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Welcome to Rocket Chinese

Welcome to your unique multimedia interactive learning program!
This Read Me First Guide is designed to introduce you to Rocket Chinese, show
you how it works, and provide you with the means to get the most out of it.
Youll be able to challenge yourself with
conversational Chinese by starting to speak
the language right away, and in contexts
that reflect everyday life in a Chinesespeaking environment. At the same time,
youll be able to do so in a comfortable and
supportive way - thats what Rocket
Languages is all about.

START HERE: Your Learning Path

Rocket Chinese is a beginners course on

Mandarin Chinese, which is the modern and
official Chinese language spoken in Mainland
China, Taiwan, and in Singapore (where it is
one of four official languages). The course
comes in three main components:
1) audio lessons, which you listen to;
2) textual lessons, which you read; and
3) learning games, which you play.
But all three components have one thing in common: each one of them involves
your own active participation.
With the audio lessons in the Rocket Chinese Interactive Audio Course, you will
add your own voice to the conversations that are the focus of each lesson, both
by repeating words to practice your pronunciation, and by saying the correct
word or phrase when prompted by your host. These audio lessons come with
supplementary written transcripts.
With the textual lessons, which focus on the grammar of the Chinese language
and view it in its contemporary cultural context, you will walk through the
various steps of how to use Chinese articles, adjectives, and verbs, how to
build more and more complex sentences, and how to write in Chinese. These
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text-based lessons are illustrated and contain embedded audio clips for new
words and phrases.
With the software-based learning games, you can test your memorization of
Chinese words, sounds, and the characters of the classical Chinese writing
system through dynamic game-play and receive active feedback in real time.
By including all of these components, the course caters to many different
learning styles, and you are free to explore the course material in whatever
way youd like.
But there are some GUIDELINES that you may want to follow when taking your
first steps on the path to understanding and speaking conversational Chinese:

STEP ONE:
Listen to the first three lessons of the Interactive Audio Course. This is the
best way to acquaint yourself with the sound and rhythm of the language, as
well as your two speakers, Lin and David. Even though there are distinct
variations in the way Chinese is spoken from region to region, Lin is a native
from Beijing and her voice represents a very standard Chinese accent. David is
from England, and you are likely to pick up a British "accent" at times even
when he is speaking Chinese with Lin.
For the first time you listen to these first few lessons, we suggest doing so
without the written transcripts, so that the focus remains on listening
comprehension.

STEP TWO:
Go back and listen to the lessons again. This may sound like unwelcome
advice, but you will find that you will often have to go back to go forward
when learning any new language. The process is incremental, which means you
will only be able to take in so much at any given time. But you will notice not
only how much more of the material you recognize, but also how much quicker
you pick things up the second time around.
The second time you listen to the Interactive Audio lessons, you should be
comfortable enough to refer to the written transcripts of the conversations.
Youll find that your comprehension will skyrocket when you are able to see
the language as you hear it. Keep in mind, however, that even if you keep the
transcript in front of you when you listen, you should always try to THINK of
the meaning of what you hear BEFORE you read it (even if that means
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continually pausing the audio track to give yourself more time for the meaning
to appear in your head).

STEP THREE:
When you have found that you can comfortably listen to the audio lessons, AND
participate in them on cue without getting lost or overwhelmed, then its time
to explore the lessons that make up the Rocket Chinese Grammar & Culture
Series.
These lessons dive deeper into the mechanics of the language, and also reward
you with relevant explanations about where, how, why, and when to use the
language skills that you have gained.
The added benefit of the "cultural notes" that are included in each section is
that you will gain a richer understanding of Chinese society and - ideally - you
will have much more to talk about!
In total, there are 31 lessons in the Grammar & Culture Series, and these
correspond closely (but not exactly) to the 31 lessons in the Interactive Audio
Course. When you reach the stage where you are confident with the audio
lessons, it may be a good time to set yourself a more regimented schedule of
progress. For example, you may do one audio lesson plus one grammar lesson
each day for a month, or every other day (getting through them in two
months).
However strict a path you want to follow, always remember the magic word:
incremental. That is, if you decide to set one day aside to stuff your head with
five lessons, it is very unlikely that you will retain most of what went into it!
Also, even when you are well into the course, you can only make things easier
when you go back and listen to the lessons over again. Youll hear your own
Chinese accent getting sharper each time.

