[noodle]

How bizzare... A Japanese friend bought this series for his English gf. He said it was an excellent series for people that really want to learn the language, rather than learning how to communicate. Lets face it, most people that speak a second language or third, only know how to get by, yet they still say that they speak the language. I was told by my friend that this series is total rubbish if and only if you're looking to communicate and get by.

I'm learning a little Mandarin right now, and my flatmate, he who is teaching me, is teaching me the characters before I learn the pronounciation. It seems to be a similar method to this book (except I don't learn hundreds or chars before I learn the pronounciation, I learn 10 to 20 chars at a time), and personally, I think it's working.