Contest: Name the Book I Wrote

2007 August 15 – 4:06 am | Categories: Book| Leave a comment

I just completed writing the manuscript for a book on how to learn spoken Mandarin Chinese. The only thing missing at this point is the title. That’s where you come in. I’ve got the subtitle (see below), but I would love to hear your ideas for catchy, suitable, and generally makes-everyone-who-sees-this-book-want-to-buy-it kinds of titles. In fact, since you’re going to be doing me a huge favor, and spending a lot of creative energy, I’d even be willing to make it worth your while. How about we have a little contest:

Overview:

Phase 1: Submit title suggestions (until 12:01 AM, Friday, Aug 24)
Phase 2: Vote on title suggestions (after Phase 1)

Rules:

Contestants may submit title suggestions in the comments section of this post until I close the comments for this post.
Comments will close at Beijing Time 12:01 AM, Friday, Aug 24 (which is Pacific Time 9:01 AM, Thursday, Aug 23).
Contestants may submit multiple titles in the same comment or in separate comments (so keep thinking).
If two duplicate titles are submitted by different contestants, the first person to submit it will be considered that title’s “creator.”
Any titles submitted that appear to be irrelevant to the book or inappropriate for this contest will be deleted.
After Phase 1 is finished and the titles have all been submitted, I will choose my favorite ones and create a new blog post with some sort of voting poll (does anyone know a good one for Wordpress?). We will all vote on our favorite title.
After the results of the voting are in I will choose the title I would like to put on the cover of my book and announce the winner on this site.

The Prize:

If you are the creator of a title that has been posted in the comments section of this website that ends up making it onto the cover of the book when it gets published, I’ll announce your name on this website AND you’ll get a free copy of the book. So please, include your real email address and name as you want it to appear when submitting your entries. Your email address will NOT be made public.
Subscribe to receive email updates or RSS updates including the beginning of the voting phase and the ultimate winner.

About the Book:

I thought it would help get your creative juices flowing if I told you a little bit about the book you’re trying to name.

It contains tips and strategies for learning spoken Mandarin Chinese, some of which are already published on this blog. The book and accompanying CD set don’t get into learning the hanzi characters at all (but they’re included of course). The sentence examples and vocabulary in this book are all chosen for maximum usefulness using common vocabulary that reflects the way people in China really talk every day. The CD recordings are of male and female native speakers pronouncing vocabulary and sentence examples. A few examples of my blog posts that have been included are:

So now the only thing left to do is imagine what text belongs between the brackets:

[Title Here]

Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin Chinese

By Albert Wolfe

(I’ll take out the word “Chinese” from the subtitle if it appears in the main title).

Similar Posts (computer generated):

64 Responses to “Contest: Name the Book I Wrote”
Teddi Bynum said:

1) Chinese on Your Own
2) So You Want to Learn Chinese

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
John said:

1) Mandarin: Talk the Talk
2) Mandarin: Beyond “Ni Hao”
3) Mandarin: Not just an Orange
4) Mandarin: Fluency Faster

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Gabe Wahl said:

Super Funtime Awesome Chinese Learning Translation Book?

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Gabe Wahl said:

The Art Of Speaking Chinese: How Not To Accidentally Sell Your Cousin’s Children When Trying To Purchase Lunch”

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Jeanette Morris said:

Breaking Down the Great Wall

Going Beyond Chopsticks and Chinese Checkers

Wolfe-method Mandarin

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Roberto Sirvent said:

Man(up!)darin: Teach Yourself Chinese

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Lisa Igram said:

1) Street Chinese
2) Secrets of the Chinese Language

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Didi Manchester said:

Unlocking the Mysteries of Spoken Chinese.

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Nicki said:

Flustered to Fluent: Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin Chinese
By Albert W

Untying your tongue: Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin Chinese
By Albert W

Mastering Mandarin: Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin Chinese
By Albert W

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Surfer Dan said:

Sup Albert! way to go bro!

