Little or no knowledge of Mandarin Chinese is needed to read this book and to begin to acquire the language. Harry, a young American, goes to Beijing to learn Mandarin. At the same time, a young Korean woman named Min-Jee also goes to Beijing to learn Mandarin. At first, since they have no common language, they cannot speak to each other. As a relationship begins to develop, a surprising incident occurs in their Mandarin class and they begin to communicate in Mandarin. Lively illustrations infuse the story with reality. Clear English translations are provided throughout the story as well as a glossary with notes. The story is given in pinyin (in Latin letters), which helps the reader with pronunciation, and also in both simplified and traditional Chinese. Audio MP3 files of the story, recorded by co-author Linda Li, are available online or you can download for free. See back cover for further details. - from Amzon