BOOKS FOR CHILDREN, EDUCATION, AND HOMESCHOOLING
Home of Barb's People Builders

Education is our business!
We supply the literature, workbooks, and teaching materials you need in all subjects, preschool through high school.

ASIAN LANGUAGES

Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese

Chinese

Chinese in Plain English: The Easiest Way to Learn the Language by Boye De Mente. An easy-to-use pronunciation system and a straightforward presentation of the basics of the language, with plenty of useful sentences, helps break the language barrier quickly. Contains more than 1,200 high-frequency words and expressions, including many business terms, which are listed alphabetically with their Chinese equivalents, and a pronunciation guide.  This book for those who want a basic introduction or preparation for a trip will find this instruction in Mandarin Chinese, written in romanized letters, just the thing to fill the bill. Digest size paper, 332 pages. For teens or adults. 8.95-D

Chinese the Fast and Fun Way by Lifei Ji, Barron's Educational. This attractive and highly accessible book introduces readers to enough Mandarin Chinese to help them get around in typical travel situations. It opens with a pronunciation key, and goes on to emphasize the sounds of Chinese words and phrases. Sections that follow guide the reader through practice of often-used words, phrases, and sentences in typical travel situations that include arriving at a hotel, sightseeing, taking public transportation, and more. Also featured are vocabulary cards to improve students' visual recognition of words and increase their word power in Chinese. Book only, Cat. # BAR-96894 / $15.26-D / Also available as a book/cassettes package, with total cassette playing time of approximately six hours. Cat. # BAR-84519 / $40.50-D

Sing 'n Learn Chinese with CD: Introduce Chinese language and culture with favorite children's songs. These traditional and familiar melodies will teach basic vocabulary and pronunciation through popular themes like  family, animals, colors, and weather and more with Penny and Tommy Panda.   The 22 songs are written in simplified Chinese characters, traditional Chinese characters, and  romanized pinyin.  Line drawings enhance the text. 32-page paper book includes English translations and activity guides. Includes CD with songs. For children of all ages. Cat. #MCom-170 / $17.00-D

Teach Yourself Chinese: A Complete Course for Beginners by Elizabeth Scurfield. Digest size paper. This book explains the complexities of spoken and written Mandarin. The author explains everything clearly and gives plenty of opportunities for practice. The graded structure helps you to work at your own pace, arranging your learning to suit your needs. You can choose whether to learn the script or just follow the romanized pinyin transcriptions. A summary of key grammar allows you to look up difficult points quickly. There is an extensive two-way vocabulary list and pronunciation guide. 14.35-D

Korean

Sing 'n Learn Korean. Introduce Korean language and culture with favorite children's songs. These traditional and familiar melodies will teach basic vocabulary and pronunciation through popular themes like  greetings, family, animals, colors, and weather and more with Penny and Tommy Panda.  The 23 songs are written in Korean Hangul, for which a pronunciation guide is included.  Line drawings enhance the text. 32-page paper book includes English translations and activity and instruction guides. A cassette with the songs is included. 13.45-D

Japanese

Japanese Power Glide Courses

Easy Japanese: A Guide to Spoken and Written Japanese by Jack Seward. Trade paper, Passport Books. 16 easy-to-follow lessons provide all the basics you need to speak and write Japanese. Lessons are divided into the following categories:
    Useful everyday expressions
    Vocabulary and sample sentences
    Sentence patterns and grammar
    Cultural sidelights
Kana and Kanji are introduced about halfway through the book so students can learn to write as well as speak Japanese. 210 pages. $11.66-D

Easy Japanese Crossword Puzzles Using Kana by Rita L. Lampkin. Passport Books, 1998. This book contains 47 crossword puzzles for beginning students of Japanese, or for those who want to brush up their Japanese vocabulary and grammar skills. This is an entertaining way to practice the use of the Kana script.

The puzzles cover a lot of topics related to daily life. The Kana characters are used throughout and the puzzles are arranged according to difficulty. They begin with Japanese to English puzzles and progress to English to Japanese puzzles. Complete vocabulary and solutions are found at the end.  60 pages. BTH-1975. $6.26-D

 Japanese for Children: A Beginning Course in Everyday Conversation, softcover, Passports Books. 114 pages. This is now out of print, but I have one left. This is a beginning course in Japanese for children whose first language is English. The first half of the book introduces children to simple greetings and vocabulary. The second half helps children assimilate the language through conversations that relate to everyday experiences. English translations of the greetings, vocabulary, and conversations are found at the back of the book. From the very beginning both the hiragana and katakana writing systems are introduced, and children can learn to use them. There is plenty of practice without long explanations of grammar. Children build skills by means of easy-to-remember models. NTC-85145. $14.95*

Learn Japanese the Fast Fun Way by Akiyama & Akiyama. Barron's Educational. Here's how to learn Japanese painlessly for vacationing, shopping, making phone calls, dining, sightseeing, and generally getting around Japanese cities and countrysides. Vocabulary cards, gummed labels and other fun-learning features come as part of the book. Book is paperback,  256 Pages , 7 13/16" x 10 " Cat. # BAR-06236 / $17.06-D

Learn Japanese the Fast Fun Way Book + Cassettes by Akiyama & Akiyama. Barron's Educational. Four 90-minute audiocassettes are included with the book in a sturdy, handsome album. Here's how to learn Japanese painlessly for vacationing, shopping, making phone calls, dining, sightseeing, and generally getting around Japanese cities and countrysides. Vocabulary cards, gummed labels and other fun-learning features come as part of the book--while the cassettes introduce the sound of spoken Japanese and encourage the listener to practice correct pronunciation. This package can be used by children, ages 11 and older. (Grades 6-9) . Book is paperback,  256 Pages , 7 13/16" x 10 " Cat. # BAR-72711 / $35.96-D

Sing 'n Learn Japanese 1: Introduce Japanese with Favorite Children's Songs, with CD. Songs to traditional and familiar melodies help children learn basic vocabulary and pronunciation through popular themes such as family, animals, colors, and more. There are 23 songs, and each is written in Hiragana, Katakana, romanized Japanese, adn English. The illustrations help children understand the culture. Also included are a pronunciation guide, glossary, cultural notes and activity guides. Paper, 32 pages. For children of all ages. Cat. #18881-94227. $16.16-D Click image to enlarge it.

Teach Yourself Beginner's Japanese Script: An Introduction to Reading a Writing Japanese by Helen Gilhooly. Paper, NTC Publishing. This book features the origins of the language, a systematic approach to mastering the script, lots of hands-on exercises and activities, and practical examples from real-life situations. For teens and adults. 195 pages, digest size. 9.85-D

Vietnamese

Sing 'n Learn Vietnamese. Introduces Vietnamese language and culture with favorite children's songs. These traditional and familiar melodies will teach basic vocabulary and pronunciation through popular themes like  family, animals, colors, and weather. The 14songs are written in both Vietnamese and English. Pronunciation, activity and instructional guides are included, as is a cassette tape with the songs. $13.45-D

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