STEP FOUR:
Get your game on with the Rocket Chinese range of software-based learning
games. Even though weve listed this as a possible step four on your fast-track
to learning conversational Chinese, you can use these learning games at any
time, and especially when you feel like you want a break from sustained
listening or reading with regard to the other course material. Because they are
so entertaining and easy to use, the MegaChinese games make "motivation" an
after-thought.

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No matter how "competitive" you think you are, you will find these games a
welcome challenge, and gain great satisfaction when you see your score
improve each time!
We do suggest you follow one guideline in structuring your learning.
There are two types of MegaChinese games:
o MegaVocab
o MegaAudio
Each one gives you the option of displaying the question and/or answer text in
either: 1) Pinyin or 2) Characters.
Pinyin (formally Hanyu Pinyin) is a "romanization" of spoken Mandarin
Chinese, which means that we use our own familiar alphabet (a, b, c)
to represent the sounds of spoken Mandarin Chinese. There are many
systems of Romanization for Chinese writing, but Pinyin is the most
common.
"Hello" in Pinyin looks like this: n ho (pronounced like: "knee how")
Characters are used in the traditional system of Chinese writing. You
can think of them at first like pictures that each contain meaning in
themselves.
"Hello" in Chinese characters looks like this:

Before playing with the "Characters" option of each game, it would be best
to wait until you have entered the final third of the Interactive Audio
Course lessons. Heres why:
The games that are displayed in Pinyin will allow you to build your vocabulary
(MegaVocab) and improve your recognition of spoken Chinese (MegaAudio),
without requiring much if any background learning in traditional Chinese
writing.
The Character option of the game will require that you have some foundation
in using Chinese characters, since this system of writing will be quite, well,
foreign to you when you begin. Your familiarity with written Chinese will grow
with the text-based Grammar & Culture lessons.

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STEP FIVE:
A fifth step in the process of learning conversational Chinese with your Rocket
Chinese learning package doesnt necessarily DIRECTLY involve any of the
materials included IN the package! But it is still a most essential step:
PRACTICE and SHARE what youve learned.
We implore you to take what youve learned and practice it in the real world.
Whether that means saying the date and time in Chinese whenever you check it
yourself, or teaching your dog commands in Chinese, do whatever it takes!
There is also a fantastic resource to share thoughts and get answers to any
questions that may be stumping you: the Rocket Chinese Leaners FORUM.
This is a virtual helpdesk where you not only get answers and advice from the
Rocket Chinese team but also from fellow learners who are often working with
the same material you are.
Even better, YOU can give answers and advice to them, and thats a great way
to reinforce your own knowledge.
All of the components of the Rocket Chinese language learning package were
mentioned in the suggested "Learning Path." In summary, those components
are:

The 31-lesson Interactive Audio Course

The 31 Grammar & Culture Lessons

The MegaChinese range of software-based learning games:

o MegaVocab
o MegaAudio

AND the Rocket Chinese Learners Forum on our web site

Find out more about each component

II How the Interactive Audio Course Works

So, what exactly is an Interactive Audio Course, and how do you use it? The
best way to learn any language is to actually use it in conversation, and the
Rocket Chinese Interactive Audio Course will teach you to do just that.
Its interactive because youll be speaking Chinese with us throughout each
lesson. As a result, make sure that you listen to this course in a place where
you can speak aloud. Saying the words aloud is an essential part of this course.

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When you listen to the Interactive Audio Course you may feel overwhelmed at
first by all the new words. But after the initial conversation you hear on each
track, each new word will be explained in its context. Youll learn what it
means, when to say it, and how to pronounce it!
You will be prompted to say new words and expressions throughout each track
of the Rocket Chinese Interactive Audio Course. You will get a sense of building
on each phase of the course as you move through the audio tracks and will
really get a feel for what its like to express yourself in Chinese.
We recommend that you listen to each track at least twice, so that when you
move on you will have a good grasp of the Chinese covered. Otherwise you may
find yourself getting lost and unmotivated.
There are 31 tracks in the Rocket Chinese Interactive Audio Course, specifically
designed so that you can learn a new Chinese conversation every day for a
month. You dont have to push yourself that hard but if you need to then you
can!
There are full transcripts available for each Chinese conversation along with
the English translation, located in the Members Area next to the track
downloads. These will be available in Pinyin & Characters. You can print
these easily if you like.
You can choose to listen to the lesson with the transcript, or without. We
recommend you try both, first without the transcript, so that you can really
focus on the pronunciation and rhythm of spoken Chinese.
Following each translation, we also include all of the relevant vocabulary we
discuss in each lesson but that does not appear in the dialogue itself, so that
you can see this stuff in written form as well.
Remember, you can listen to the Interactive Audio Course, either online in the
Members Area, or portably on an iPod or MP3 player.

