
Information on the very best resources for continuing to learn
Chinese in book and online form.