It's Fun to Study Chinese (Bilingual Edition)

The selected jokes and anecdotes are short in length and offer students a great deal of fun in the learning process. Students are able to obtain a sense of accomplishment in a relatively short period of time, thus avoiding the frustration associated with reading long articles.

All the jokes and anecdotes are arranged with Chinese and English versions，and both simplified and traditional Chinese versions are provided. Explanations and pinyin (romanization) for vocabulary terms are offered.

This book may be used as supplementary reading for intermediate and advanced Chinese language students. It will add spice to any Chinese language class. A well-timed anecdote can be an energizer for a class and can even wake up students who didn't get enough sleep the previous night. A joke offered at the end of the class can make students and teachers leave the classroom in a happy mood.

This is a unique book, both for learners of Chinese and for native Chinese speakers familiar with simplified or traditional characters to study an unfamiliar writing system. It can also be helpful for native Chinese speakers learning English.

The next book in the series, It's Wise to Study Chinese, on Chinese proverbs and sayings of wisdom, will be published in the near future.

For this book project I would like to thank the assistance of Dr. Shaomei Wang, Dr. Xiaoyi Liu, Kanghua Lu, Dr. Hsuan-yin Liu, Kai-yuan Hsu, Dr. Jue Wang, Dr. Charles Rice and Chris Oakden for valuable input and suggestions, Sandy Tao for the cover design, and the staff at EHGbooks for assistance in publishing this book and making it available on amazon.com.

本書所選的笑話和故事簡短不囉嗦，而且學生在學習過程中會感受到無窮的樂趣。學生在短短的時間裡，就可讀完一篇，因而獲得成就感，也避免了念冗長文章所帶來的挫折感。

本書選取的笑話和故事有中國的，也有西方的。每個笑話和故事都是中文版與英文版並列，繁體字與簡體字也先後並列。文後提供生詞說明和拼音。本書可用為中級或高級中文課學生的補充讀物，也可以作為老師們上中文課的調味料之用。老師在中文課上了一個段落的時候，講一個恰到好處的笑話，會使課堂活躍起來，能讓前一晚睡眠不足的學生精神百倍。在下課前講一個笑話，會讓老師和學生都高高興興地離開教室。

這是一本獨特的書。不僅能幫助非母語的學生學習中文，又可為以中文為母語的人士服務。簡體字使用者可以用來學習繁體字，繁體字使用者可以用來學習簡體字。要學英文的也開卷有益。

如果這本書蒙讀者不棄，也許以後它的續集也會問世，這將是一本寫中國的格言和中國人的智慧的書。

在成書過程中，作者要感謝不少朋友和學生的協助，尤其是王少梅、劉曉藝、盧康華、徐開元、王玨、歐念祖、劉宣吟等。小女陶若珊設計封面。漢世紀出版公司的朋友為本書和大家見面下了不少工夫，也讓大家能在amazon.com買到。