Traditional vs. Simplified Characters?, June 11, 1999
　

This book is an excellent source of learning material, but to clarify the misunderstanding observed by the reader from Atlanta, perhaps a future edition should be retitled "Understanding Traditional Chinese".

In any case, despite the fact that simplified characters are used throughout mainland China, they are useless in that they are not much faster to write (which was their original intended purpose) and make the language more difficult by forcing students to learn BOTH the traditional AND simplified characters. Furthermore, the many students I've met over the past few years from mainland China, who don't always know the traditional character equivalent of their simplified ones, are losing touch with their culture which has been embedded in the intricacies of how the traditional characters developed from pictographs.

Zakarius
　

A must!, January 23, 2003
　

This book is a must for learning Chinese. The cross reference dictionaries are a life saver. The book is well thought out and very easy to use. You can learn from the book and also use it for reference!

One of the best books if you are studying asian calligraphy, February 27, 2002
Reviewer: A reader
This is great book if you are studying the art form of chinese characters. It is one of the only books available with an index of the characters in English which makes it invaluable. I highly recommend it.

useful guide, January 23, 2002
Reviewer: A reader
It's a nicely laid-out book. Wish there was an audio accompaniment to these series that is packaged with the book. This book and also Understanding Chinese by the same author is, however, not for beginners. It serves as a good supplement.

Excellent book WITHOUT a flaw, December 31, 2001
　

This book is wonderful and I do not consider that having only unsimplified forms of the characters is a flaw. While simplifid characters are more useful in Mainland China, they are not used at all in Taiwan, Hong Kong or Singapore and are only used rarely in Chinese communities in the U.S. and Canada. This book is most useful when visiting one of these places or studying there, since it is well nigh impossible to find an unsimplified guide or dictionary in most book stores. Also, it provides pronunciation in "bopomofo" the phonetic system used in Taiwan by foreigners and natives alike, far superioir to Wades-Giles or Pinyin.

Need to have simplified characters, October 4, 2000
　

To support some of the other comments, this would be a 5 star plus book if "simplified guide" meant using the simplified characters. Having a character guide which I am able to read without a magnifying glass is a major plus. If the next revision switches to simplified characters, it will be the "best" in class.