This multimedia courseware, containing 2CD-ROMs, is produced for New Practical Chinese Reader (For Beginners). It is divided into two parts, the first of which for Lesson 1- Lesson 6 and the second for Lesson 7 - Lesson 14. The CD-ROMs provide texts, cartoons and learning of pronunciation as well as a variety of exercises, such as choosing the right answers, deciding whether the statements are true of false, and matching the corresponding words or expressions, etc. Thus students can learn Chinese interactively by listening, reading after listening and doing different types of exercises.

The CD-ROMs also provide high-definition video materials with English annotations and subtitles for the cultural notes in each lesson, which are both informative and enjoyable. Learners can either use them with the textbook or use them alone.

Liu Xun is a professor at Beijing Language and Culture University, part-time professor at China People's University and Beijing University of Foreign Languages, member of the Hanban Expert Advisory Committee for Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, board member of World Chinese Teaching Association and consultant of Chinese teaching for the New York State Department of Education. His research focuses on Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, Second Language Acquisition, teaching material development, teachers'training, etc. He once assumed the main responsibility in the design of the first set of HSK. He has compiled and co-compiled TCFL textbooks such as Practical Chinese Reader (1-4), Chinese Textbook for Children, Elementary Chinese, One Hundred Lessons on Communicative Chinese, etc, and has published monographs such as Introduction to Chinese as a Foreign Language Pedagogy, Introduction to Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, Brief Introduction to TCSL.