French language is popular because it has a rhythm and poetic flow that makes you want to learn it. That's not the case with Chinese. The Chinese seem to have gone out of their way to make their language so difficult that you would rather eat limburger cheese. Therefore, there are many good books out there to help foreigners figure it out. This is not one of them.
"Survival Chinese" takes false advertising to a new level by delivering the exact opposite of what the book's title implies. It does so by ignoring the tones in Mandarin, sounds which change the meaning of virtually every word that's spoken. Nowhere in "Survival Chinese" do you see tones marked above any word. In fact, the author mentions tones only once, writing, "...different people pronounce them differently, so there is some tolerance; plus the context in which words are used helps make the meaning clear."
WRONG! In fact, there is ZERO tolerance for not using the correct tones in Mandarin. If you say something to a Chinese person using the wrong tone(s), not only will there be confusion, he/she will be PISSED OFF. And then it doesn't matter what context you're using. It's the difference between receiving a hug ("bao") and getting a plastic bag ("bao"). See what I mean? It's just that simple.
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