Bellassen Joël. Méthode d’Initiation à la Langue et à l’Écriture chinoises. Tome 1

Paris: La Compagnie, 1990. — 280 p. — ISBN: 2-9504135-1-XMéthode d'Initiation broke the mould for Chinese textbooks by diving straight into the use of Han characters and only afterwards giving pinyin transcriptions. The general aim is to immerse the student in the language and culture, with the characters being seen as a primordial element of this. One of the main aims of the textbook (which uses Simplified Chinese characters and Standard Chinese pronunciation) is to teach the student the following 400 characters. Bellassen and Zhang later went on to publish book 2 of the course: Perfectionnement à la Langue et à l'Écriture chinoises (1991, ISBN: 2-9504135-2-8; and a double edition including book 1: ISBN: 2-9504135-0-1). This sequel is even more centred on the characters, with even less grammatical explanation. It aims to teach a further 500 characters and consolidate the absorption of the first 400 Bellassen has appeared on French television to promote the study of the Chinese language.