I was given a copy of a second-hand spoken Chinese textbook last Christmas.  But this isn’t your ordinary textbook; it was published in Shanghai in 1940, and is very much ‘of its time’.

The book, Introduction to Spoken Chinese (華言拾級) was written by J. J. Brandt, who also wrote Literary Chinese, Wenli Particles and Modern Newspaper Chinese. Anyway, it’s really good fun because some of the language used hasn’t really passed the test of time, as the example sentences seem aimed at wealthy expats with plenty of household staff. I provide some below (all taken from the example phrases sections after each lesson):

1. Tomorrow we are moving; hire some coolies.

明天我們搬家。僱幾個苦力來

2. This is my No. 1 house boy

這是我的管事的

3. Is your master at home?

你的老爺在家麼？

4.  Our master is out, but the young master is at home.

我們老爺出門了。少爺在家哪

5. The waistcoat is too tight

坎肩兒太瘦

6. Bring me quickly some water to wash my face

你快給我打洗臉水來

7. And if you have no time the whole year, do you not take baths at all?

若是你一年沒有功夫，也不洗麽？

8. This article is not worth a single copper

這個東西一個銅子兒也不值

9. He is my rickshaw man

他是我的拉車的

The inside cover reads: “Modern students of Chinese owe a good deal to Mr. Brandt…and will find additional reasons to thank him for this new text.” Quite so.