FIRST LESSONS IN CHINESE - By M. T. Yates - INTRODUCTION - THOSE who have attempted to acquire a working knowledge of any of the spolren dialects of China by picking up isolated words from a vocabulary or dictionary, like picking pebbles from the sea shore, know full well the necessity of a beginners book one that is practical, and yet so simple that the learner will be encouraged by being able to use his acquiretuents from the first lesson. The design of the author of this manual is to supply, to some extent, this loug-felt wad hod he is confident that any one who will take the trouble to master these lessons fhe work of onIy a few months, will be in possession of the key to the spoken language, not only of this district, but, with a slight change in the sound of words which can be easily acquired, of other districts also for the general structure of the language barring a, few localisms, is the same everywhere. The importance of a thorough knowledge of tbe classifiers cannot be too strongly urged for it is impossible to speak of any visible object without using one of them, and it is important to zl clear understanding of the matter under consideration that the correct classifier be used. A careful study of the...............