Excel in Chinese: Speed up Chinese is a set of textbooks designed specifically for Italian-speaking beginner and elementary level Chinese learners. The book can be used in the classroom or for self-study by Italians who want to live, study and work in China. The book aims to help students improve their Chinese proficiency from the beginning step by step, so that they can understand and use Chinese in daily communication. The book consists of 15 lessons, and each lesson takes about four hours. In classroom teaching, completion of this book would take about 60 hours.

The book has the following 4 main advantages: 1. With the key language points, typical circumstances, variety of topics, normative and practical language, students can apply what they learn from the book quickly. 2. Learners can grasp Chinese efficiently and accurately by studying the comparative analyses of typical linguistic phenomena in Chinese and Italian. 3. The book attaches importance to developing learners’ communicative competence, strengthening their cross- cultural communicative competence, and promoting their understanding of Chinese society and culture.