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Introduction — Your First Steps into Mandarin
1/25/2026
Who This Book Is For
1/25/2026
What You Will Learn—and What Takes Further Practice
1/25/2026
Mandarin, Chinese Dialects, and the Writing System
1/25/2026
Simplified and Traditional Characters
1/25/2026
How to Use the Dialogues, Examples, and Exercises
1/25/2026
Building a Daily Study Routine
1/25/2026
Chapter 1 — Understanding Pinyin
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1.1 What Pinyin Represents
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1.2 Initials: Consonant Sounds
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1.3 Finals: Simple and Compound Vowels
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1.4 Sounds English Speakers Often Confuse
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1.5 Mastering j, q, x and zh, ch, sh, r
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1.6 The ü Sound and Its Spelling Rules
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1.7 Reading Complete Syllables
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1.8 Pinyin Practice and Self-Check
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Chapter 2 — Making Sense of Tones
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2.1 The Four Tones and the Neutral Tone
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2.2 How Tone Changes Meaning
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2.3 Where Tone Marks Go
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2.4 Practicing Tones in Pairs
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2.5 The Third Tone in Connected Speech
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2.6 Tone Changes with 一 and 不
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2.7 Common Tone Mistakes
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2.8 A Short Daily Pronunciation Routine
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Chapter 3 — Your First Mandarin Conversations
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3.1 Saying Hello and Goodbye
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3.2 Asking How Someone Is
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3.3 Please, Thank You, and Sorry
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3.4 Introducing Yourself
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3.5 Asking Someone's Name
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3.6 Saying You Are Learning Chinese
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3.7 Asking for Repetition or Slower Speech
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3.8 Meeting Someone for the First Time
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Chapter 4 — How Mandarin Sentences Work
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4.1 Basic Subject–Verb–Object Order
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4.2 Why Verbs Do Not Conjugate
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4.3 Using 是 to Identify People and Things
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4.4 Describing with Adjectives
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4.5 Understanding 很
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4.6 Negation with 不 and 没
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4.7 Yes-or-No Questions with 吗
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4.8 Asking Follow-Up Questions with 呢
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4.9 Build Your First Sentences
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Chapter 5 — Numbers, Money, and Quantities
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5.1 Numbers from Zero to Ninety-Nine
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5.2 Hundreds, Thousands, and Ten Thousands
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5.3 When to Use 二 and 两
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5.4 Reading Phone Numbers
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5.5 Asking Prices
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5.6 Currency Words
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5.7 Introducing Measure Words
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5.8 Buying a Small Item
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Chapter 6 — Dates, Time, and Schedules
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6.1 Days of the Week
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6.2 Months, Dates, and Years
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6.3 Telling the Time
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6.4 Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
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6.5 Parts of the Day
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6.6 Placing Time Expressions
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6.7 Asking When Something Happens
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6.8 Arrange a Meeting
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Chapter 7 — Family, Friends, and Personal Information
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7.1 Family Members
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7.2 Pronouns and 们
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7.3 Possession with 的
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7.4 Asking Age Appropriately
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7.5 Countries, Nationalities, and Languages
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7.6 Describing Relationships
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7.7 Introducing Someone Else
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7.8 Getting to Know a Classmate
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Chapter 8 — Home and Neighborhood
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8.1 Rooms and Objects
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8.2 Saying What You Have
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8.3 Saying Where Something Is
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8.4 Location Words
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8.5 Describing What Exists in a Place
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8.6 This, That, and Which
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8.7 Talking About Your Neighborhood
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8.8 Describe Your Home
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Chapter 9 — Daily Routines and Habits
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9.1 Common Everyday Verbs
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9.2 Describing a Typical Day
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9.3 Talking About Frequency
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9.4 Using 都 and 也
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9.5 Connecting Activities in Sequence
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9.6 Transportation to Work or School
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9.7 Asking About a Routine
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9.8 Write a Daily Schedule
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Chapter 10 — Food, Drinks, and Restaurants
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10.1 Common Foods and Cooking Styles
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10.2 Reading Basic Menu Terms
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10.3 Ordering Food and Drinks
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10.4 Water, Utensils, and the Check
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10.5 Preferences with 要 and 想
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10.6 Asking About Ingredients
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10.7 Allergies and Dietary Restrictions
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10.8 Ordering a Meal
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Chapter 11 — Shopping and Making Choices
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11.1 Asking Whether an Item Is Available
