You don't need characters to speak Chinese! In fact, for English speakers, learning the characters is an inefficient process and slows down your progress in learning to speak and listen to Chinese. Respected Chinese language expert Dr. Cornelius Kubler, who has taught diplomats, business people and students, presents a system that works for you. Use separate but integrated "tracks" to help you efficiently master spoken and written Chinese.Basic Spoken Chineseprovides success at a first year university level of fluency. Since Chinese takes a lot of practice, turn toPractice Essentialsfor a wealth of care fully designed activities to help solidify every aspect of your spoken Chinese skills: Vocab and Grammar summaries Role Play & Listening exercises Transformation & Response practice Translation exercises A CD-ROM contains over 11 hours of audio, as well as printable PDF files of hundreds of additional practice pages and exercises.