ParadiseNotForMe Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 Hello all.My school does not offer a textbook specifically made for Chinese IBSL. Does anyone here have recommendations on what textbook I can purchase online to guide me towards the exam? I'm from America, so IB is fairly new here. Also, any advice on the exam? Is it in complete Chinese? I have been learning traditional characters, will I also need to know simplified? Thank you. Help is appreciated! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB Failing Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 Well I've had a look through a few textbooks and none actually are made specifically for Mandarin B SL, however our school has used the 4th and 5th Chinese Made Easy textbooks and workbooks. You can find it online, and it deals with a rather large range of topics that might help in the exam. Despite this, the exercises in these books aren't really like they are in Paper I so you really want to do some past papers to improve, including past essay questions. The CME books cover quite a few of the common topics though, and it's been recommended on other sites.Your other questions: Both papers are written only in Chinese, including the questions. Each paper is split into two, with the first half being in Simplified and the latter being in Traditional, so there's no real need to know Simplified if you're more comfortable with Traditional. - Just checked, CME is available in both Simplified or Traditional versions if you wanted to know. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda Wijaya Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 My classmate used Chinese Made Easy book 4/5 you can try that. But I'l recommend you to look for other books as well. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParadiseNotForMe Posted September 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 Well I've had a look through a few textbooks and none actually are made specifically for Mandarin B SL, however our school has used the 4th and 5th Chinese Made Easy textbooks and workbooks. You can find it online, and it deals with a rather large range of topics that might help in the exam. Despite this, the exercises in these books aren't really like they are in Paper I so you really want to do some past papers to improve, including past essay questions. The CME books cover quite a few of the common topics though, and it's been recommended on other sites.Your other questions: Both papers are written only in Chinese, including the questions. Each paper is split into two, with the first half being in Simplified and the latter being in Traditional, so there's no real need to know Simplified if you're more comfortable with Traditional.- Just checked, CME is available in both Simplified or Traditional versions if you wanted to know.My classmate used Chinese Made Easy book 4/5 you can try that. But I'l recommend you to look for other books as well. Thank you both for the help. Do you know a good website to find these books though? I am trying Amazon. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB Failing Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 Well Amazon has the Workbook + Textbook for around USD$50, but you could also buy the book straight from chinesemadeeasy.co.uk for about £33. I'm not sure what's better since I ordered my books from a textbooks supplier here. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParadiseNotForMe Posted September 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2012 Well Amazon has the Workbook + Textbook for around USD$50, but you could also buy the book straight from chinesemadeeasy.co.uk for about £33. I'm not sure what's better since I ordered my books from a textbooks supplier here.Thanks again for the links. Last question: Do you recommend I get the textbook or workbook? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB Failing Posted September 8, 2012 Report Share Posted September 8, 2012 Well the textbook has vocab lists, quite a few passages to read and some questions, but the workbook is longer, containing many more exercises with a greater range of formats. I'd suggest getting both, just so you get more practice. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HayashiEsme Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 Interesting! We used that book for the Grade 10 Foreign Language class. Not to take anything away from that book. Though it has to be said that the teacher never used it in the end Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owl_Howl Posted November 22, 2012 Report Share Posted November 22, 2012 If you haven't already brought the books yet , there's this awesome website that stocks the Chinese Made Easy books (childbook) .I think they do free shipping within America. I sometimes think the book's are a bit tedious....... but they do teach you a lot of vocab, useful phrases and all about china's cultureJust for your consideration, there's another series called easy steps to chinese by the same authors. I've seen the first book and the formatting is so much better then chinese made easy and it's seems more targeted at beginners .... instead of 5 books it's got 8. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann888 Posted December 16, 2012 Report Share Posted December 16, 2012 Chinese Made Easy is a very good book. Most schools in Hong Kong use this book teaching Chinese as a second language.At our school, we use Easy Steps to Chinese Volume 5 for Mandarin B SL at DP level. http://www.blcup.com/en/list_2.asp?id=465 This book is also a very good book. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florian Priv Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 hey I'd advise you to get hold of an english textbook for the course. As far as I know the syllabus should be the same, as is the structure. If you want a book that is specific to the subject check out the Chinese Made Easy series!! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParadiseNotForMe Posted February 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Thanks for so much help guys Final question...does anyone know what the score brackets are? Like % to % for a 1, % to % for a 2, etc...trying to calculate what minimum score I should aim for on my Mandarin SL exam (not positive thinking but it's going to be my hardest IB exam). Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaby Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 Thanks for so much help guys Final question...does anyone know what the score brackets are? Like % to % for a 1, % to % for a 2, etc...trying to calculate what minimum score I should aim for on my Mandarin SL exam (not positive thinking but it's going to be my hardest IB exam).The grade boundaries are not pre-set, they emerge after the exams are checked. Normally, you can check the ones from previous years, but the syllabus changed so they may differ this year. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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