How to Access the Interactive Audio Course

Once you have purchased Rocket Chinese, you can access all of the Audio
Lessons directly online from the Members Area.
To download any of the files for Rocket Chinese for PC or Mac, select the link
that says "Click here to download this file" for the file you want to download.
Click the "Save" button to save the file to your computer. After the "Save
button" is selected, another window will appear asking where you would like to
save the file. Navigate to where you would like to save the file on your
computer, then click the "Save" button in this window to begin the download.
Remember to take note of where the files will be saved.
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Once your download has completed you will be able to play the file from your
computer. The audio files can be played using either Windows Media Player or
iTunes. If you purchased either the physical 20-CD, you can play the lessons in
any CD player.

Troubleshooting
Cant transfer files
If you want to transfer the downloadable audio files to your iPod, you will need
to have iTunes installed on your computer first.

Set iTunes as your default music player (you can either right-click
on the audio file and select "Open With," then click on iTunes OR
you can open iTunes, go to "Edit" > "Preferences," then click on
the "Advanced" tab and tick the box that says "Set iTunes as your
default player." Once iTunes is set as your default music player,
anytime you open an audio file it will automatically open in
iTunes.

When you play the files through iTunes, you can then plug in your
iPod and drag and drop the files from iTunes into your iPod.

III About the Grammar & Culture Lessons

The Rocket Chinese Grammar & Culture lessons give you the building blocks
that enable you to understand the structure of the language. There is one
lesson for each Interactive Audio Course track, though they do not necessarily
follow the Interactive Audio Course exactly. Thats because there are always
grammatical principles that are best left to the textual lessons.
In these lessons youll also get:

beginners notes on Chinese writing; and

discussions of Chinese culture that will put you ahead of the

game when visiting China or when getting to know Chinese people
anywhere.

How to Access the Grammar & Culture Lessons

The Rocket Chinese Grammar & Culture lessons are sent weekly via email to all
Rocket Chinese members. You will receive a plain text email that contains a
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link. The link will take you to the full lesson, which is a dynamic web page
accessible only to members.

Troubleshooting
Link does not work
In some cases you may find that the link in the email doesnt work.
Due to security settings on some email browsers, links can get "broken." To
solve this problem, please COPY the full link path provided and PASTE it into
your Internet browsers address bar.
Not getting emails
If you find that you are not receiving the lessons via email, please make sure
you have our email address news@rocketchinese.com added to your contact
list, so that our emails dont end up in your Spam folder. If they are not there,
please use the "Contact Us" form on our website and we will help resolve the
issue.

IV About the MegaChinese Games

MegaChinese consists of two learning games: MegaVocab & MegaAudio, and
they come with the option to display text with either Pinyin romanization or
Chinese Characters.

How MegaVocab Works

MegaVocab is a multiple-choice word recognition game that you can add to
yourself. To add more words and pictures to the game select the MegaVocab
Creator tab. You will be prompted to add in your own words and pictures.
There are already over 1000 words and pictures in the MegaVocab game so you
can select one or more of the topics that you wish to be tested on and just
click "GO!" to get started straight away.

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Once you click "GO!" the game starts. All you have to do is match the correct
Chinese word to the English word shown. You get 4 points if you get it right the
first time and one less point for every incorrect answer. There are 25 questions
so the maximum that you can get is 100!
You can make the game more challenging by hiding the English word, but be
warned that some pictures might be a bit tricky!

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MegaVocab (Characters) works the same way, but instead of "romanizing" the
Chinese words and phrases - using our own alphabet - the words and phrases
are displayed in Chinese characters. The game looks like this:

How MegaAudio Works

MegaAudio takes MegaVocab a step further and really enhances your
interpretation of spoken Chinese by using audio tracks for each word and
phrase. Again, all you have to do is select the topic or topics that you would
like to be tested on and click on "GO!"

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Once you have chosen your topics and selected "GO!" you will hear an audio
track and be presented with a selection of 6 pictures. You have to choose the
one that matches the audio.
There are 20 questions and you get 6 points for getting it right the first time
(again, you lose a point for every incorrect answer).

