Simon & Schuster’s Pimsleur Mandarin Chinese, Level 5: 30 Lessons, Boxed

The Easiest and Fastest Way to Learn Chinese Mandarin
Did you know that Mandarin is the world's most widely spoken language with over one billion native speakers? Once you get the basics down, you'll be surprised how quickly you're able to begin speaking it. And even knowing a little bit of the language will make travel to China far easier, and much more fun. Whether your goal is to travel, communicate with friends or colleagues, reconnect with family, or just understand more of what's going on around you, learning to speak Mandarin will expand your horizons and immeasurably enrich your life.

The best part is that it doesn't have to be difficult or take years to master. Thirty minutes a day is all it takes, and we get you speaking right from the first day. Pimsleur courses use a scientifically-proven method that puts you in control of your learning. If you've tried other language learning methods but found they simply didn't stick, then you owe it to yourself to give Pimsleur a try.

Why Pimsleur?
- Quick + Easy - Only 30 minutes a day.
- Portable + Flexible - Core lessons can be done anytime, anywhere, and easily fit into your busy life.
- Proven Method - Works when other methods fail.
- Self-Paced - Go fast or go slow - it's up to you.
- Based in Science - Developed using proven research on memory and learning.
- Cost-effective - Less expensive than classes or immersion, and features all native speakers.
- Genius - Triggers your brain's natural aptitude to learn.
- Works for everyone - Recommended for ages 13 and above.

What's Included in Pimsleur's Chinese (Mandarin) Level 5?
- Thirty, 30-minute audio lessons, plus one hour and 15 minutes of Hanyu Pinyin Reading Lessons.
- In total, nearly 16 hrs of spoken Mandarin language learning, all featuring native speakers

What You'll Learn
Pimsleur's Chinese (Mandarin) Level 5, designed to be taken after Level 4, builds upon skills taught in Pimsleur's Chinese (Mandarin) Levels 1-4. The thirty 30-minute lessons, plus the Hanyu Pinyin reading practice, will enable you to speak and understand Mandarin with near fluency and with a broad range of conversational skills. In Level 5 the pace and conversation moves quite rapidly, accelerating exposure to new vocabulary and structures, approaching native speed and comprehension. You'll learn to speak more in-depth about your personal life and emotional state, and be able to create complex sentences using a mix of tenses and moods.

Some of the topics covered in Pimsleur's Chinese (Mandarin) Level 5:

- Travel: exploring the vast and richly varied country of China, discussing the various ethnic groups and cultures found from region to region, buying tickets to tourist attractions, taking family vacations, speaking with a travel agent
- Food and drink: restaurants, street vendors, favorite dishes, delicious drinks, discussing differences between Chinese and American diets.
- History: learning about important people and places, uncovering famous popular locations, discovering China's ancient past
- The environment: weather, climate change, environmental protection, wetlands
- Communication: getting in touch, sending text messages
- Work: discussing meetings, modern jobs, attending conferences, giving speeches
- Family life and relationships: family traditions, children and grandchildren, extended family members, birthdays, retirement, pets, grandparents and family history
- Health and wellness: exercising, relaxing, visiting a Chinese medical doctor, taking Chinese medicine, paying attention to one's vitality

Reading Lessons are included at the end of Lesson 30. These lessons are designed to teach you to read Hanyu Pinyin (pinyin for short) the official phonetic system for transcribing pronunciations of Chinese characters into a Latin alphabet. Totaling one hour 15 minutes, the lessons will teach you to sound out written words with correct pronunciation and accent. A Reading Booklet to be used with the audio lessons is included in PDF format.

The Pimsleur Method
We make no secret of what makes this powerful method work so well. Paul Pimsleur spent his career researching and perfecting the precise elements anyone can use to learn a language quickly and easily. Here are a few of his "secrets"

The Principal of Anticipation
In the nanosecond between a cue and your response, your brain has to work to come up with the right word. Having to do this boosts retention, and cements the word in your mind.

Core Vocabulary
Words, phrases, and sentences are selected for their usefulness in everyday conversation. We don't overwhelm you with too much, but steadily increase your ability with every lesson.

Graduated Interval Recall
Reminders of new words and structures come up at the exact interval for maximum retention and storage into your long-term memory.

Organic Learning
You work on multiple aspects of the language simultaneously. We integrate grammar, vocabulary, rhythm, melody, and intonation into every lesson, which allows you to experience the language as a living, expressive form of human culture.

Constant Feedback Loop + Build-in Testing
Pimsleur's unique system of cues and responses provides a constant feedback loop. You can test yourself as you go, and make incremental corrections in creating and refining cohesive, clear responses.

Gives You a Solid Foundation
Each lesson and Level builds on the ones before it and in turn sets the framework for the lessons and Levels that follow. Learn what you need to prosper and to build a foundation to future learning.

The Mandarin Language
Over one billion people speak Chinese. The two most common dialects are Mandarin and Cantonese. They are not mutually intelligible. Mandarin is the official language in Mainland