In learning to speak a foreign language, a sophisticated guidebook is critical. This is a bilingual textbook in which a complete system of alphabetized phonetic symbols is used along with characters to facilitate the learning of Mandarin Chinese. This bilingual textbook should prove very convenient and efficient, and, above all, it should make Mandarin Chinese incredibly easier to learn. No one can expect to speak mandarin Chinese through characters very quickly, not even the Chinese themselves. But by using the system of alphabetized phonetic symbols along with characters, you can speak it instantly. Just in case you wish to learn Chinese characters as well, you can always learn them at the same time, because both characters and phonetic symbols are listed side by side.