1) Albert’s Guide to World Peace.
2) Learnin Mandarin the Feng-Shui-Wolfe way!
3) SpeakEasy Chinese

Eh… They kinda suck…

anyway, good work!
cheers,
Dan

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Jason Kiger said:

1) Laowai’s Lessons to Learning Chinese (LLLC)
2) Chinese Ain’t so Hard!
3) You Need to Learn Some Chinese…

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Wendy Rogers said:

1) “A Slow Quote to China”

2) “Dig Your Hua to China”

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Susie Han said:

Pick up Chinese Leisurely

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Ellen Bennett said:

1. Wok on the Wild Side
2. Wok to Remember
3. Wok Your Talk
4. Watch That Tone of Voice
5. Chinese Recall

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
DV said:

Hands on Chinese
Chinese in a nutshell
Chinese in practice

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Alice Issac said:

“Learn how to speak Kevin
Mo-Wong ’s language, since he doesn’t know how.”

“It all sounds greek to me.”

“Learn what the ladies at the nail shop are really saying about you.”

“You don’t speak Chinese? Anybody who’s anybody speaks chinese.”

“Me Chinese, me play joke…”
(kevin’s suggestion)

“If your happy and you know it learn Chinese.”

“Chinese for me, chinese for you, Would you like to learn too?”

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Ingo said:

“Learning Chinese - A comprehensive HOWTO” (yes, changed subtitle, too).

“Understanding Chinese - Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin”

“Approaching Chinese - Reasonable learning strategies for spoken Mandarin”

“Chinese is not that hard - Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin”

There are some useful combinations of those, too.

PS: The comments RSS for this article is broken - gets only forwarded to http://feeds.feedburner.com/LaowaiChinese

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Melody Zhou said:

1) Crazy Chinese
2) Chinese
3) Magic Chinese
4) Chinese in USA
5) Bridge to China
6) Hello! Chinese
7) Easy Chinese Easy to learn!
Let’s learn it!
9) Go for Chinese !

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Rena Sue Brown said:

I am so proud of you! What a fantastic accomplishment! Ok, thinking cap on…

Mandarin Mouth: Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin Chinese by Albert W

More than a Mouthful of Mandarin: Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin Chinese by Albert W

My Mandarin Manual: Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin Chinese by Albert W

Best to you!
Rena and Jesse

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Vanhalligan said:

“Mandarin”
or maybe…
“Chinese”
how about…

“Barrier Breaker: How to Learn Mandarin Chinese”

“Rockn’ in China - Learning The music of Spoken Mandarin”

“Speech 101, The Middle Kingdom Way”

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Joel said:

Ni Hao, Xiao Mao
Learn Chinese… While It’s Still Optional
Learn to Speak With Your Future Overlords
Everybody’s Doing It, and So Can You!

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Belinda said:

1.Learning Chinese,Follow me!
2.Mandarin,not that mysterious.
3.Albert’s Guide to Mandarin
4.Easy Method,Easy Chinese
5.Mandarin≠Orange
6.Albert in Chinese

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Dawn said:

Hmm. This is quite a difficult task. The problem (I find) with a lot of titles for language books (not just Chinese) is that the titles, though self-explanatory, are either really boring, slightly patronising, or totally unrealistic, e.g. “Learn Chinese in 30 days!” (as if…). A good title I saw for a book about Latin is “Amo, Amas, Amat and all that…”, which is interesting and also shows instantly shows which language it is about. The problem is that Chinese isn’t yet well-enough known for a title using Chinese to be instantly recognisable I guess….

I’m rubbish at titles too. I wrote a book, chose a title and then was mostos annoyed when six months later a book in a similar genre was published with almost exactly the same title! Which shows how imaginative my titles are.

Anyway, I’ll put my thinking cap on.

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
Brian Beller said:

Untying the Knot,
Fluent Mandarin, Tongue tied no longer

Or

The Great Tongue Exercise,
Learning Mandarin

Comment date: Aug 15, 2007
John Rowe said:

You Can Speak It If You Want
- learning Mandarin Chinese

Learning To Speak The Complex Mandarin Language

Albert - I can only assume that you have been learning to speak the language - an excellent accomplishment. John Rowe

Comment date: Aug 16, 2007
Winter Li said:

Let’s learn Chinese

Comment date: Aug 16, 2007
Virginia Fortner said:

Mandarin for Foreigners

Shortcuts to Speaking Mandarin

Mandarin: Communicating and Understanding Chinese Culture

Digging into Chinese

Comment date: Aug 16, 2007
Tyler Colson said:

Chinese or Die

Comment date: Aug 16, 2007
Christine Bennett said:

Well Albert, I’m not too good at things like this, but I’m sure my dad can help! Many of these are funny Good Luck!!!

Habla Chinese!!
Viva Mandarin!

tee hee!

