You step into the bookshop, surrounded by a world of possibilities. In the Chinese section, you find just a couple of textbooks and a ‘Learn Chinese in Your Car’.
But when you turn to the English section, you see titles like “Business English in 1000 Words” and “A Guide to Writing Emails in English” aimed at Chinese speakers.
And you start to wonder, couldn’t these books also help you learn Chinese?
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Can English learning materials help you learn Chinese?
One crucial factor for successful language learning is what content you choose to study. If the materials you use don’t include the kind of language you want to learn, for example, it doesn’t matter how much time you invest, you might still not reach your goal.
And while it is possible to learn with bad or boring materials, the process becomes easier and more enjoyable when you use effective, engaging resources. For more about the three factors that determine success in learning Chinese, see The three factors that determine how much Chinese you learn.
Lack of good materials for learning Chinese
So where do you go if you want engaging resources for learning Chinese? A bookshop, of course!
I like books, so I’ve been to many bookshops in Europe, America and Asia. Since I started learning Chinese in 2007, I’ve made a habit of always checking out materials for learning Chinese.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to do so, let me tell you: while you can sometimes find books for learning Chinese, the section is often very small: a few different textbook series, graded readers and maybe a “Learn Chinese in Your Car” or similar.
If you’re lucky, that is. Most bookshops don’t carry any learning materials for students of Chinese at all.
If you haven’t been to a major bookstore in East Asia and looked at the section for learning English, you don’t know what “abundant resources” means. These sections can be huge, with many thousands of titles.
Can English learning materials help you learn Chinese?
Given that it’s not easy to find good learning materials, and that the market for Chinese people learning English is gigantic compared to the market for English speakers learning Chinese, it’s only natural to ask:
Can you use English learning materials to study Chinese?
Is this similar to using English words to learn Chinese pronunciation, a big no-no?
Let’s have a look!
Learning materials meant for Chinese people learning English
In this discussion, I’ll refer to books for learning English as ESL materials (English as a Second Language) and assume we’re talking about materials designed for native Chinese speakers.
Standing in a bookshop filled with ESL books, all containing plenty of Chinese, it’s tempting to see this as an opportunity.
Just consider some typical titles:
- Business English in 1000 Words
- A Guide to Writing Emails in English
- Learning to Speak Like an American in 100 Days
- Mastering English for Job Interviews in Global Companies
- Everyday English Idioms
These titles are made up, but shelves are filled with similar books. Why not use them to learn Chinese? If a book contains 1000 words for business English, surely it includes the equivalent information in Chinese? If it teaches how to write emails in English, it must refer to Chinese as well. And wouldn’t it be useful to pore over interview transcripts translated into Chinese with commentary?
Yes.
But.
Why using ESL materials to learn Chinese might not be such a good idea
Using materials meant for Chinese speakers learning English might not be as helpful as it seems. Even though it is certainly possible, reversing the direction of learning (English to Chinese) comes at a cost.
These books are (usually) written for educated native speakers, and the Chinese text is there solely to aid understanding of English. Therefore, even if the book is suitable for intermediate English learners, it might not be appropriate for intermediate Chinese learners.
This is closely related to the second drawback:
The most common words or phrases aren’t the same in both languages
Another problem is that the English in these books is often carefully curated with statistical backing (e.g., the most common words or useful phrases, common patterns in interviews, etc.), but this is not true for the Chinese in the translations.
For example, a book teaching 1000 useful business terms in English won’t create an equally useful list for Chinese learners through direct translation.
This is even more true for things like idioms. It should come as no surprise that a common idiom in Chinese, even if it has a counterpart in English, doesn’t share its frequency ranking in both languages.
The explanation of a word can rely on language more difficult than the word itself. This is not a problem for a Chinese person learning English, but it is a problem for you as a learner of Chinese.
To check the most commonly used language in Chinese, please refer to this article The most common Chinese words, characters and components for language learners and teachers.
The most common Chinese words, characters and components for language learners and teachers
Target language content is pedagogical, explanations are not
Now consider phrasebooks or materials with many sentences, dialogues or longer-form content. It might seem like a good idea to use such books to study the Chinese translations and explanations, but it’s not that simple.
The translations aren’t true “equivalents”; they exist just to explain the English text. They can be awkward (due to literal translations), overly formal, or even contain strange or uncommon words. Pedagogical care (hopefully) went into crafting the English sentences, but not necessarily into the Chinese translations.
ESL materials that are actually useful for learning Chinese
If you’ve read this far, you understand why it’s not ideal to use ESL materials for learning Chinese directly. However, this doesn’t mean they are useless, you just need to be cautious.
For instance, using random ESL books to create flashcards based on Chinese translations is generally a bad idea. But there are ways to still extract valuable content from these materials:
- Choose high-quality ESL materials: Better translations can make a significant difference. While they still may not be perfect from a learning standpoint, they are often much better than the poor translations found in cheaper books.
- Use parallel texts: These books either contain well-made translations of novels or are curated for quality. You might still want to have a native speaker check them, but I’ve rarely had issues with books like this. I wrote more about reading translated texts here: Are authentic texts good for learning Chinese or is graded content better?
- Use them as tools for exploration: A business English book might be useful for learning business-related Chinese terms indirectly. It discusses business in Chinese and will contain some relevant words and phrases, even if they aren’t necessarily the most common.
- Exploring cultural differences: Sometimes these books point out differences in how interviews are conducted or how business is done between cultures. This can help you identify and learn about cultural norms.
- Read about familiar topics: Since you already know a lot about English, it can be interesting to read about it in Chinese. It’s like reading a news article on a familiar topic or reading about your home city in a Chinese encyclopaedia, which can be both engaging and useful!
Don’t judge a book by its cover
This brings us to the final point: don’t judge a book by its cover. Some ESL books have excellent Chinese content, while others do not. It’s difficult to determine this unless your Chinese is already at a good level.
To avoid learning awkward or overly complex phrases, run any ESL book past a native speaker. Simply ask them what they think of the Chinese words and phrases. Would it sound natural if you used these in conversation?
Conclusion: Don’t use ESL learning materials uncritically
In conclusion: don’t use ESL books directly without filtering. You risk learning awkward sentences that are off-target in terms of both style and difficulty (and sometimes even accuracy).
Instead, make sure to have a native speaker review the material before you use it for learning Chinese.
Online resources for learning Chinese
There is an increasing number of great resources available online to help learners of Chinese. Here are some useful articles and tools to get started:
- The 10 Best Free Chinese Reading Resources for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Learners
- The 10 Best Free Chinese Listening Resources for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Learners
- 500 Resources for Learning and Teaching Chinese, Tagged by Level, Topic, and Type
- The 7 Best Chinese Reading Practice Resources for Beginners
- Beginner Chinese Listening Practice: What to Listen to and How
- What to Read and Why: Choosing Materials for Learning Chinese
The 10 best free Chinese reading resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners
Editor’s note: This article, originally published in 2016, was rewritten from scratch and massively updated in December 2024.
2 comments
“I mean, why not use the books meant for *learning* English learners to learn Chinese instead?”
Teaching?
“Remember, these books are not written in English, leafing through most of them reveals *that that* few learners are willing to leave Chinese entirely and prefer to get things explained in their native language.”
That that.
Fixed, Thanks for reporting the errors!