The Secret Garden: Mandarin Companion Graded Readers Level 1, Simplified Chinese Edition

Vocabulary is repetitive but does not constantly repeat the same information like other readers I've experienced. This book is not perfect and has a little bit of drama that will make you shake your head but I liked that it kept things interesting. YES, 100* Yes do I think it needs audio!! MANDARIN COMPANION -- give us audio!! I don't mind the price because the story was interesting enough to keep me reading and I felt SO happy and satisfied when I reached the last page. I have paid this price for other readers with audio that made me so bored that reading became a chore and the fact the reader had audio did not matter. I'm okay spending the same price for a book I know I'll finish.ProsThat story!Vocabulary not draining or drilled in by repeatedly stating the same information over and over.Long enough (70 ish pages)Nice little definitions on page bottomGrammar explanations for the chapter in back of bookComparisons with other text booksVocabulary listed in the back and on each pageConsNO AUDIO(Give it to us!)This was a very minimal in difficulty read for me. I have practiced up to around the 9th chapter in the second integrated Chinese book and underwent 3 semesters of Chinese at College.

As someone who has lived in China for five years and has studied Mandarin Chinese formally (in university classes and with private tutors and small group classes) and is constantly looking for practice and study methods that I actually enjoy, I found this book to be just the thing! Already a lover of The Secret Garden, I couldn't put down this contextualized, Mandarin translation. The level wasn't challenging for me; however I found it very encouraging to read swiftly without needing to stop and mentally translate. I did learn some new words, and though the level wasn't a challenge, some of the "new" words in the glossary were ones that I'd learned previously but still had trouble with.As an Oral English teacher, I tell my students that the best way to improve their vocabulary is to read English articles and others written works of interest to them. It turned out to be a great way for me to learn, too!Three suggestions for study:1. Read on your iPhone/iPad and download the dictionary when your device prompts you to (after hovering your finger over a word). Then you can hover over any word and quickly navigate to the definition and pinyin pronunciation. (Although I find the dictionary to be fairly poor, so the book's appendix was best for words included in that. I found myself frequently referring to Pleco when I questioned the dictionary's definition.)2. Read aloud to practice pronunciation and sentence timing/rhythm! Refer to the pinyin in the dictionary if you need to be reminded of the tones.3. Highlight words or sentences you don't know how to translate or pronounce and take a screen shot; later ask a tutor or Chinese friend for help.Finally, when I got to the end, I wished I had studied or even printed out the word list at the end before reading so that I would be testing my knowledge of newer words as I went.Happy reading, and I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!

I found this such a pleasure to read. I got the actual book not the Kindle version, and I was impressed with the quality - it has nice pages and the text is very crisp and clear, the color illustrations add a nice touch. The underlined "new vocabulary" is very helpful and very easy to see, but not so blatant that it's distracting. The back of the book has the pinyin and definitions for the vocabulary words, and I like that they are referenced with their number every time they appear, not just the first time. In addition, there are also some study questions and list of relevant articles from the Chinese Grammar Wiki for each chapter.Obviously you need to have a basic understanding of Chinese to start with, but for the 300 character level it should be just right. I'm at ~900 characters and I found this quite easy to read, but I did actually learn some new words. It's a really good way to reinforce grammar patterns. I have Kindle editions for some of the other books in this series and they are also nice (the text, links and illustrations work flawlessly), but if you're considering the paper book you won't be disappointed!

This was my first Mandarin Companion real book. I had bought a kindle version of their Sherlock Holmes re-write, which I enjoyed. But I didn't like flipping back and forth electronically. I found the paper version better: you can see more on each page with new vocabulary is at the bottom (as opposed to having to click on the link on a Kindle), it's easier to flip to the end to remind yourself of the new vocabulary, and it contains a great appendix at the back with grammatical notes as well as a comparison of new vocabulary vis-a-vis different textbooks. The rewrite of the story makes it both interesting, culturally, and accessible since you have a sense of the story arc (especially if you've read the original classic). I liked the Sherlock Holmes adaptation better; this adaptation had to be so short and stilted given the vocabulary that the conflict wasn't as tense and the ending seemed rushed. But overall I recommend the series.

Il libro è un ottimo testo per chiunque abbia una conoscenza del cinese contemporaneo almeno di livello HSK2.

Llego en tiempo y en forma. Está muy bien, me gustó muchísimo.

The characters are a good size and easy to read. I am disappointed that the audio has to be purchased separately through audible that charges a monthly fee. I would like to be able to purchase the audio in an MP3 and be able to use on any device without having to go through an APP or stream.

El texto es simple y fácil de leer para un principiante. Lo recomiendo

Very nicely translated story for the Chinese learners. Agree with the concept of extensive reading. Although my Chinese level is much higher this book still is quite useful. Planning to read all books from Mandarin Companion. It’ll help me strengthen my knowledge of the core Chinese words.