Comment date: Aug 16, 2007
Dawn said:

I’m gonna break my own “rule” here:

Mother, hemp, horse, curse, ? - Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin Chinese

I told you I was bad at this! ^_^

Comment date: Aug 16, 2007
Gabe Wahl said:

Szechuan and Mandarin: Not Just Oranges and Noodles For Lunch Anymore.

Comment date: Aug 16, 2007
Gabe Wahl said:

Blam! It’s Chinese!

Comment date: Aug 16, 2007
Eberhardt333 said:

Kung Pao What?! The Art of Learning Chinese
Learn Chinese So Your PenPal Knows What You’re Saying
Chinglish, An American’s Quest To Learn Chinese
Chinese For Dummies
Chinese, More Than A Fortune Cookie
Digging A Hole To China (or After You’ve Dug A Hole To China)

Comment date: Aug 16, 2007
Karen said:

Wow! Congratulations!!! No catchy titles yet from me… but why not make it have something to do with not having a title? Name that Phrase! or At a Loss For Mandarin?

Comment date: Aug 16, 2007
Eberhardt333 said:

Won, Ton, Three … Simple Steps To Learning Chinese

Comment date: Aug 16, 2007
brancho15 said:

Talk Like Me for Much Less: How to Speak Chinese
Make Business Personal by Learning Mandarin
Brandon’s Language Book Written by Albert W
Teaching English in Chinese in Reverse

For more interesting titles please reply to the included address.

Comment date: Aug 16, 2007
Gabe Wahl said:

Mandarin With Albert: Now You Can Watch Martial Arts Movies Without The Subtitles!

Comment date: Aug 16, 2007
RPrice said:

The Art of Words

Comment date: Aug 17, 2007
shane said:

My Life in China: A Language Learning Process
>
> An American Wolfe in China (a pun from the movie: An American
Werewolf in
> London, ever seen it? cool movie.)
>
> Learning Chinese: An Intensive Approach
>
> Learning Chinese: A Practical Approach
>
> Learning Chinese: An Interactive Approach
>
> Learning Chinese Through Teaching English
>
> My Experience in China: As Seen Through the Eyes of An English
Teacher
>
> The Secret of Learning Chinese
>
> Confessions of an English Teacher on Learning Chinese
>
> True Tales of An English Teacher in China
>
> Learn Chinese in (number) Easy Steps!
>
> Mastering the Chinese Language: From an English Teacher’s Perspective
>
> The Wolfe Manuscript on the Chinese Language
>
> Learn Chinese? Yes! The Wolfe Way.

Comment date: Aug 17, 2007
Marcy said:

Speak Easy Chinese: A Simplified Guide to Breaking down “The Walls” of the Mandarin Language

Comment date: Aug 17, 2007
Kat Bennett said:

OK, Albert. Here goes:

Practical Mandarin
Mandarin without Walls or…
Mandarin without Barriers
Mandarin On the Go

Best of luck!

Comment date: Aug 17, 2007
Les LeMay said:

Learn to speak the world’s Majority Language

Good Fortune — to speak Chinese

Man, da are in China for Dummies

Well, Albert, here are a few suggestions. I’m sorry it didn’t go as planned, but all this publicity should make it even better. You may have a best seller here!

Best wishes.

Les

Comment date: Aug 17, 2007
Dusty Evanoff said:

The Ultimate Guide to Madarin Chinese
Fluent Madarin Chinese in Just 3 Minutes (Results may vary)
Secrets of Speaking Madarin Chinese Like a Local
Everything You’ll Ever’Need to Teach Yourself Chinese
An Insider’s Guide to Learning Chinese
The Authoritative Guide to Teaching Yourself Chinese
Absolut Mandarin
Effective Chinese: The Everday Language of China

That’s all for now. Way to go and good luck.

Comment date: Aug 17, 2007
Dawn said:

Putting on a Good Tone - Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin Chinese

Comment date: Aug 17, 2007
Jamie Mitchell said:

This is a sweet opportunity, Albert! It’s awesome. I wish I could think of a title for you, but all that comes to mind seem to be in violation of rule #5 above (”I Rove Rearning Ranguages!”, “All Our Base are NOT Belong to Them”, etc. I’ll try to think of something more proper.

Comment date: Aug 17, 2007
Heidi C said:

[Beyond the Ching-Chong]
I love Mandarin and don’t think this is an offensive title at all, especially with the subtitle.

