Product Review

Chinese for Adoptive Parents

This two-CD set is designed as a crash course in adoption Chinese language essentials, especially for those adopting older children. It contains 184 phrases organized in the following categories: Love/Comfort, Encouragement, Basic Needs, Orientation, Safety, Travel, Emotions, Play, General Commands, Greetings/Manners, and Shopping.

Each phrase is spoken in English and repeated twice in Chinese. While the speaker is not native Chinese, the pronunciation is clear and correct. While the serious student of Chinese should learn to imitate a native speaker, it is often easier to start with the clear pronunciation of a non-native. The CDs come with a six-page (on 8.5 x 11" paper) translation list, which presents each phrase by category, along with the Chinese pinyin (i.e., transliteration) and track number on the CD. The combined time of both CDs is about 45 minutes.

This is a good quality product that is elegant in its simplicity. A few improvements could help make it near-perfect. First, the pinyin transliteration on the translation list does not include the tones for the Chinese words. This could be accomplished easily by adding the tone number after the syllable (e.g., Ni3 hao3) and might expedite language acquisition, since it is difficult for a beginner to pick up the tone by listening.  (There is an upside to not including tones—it is less confusing for a beginning self-learner.) Second, it would be nice to have the translation in a booklet form, rather than on loose sheets of paper (although this would undoubtedly increase the cost).

If you can get these CDs six months before you travel, you can master it by learning a phrase a day, which is certainly an attainable goal. Don't forget to practice on your Chinese-speaking friends, and be patient!

[Chinese for Adoptive Parents web page]