Chinese Language & Literature

Love, Travel, Study, Work, Friendship—whatever your reason for wanting to learn, Beginners’ Mandarin Chinese will help you to:   

• Communicate naturally in everyday situations.
• Build your confidence with easy-to-follow explanations and plenty of practice activities.
• Understand and pronounce Mandarin Chinese easily with online audio.
• Remember what you learn with our effective Discovery Method.
• Focus your learning and track your progress with practical tools and planners.

Access the audio for this course for free by downloading it to the Teach Yourself Library app or streaming it on library.teachyourself.com.  

A practical fill-in workbook for beginners learning Mandarin Chinese with everyday words, essential vocabulary, and hands-on practice. A fascination introduction to the Chinese writing system, Easy Peasy Chinese Workbook shows you how to write more than 200 of the most useful characters. This straightforward workbook helps to develop and perfect Mandarin Chinese writing skills and is the perfect companion to DK's Easy Peasy Chinese.
Sections follow a logical progression, starting with different character strokes and everyday words, such as "hello" and "thank you", and progressing to the essential vocabulary needed to tell the time, order in a restaurant, or buy a train ticket. For children aged 7+ who are learning Mandarin at school, and for adults learning the language for travel, this book is ideal for beginners of all ages. Its clear modern design, inventive visuals and clear explanations make learning Chinese both accessible and fun!

With useful tips, practice exercises, and fascinating insights into Chinese culture, Easy Peasy Chinese teaches you how to read, write, and speak Mandarin Chinese step by step. The accompanying audio app will help you perfect your pronunciation and quickly get to grips with the Mandarin tones. Aimed at children aged 8+, but of appeal to beginners of all ages, it will teach you all the words and phrases you'll need to get by in China, so you can introduce yourself, read and write numbers, and chat about the weather, food, and interests. What's more, you can give yourself a Chinese name, haggle over shop prices, and learn all about the national culture.

The book covers Pinyin, the system used to spell out Chinese characters using Roman letters, and introduces the Chinese writing system, including more than 200 of the most frequently used Chinese characters. Bold illustrations and photographs, and a compact, super-stylish design help make the process of learning fun and accessible. There is no Great Wall stopping you from learning now.

Having aided millions of travellers on their journeys, DK's iconic Eyewitness Phrase Book series is back and better than ever.

The perfect language survival guide for everyday situations, Eyewitness Phrase Book: Chinese provides all the key words and phrases you need. Word lists and stunning photographs make learning basic Chinese phrases easier than ever before, and every guide includes a menu guide and two-way dictionary to ensure you're always covered.

The brand new audio app allows you to hear many key words spoken aloud by native speakers, making pronunciation simple. Every word is accompanied by a written pronunciation guide to keep your communications smooth and simple as you travel.

With free-to-access audio online! This lively course teaches Mandarin Chinese to a broad range of learners in a modern, structured and engaging way.

The focus is on acquiring basic conversational skills, and the text has a friendly, non-formal style, building up gently with a wealth of lively, imaginative exercises. The text places some emphasis on correct pronunciation, as this is so important in Mandarin. It introduces right from the start the fascinating Chinese script and includes essential grammar, along with interesting cultural insights. Pinyin, the standard system of spelling using the Roman alphabet to transliterate Chinese, is also included to help build confidence.

The course is aimed at beginners with little or no previous knowledge of the language who want to begin to understand, speak, read and write Mandarin Chinese confidently. This is all you would expect from a modern Mandarin Chinese language course but can't find!

Perfect for students studying Chinese, this newly updated bilingual dictionary features comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of essential current vocabulary.

• Communicate effectively in Chinese and American English
• Bilingual, bidirectional dictionary
• 19,000 entry words and phrases and 26,000 translations
• Clear, precise definitions deliver the words you need
• IPA pronunciations and abundant examples of words used in context guide correct usage
• Special sections include English Irregular Verbs, Guide to English Phonetics, and Radical Index

A perfect translation tool for teachers, travelers, and language learners of all skill levels.

Developed in cooperation with Collins.

Teach yourself Mandarin in just 12 weeks with this fun-filled language course.

DK’s 15 Minute Language is the perfect course for busy people who want to learn Mandarin fast.
The 12 themed chapters are broken down into easy-to-follow 15-minute daily lessons spanning a range of practical themes, including: leisure, business, food and drink, travel, and shopping.

Each lesson combines vocabulary and grammar essentials with attractive full-colour images, making it quick, easy, and fun to learn new Mandarin vocabulary. There is no writing or homework – you simply use the cover flaps to hide the answers to exercises and test yourself as you learn. Each chapter ends with a review module so you can track your progress and identify areas where you need further practice.

Fancy becoming a pro at the language? Then, get stuck in to discover:

-Annotated photographic scenes and word lists make it easy to learn and remember new vocabulary.
-12 fun chapters, each designed to take a week to master, providing an easy-to-follow structure for new learners.
-Easy-to-use pronunciation guide for every word, plus a dictionary and menu guide at the back of the book.
-Regular review modules to help you track progress and assess how well you have learned the vocabulary in each chapter

The course includes a free audio app that enables you to hear Mandarin words and phrases spoken by native speakers. Use the app alongside the book’s easy-to-use pronunciation guides to perfect your pronunciation and practise Mandarin conversation in real-life situations. Whether you’re a complete beginner or just in need of a refresher course, there’s no easier way to learn Mandarin than with 15-minute Mandarin.

At DK, we believe in the power of discovery. So why stop there?

Learn more languages with DK’s 15-minute guides to French, Spanish, Arabic and more!