Recommended Chinese Books

All of the books below are ones that I have bought for myself or others. When you buy them from Amazon through this website, you help support MandarinTools.com.

Choose from Chinese Dictionaries, Computing, Culture


Chinese Dictionaries
cover The Starter Oxford Chinese Dictionary
Excellent first dictionary for learners of Chinese. Includes English to Chinese and Chinese to English dictionaries with many useful examples and grammatical explanations. I wish I had had this dictionary twelve years ago. 		cover Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary
Very useful portable bi-directional dictionary. Uses simplified characters with traditional equivalents listed. My original copy of this dictionary is falling apart from use.
cover ABC Chinese-English Dictionary
Often the first dictionary I turn to lately. Entries are listed alphabetically by pinyin. Good for new students looking up new words they've heard and for long-time learners who know the pinyin for a new word, but not the meaning. Simplified characters. 		cover Far East Chinese-English Dictionary
Useful for reading documents in traditional characters. Arranged by radical/stroke order, but includes a pinyin index.
cover Xinhua Dictionary with English Translation
Venerable and comprehensive character dictionary. It's even more useful now with English definitions. 		cover ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary
The new expanded edition of the ground-breaking ABC dictionary. With nearly 200,000 entries and traditional character equivalents for each entry, it could be the only Chinese-English dictionary you need.

Chinese Computing
cover CJKV Information Processing
A must-have for people interested in East Asian computing. 		cover The Unicode Standard, Version 4.0
Unicode is becoming more and more popular for processing Chinese (and many other languages). This book includes many useful tables and guidelines on using Unicode.

Chinese Culture
cover Calendrical Calculations: The Millennium Edition
Gives detailed information on various calendar systems, including China's lunar calendar. 		cover The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters
Eat at Chinese restaurants with confidence.
cover Choosing Auspicious Chinese Names cover The Abacus/Book and Abacus
Includes a working abacus and information on how to use it.
cover Don't Just Cry Uncle: How Chinese Tell In-Laws From Out-Laws
Learn the Chinese terms of address for various relatives.