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The MegaAudio (Characters) game differs from the Pinyin version only in that it
will display the correct answer with Chinese characters, rather than a Pinyin
word or phrase.

How to Access the MegaChinese Learning Games

These learning games are available in the Members Area.
Follow the link that says "Software." You will be taken to a page displaying a
link for PC users and a link for Mac users.
Once you have downloaded the file it will automatically install on to your
computer if you are using a PC. Mac users will have to use Stuffit Expander to
access the files. There are more detailed instructions in the Members Area.

Troubleshooting
For Mac users, if you are asked to "Choose an Application," please ensure that
you have Stuffit Expander installed in your computer, as you will need this
program to complete the installation. You can download Stuffit for free via the
following link:
http://www.stuffit.com/mac/expander/

V The Rocket Chinese Learners Forum

We also have a Chinese language Forum where you will be able to communicate
with other people who are finding their way around the language as well as
getting feedback from our language experts.

How to Access the Forum

You can register for the forum by logging in to the Members Area and following
the link called "Rocket Chinese Forum Registration."
Once you have registered you will receive an email with an activation code. We
have added this extra step to keep the Forum secure and protect it from spam.

Troubleshooting
If you have any problems accessing or using the Forum, then email the Rocket
Chinese team at: members@rocketlanguages.com with "Rocket Chinese" in the
Subject Line.

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VI About the Members Area

Remember to keep a record of your email address and password

to the Members Area in a safe place that you wont forget.

Your Rocket Chinese membership is a lifetime membership, so

once youre in youre in.

You do NOT need to download everything at once.

If you need to get back into the Members Area go to

http://www.rocketlanguages.com/chinese and enter in your details in the
"Members Login" on the left hand side.
If you have forgotten your password then you will be prompted for further
information to enable you to retrieve your password.
If you have any problems with anything, then please let us know. The only way
issues can be fixed is if we know about them. Email the Rocket Chinese team
at: members@rocketlanguages.com

VII About the Rocket Chinese Web Site

The Rocket Chinese team is always adding new material to the web site so
make sure that you come back regularly to see whats happening! If you have a
Chinese culture or language web site and are interested in adding a quality site
to your "Links" page, then go to this link to get set up:
http://www.rocketlanguages.com/chinese/links2.php

VIII On Chinese Tones & Inserting Accent Marks

The Chinese language has four tones that determine the meaning of their
language. In other words, the same word can actually mean several different
things depending on which tone is used.

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In written Chinese, the Pinyin system uses "accent marks" to indicate the tone.

For the first tone (Flat or High Level Tone) use a macron:
[]

For the second tone (Rising or High-Rising Tone) use an
acute accent:
[]

For the third (Falling-Rising or Low Tone) use a caron/hek
[]

For the fourth (Falling or High-Falling Tone) use a grave
accent:
[]

It is also acceptable and fairly common practice to use numbers in place of

tone marks. For example, "m" ("ma" with the rising tone) can be written as
"ma2."
Although you may not see the accent marks on all written Chinese, they are
necessary to indicate correct pronunciation.
If youd like to type these symbols in Microsoft Word, you can
EITHER:
1) Go to the drop down menu for Insert, then select Symbol. You will see a
character map displayed. All you have to do is find the vowel you need - lower
case or upper case - and click the Insert button. Easy.

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OR
2) You can also use a Shortcut key on your keyboard to type any of the symbols
directly.
For example, to type a lowercase 'a' with the accent for the second tone, you
would type:
00E0

then:

Alt+x

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You will find these shortcuts displayed on the same drop down menu for each
symbol.
For the Chinese Learners Forum, you will have to use this second method and
then Copy (Ctrl+c) and Paste (Ctrl+v) the symbol into the message field of your
Forum post.

We at Rocket Languages hope that you enjoy using

the Rocket Chinese course. Take the learning
process at your own pace, and if you have any
questions please go to our help site:
http://www.rocketlanguages.com/help.
Good luck with your Chinese experience, and above
all have fun!

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Kind regards,

Lin Ping and the Team at Rocket Languages

http://www.rocketlanguages.com/chinese

P.S. Best of luck with your learning. And remember, Chinese is just one of the
courses offered by Rocket Languages, a market leader in downloadable
language-learning products. We also offer courses in Spanish, German, French,
Italian, Japanese, and American Sign Language!

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