Comment date: Aug 18, 2007
D.B.Cooper said:

1.Why not try some Chinese titless?

1)中国话,简单说
2)老外中文 [same as your blog name]

2. Practical Chinese

3. New Start, New Opportunity

4. Unlock the Mandarin-Chinese CODE

Comment date: Aug 18, 2007
lucia said:

eternal sunshine on the topless of chinese learning

Comment date: Aug 18, 2007
Anna Bergman said:

Great Job!
There is a lot of bad books out there. Your web site has been filling an important gap.
Here are some suggestions from me:

Let’s speak the “middle language”

Laowai Chinese 老外中文

Chinese for Everyone

Let’s discover Chinese

What Chinese is all about

NiHao - 你好

The toolbox for learning Chinese

The dragon gate to Chinese

Dragon and Phoenix

Yī, èr, sān…

Building a bridge to China

I may come up with some more..
I really love your site!!
Thanks for doing it.

Anna B (Swedish in USA learning Mandarin)

Comment date: Aug 19, 2007
steve carter said:

wolfemother,

two titles.

1. standard mandarin.
2. knofel’s third love.

Comment date: Aug 20, 2007
CJ Butler said:

Teach Yourself To Be A Chinese Language Ninja

Comment date: Aug 20, 2007
CJ Butler said:

So You Think You Can Speak Mandarin…

Comment date: Aug 20, 2007
lucia said:

no,no…eternal sunshine on the topless chinese learning

Comment date: Aug 20, 2007
Ilse said:

First of all, I have been following this blog for a few months now and though I’m stuck at the beginner’s level in Chinese, I recognised a lot of situations and felt encouraged by realising I wasn’t the only one struggling. So thanks Albert for keeping my spirits up when I didn’t feel like trying to learn Chinese any more.

As for title suggestions:

1. Unravelling the secrets of Chinese (or Unravelling the Chinese secret)
2. Conquering the Great Wall
3. Breaking through the Great Wall (2 and 3 meant to be metaphorical)
4. Beyond the chopsticks
5. (Get ready to) Order your own food!

Personally I wouldn’t opt for a title in Chinese. The course books I have now have Chinese titles and because of that it took me about 1.5 years to discover the local bookstores actually had courses for Chinese learners…

Comment date: Aug 20, 2007
cruells said:

Do’nt be shy, learn chinese
This is chinese, ye man

Comment date: Aug 21, 2007
Kristin Gallagher said:

“When Mandarin goes beyond the Orange”
“Ping Pong, or as the Chinese say…”
“Chinese Chops”
“Mandarin Chops”
“Mandarin Chopsticks”

Good luck Albert. Seems like quite a task to choose!

Comment date: Aug 21, 2007
D.B.Cooper said:

1. Talk to Phoenix
2. A Breach in Learning Chinese

Comment date: Aug 21, 2007
Roberto Sirvent said:

“What the 地狱 !! Making Sense of Mandarin”

Comment date: Aug 22, 2007
JuxonBoyz said:

Albert,

Remember when Munish broke the window? Anyway, here’s my two cents -

885 Million People Use It, So Can You: Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin Chinese

The Most Popular Language in the World: Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin Chinese

Become a Translator: Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin Chinese

- Brad S.

The Second Most Popular Language on the Internet: Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin Chinese

Homegrown Mandarin: Tips and Strategies for Learning to Speak and Understand Mandarin Chinese

Comment date: Aug 22, 2007
D.B.Cooper said:

1. the title: “平上去入” (píng shǎng qù rù –the basic tones in Chinese)

2. Do you have Chinese tongue twisters in your book? That’s also a good way of practicing Chinese.

Good luck!

Comment date: Aug 22, 2007
Vicky Bennett said:

ABC I Can Speak Chinese
The ABC’s to Speaking Chinese
I Learned! So Can You.
From English to Chinese

Comment date: Aug 22, 2007
Jonas Nordling said:

Do it the LaoWai way
or just
LaoWai way
or
LaoWai Laile (maybe not so catching in English though)

Good Luck!

Comment date: Aug 23, 2007
Jeff Sikkema said:

The Middle Language

Comment date: Aug 23, 2007
Albert said:

I’m just posting the official title now. Thanks again for all the suggestions everyone.

Comment date: Aug 4, 2008