I have no knowledge of Chinese, but am interested in dipping my toe in the waters. I saw this book at a local bookstore. The Amazon reviews are glowing.
Anyone here have any experience with it, can recommend or advise against it?

Mandarin Chinese: Learning through conversation

http://www.amazon.com/Mandarin-Chinese-L...roduct_top

http://www.amazon.com/Mandarin-Chinese-L...ewpoints=1

Edit: added link

Sorry, I am not familiar with the book. And frankly I've never heard of it before. Which doesn't mean it isn't good, but you probably won't find someone here that can review it.

One I can recommend from experience is Assimil's "Chinese with Ease." From the description it sounds like it takes a similar approach (learning through conversational dialogues), but Assimil I know for sure to be of very high quality.

Thanks, mafried. I did some research following your post and they do seem similar. Maybe i'll hint to my family for Christmas...

No problem. Best of luck to you!