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11.2 Colors, Sizes, and Clothing
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11.3 Asking to See or Try Something
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11.4 Useful Shopping Measure Words
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11.5 Comparing Two Options with 比
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11.6 Too Expensive or Too Small
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11.7 Asking About Payment
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11.8 Choosing a Gift
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Chapter 12 — Directions and Transportation
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12.1 Asking Where a Place Is
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12.2 Left, Right, Straight, and Nearby
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12.3 Distance with 离
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12.4 Taking a Taxi
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12.5 Buses and Subways
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12.6 Tickets and Stops
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12.7 Confirming a Destination
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12.8 Finding Your Way Across Town
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Chapter 13 — Hotels and Travel Essentials
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13.1 Making and Confirming a Reservation
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13.2 Checking In
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13.3 Facilities and Services
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13.4 A Room Problem
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13.5 Basic Travel Signs
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13.6 Opening Hours
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13.7 Checking Out
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13.8 Arriving at a Hotel
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Chapter 14 — Health, Safety, and Asking for Help
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14.1 Basic Body Parts
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14.2 Pain and Discomfort
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14.3 Saying You Need a Doctor
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14.4 Asking at a Pharmacy
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14.5 Explaining That Something Is Lost
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14.6 Contacting a Trusted Person
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14.7 Clarifying Important Information
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14.8 Explaining a Problem
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Chapter 15 — Asking Better Questions
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15.1 Who, What, Where, When, and Why
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15.2 怎么, 几, and 多少
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15.3 Question Words Stay in Place
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15.4 A-Not-A Questions
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15.5 Choosing with 还是
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15.6 Asking for Explanations
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15.7 Relevant Short Answers
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15.8 Turn Statements into Questions
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Chapter 16 — Wants, Abilities, and Permission
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16.1 Wishes with 想
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16.2 Intentions and Needs with 要
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16.3 Learned Skills with 会
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16.4 Circumstantial Ability with 能
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16.5 Permission and Possibility with 可以
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16.6 Polite Requests
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16.7 Accepting and Declining
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16.8 Planning an Activity Together
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Chapter 17 — Talking About Events and Experiences
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17.1 Time Without Verb Tenses
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17.2 Completed Actions with 了
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17.3 New Situations with Sentence-Final 了
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17.4 Experiences with 过
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17.5 Actions in Progress
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17.6 Negating Past Events
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17.7 Future Plans
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17.8 Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
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Chapter 18 — Descriptions, Details, and Connections
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18.1 Describing Nouns with 的
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18.2 Describing an Action with 得
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18.3 一点儿 and 有点儿
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18.4 Reasons with 因为…所以…
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18.5 Contrast with 但是
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18.6 Adding Information with 还
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18.7 Simple Result Complements
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18.8 Expand a Short Personal Story
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Chapter 19 — Hobbies, Invitations, and Social Plans
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19.1 What You Enjoy
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19.2 Sports, Music, Movies, and Reading
1/25/2026
19.3 Inviting Someone Out
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19.4 Suggesting a Time and Place
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19.5 Accepting or Declining
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19.6 Talking About the Weather
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19.7 Keeping a Conversation Going
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19.8 Making Weekend Plans
1/25/2026
Chapter 20 — Work, Study, and Digital Communication
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20.1 Saying What You Do
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20.2 Workplace or School
1/25/2026
20.3 Learning Goals
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20.4 Asking for an Explanation
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20.5 Short, Polite Messages
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20.6 Rescheduling Appointments
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20.7 Typing with Pinyin Input
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20.8 Introduce Yourself to a New Group
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Chapter 21 — Culture and Everyday Courtesy
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21.1 Forms of Address
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21.2 您 and Polite Language
1/25/2026
21.3 Responding to Compliments
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21.4 Hosting, Visiting, and Gifts
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21.5 Sharing Meals and Hospitality
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21.6 Personal and Regional Differences
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21.7 Handling Misunderstandings
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21.8 Culture-in-Context Scenarios
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Chapter 22 — Understanding Chinese Characters
1/25/2026
22.1 Characters, Syllables, and Words
1/25/2026
22.2 Strokes and Stroke Order
1/25/2026