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Graded Chinese Reader 500 Words: Selected Abridged Chinese Contemporary Mini-stories (W/MP3)
This is the fourth book of the Graded Chinese Reader series tailoring for foreigner Chinese language learners at new HSK Level 2 & 3 or above. The book can both serve as a Chinese reading textbook and also an after-school extensive reading material. It includes 15 award-winning mini-stories from China. The book has the following features:
1. Abridged versions of mini-stories written by contemporary Chinese writers, reflecting the everyday lives of ordinary Chinese people.
2. The vocabulary in this book consists of 500 essential Chinese words, which are mainly chosen based on the first 500 Chinese words of the 1,500 high frequency words in the International Curriculum for Chinese Language Education (2008). The book also includes some of the 600 Chinese words of the Chinese Proficiency Test Syllabus Level 3 (2009). The 500 high frequency words along with some new HSK Level 3 words that appear in the book are all included in the glossary.
3. Commonly used words appear in high frequency to form concise and short sentences with complete structure.
4. Pinyin is added to the complete text, English notes or sample sentences for difficult words and sentences are provided; The same side note may appear again in the following articles to facilitate readers who want to choose an article of interest from those offered.
5. Guide to Reading and About the Author in English, and Questions in Chinese are provided for each story.
6. Accompanied by original illustrations and a CD in MP3 format.
1. Abridged versions of mini-stories written by contemporary Chinese writers, reflecting the everyday lives of ordinary Chinese people.
2. The vocabulary in this book consists of 500 essential Chinese words, which are mainly chosen based on the first 500 Chinese words of the 1,500 high frequency words in the International Curriculum for Chinese Language Education (2008). The book also includes some of the 600 Chinese words of the Chinese Proficiency Test Syllabus Level 3 (2009). The 500 high frequency words along with some new HSK Level 3 words that appear in the book are all included in the glossary.
3. Commonly used words appear in high frequency to form concise and short sentences with complete structure.
4. Pinyin is added to the complete text, English notes or sample sentences for difficult words and sentences are provided; The same side note may appear again in the following articles to facilitate readers who want to choose an article of interest from those offered.
5. Guide to Reading and About the Author in English, and Questions in Chinese are provided for each story.
6. Accompanied by original illustrations and a CD in MP3 format.
204 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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86 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 11, 2017
I bought 'Graded Chinese Reader 500 Words' as a way to practice Chinese at my level outside of my textbooks and classes. I found it nice to read the collection of short stories that used the grammar and vocab that I had previously learned to help reinforce them. They were usually between 5-10 pages in length, which meant they could be finished in one sitting if you wished to. Other than the length of the stories, I found the appeal of this book to be that it included both pinyin and characters, with a divider so that you could block out the pinyin unless you needed it.
Many of the stories were quite interesting, and often introduced concepts from Chinese culture that helped to keep you engaged when reading otherwise simple stories. However, due to the simplicity of the language available some of the stories were either highly predictable, or glossed over sections that you would normally want to be expanded upon. A key aspect of these books (which you may consider a strength or a weakness depending on your goals) is that the grammar used is not typical of written Chinese, and my native Chinese friends have told me the style seems both spoken style, and like a foreigner wrote them. The positive to this is that for a beginner student this makes it easier to understand, and requires less knowledge of complex grammar to read.
There was also a dictionary in the back of the book which was helpful, although it didn't include all of the words used in the book. This meant that I still ended up using my phone to look up the words I didn't know.
Overall, this book is a helpful learning tool for a beginner/intermediate level student at around HSK 2-3 level who is looking for an accessible way to practice their Chinese. The stories themselves are not always the most exciting reads, but they're good enough for the purpose of practicing.
Many of the stories were quite interesting, and often introduced concepts from Chinese culture that helped to keep you engaged when reading otherwise simple stories. However, due to the simplicity of the language available some of the stories were either highly predictable, or glossed over sections that you would normally want to be expanded upon. A key aspect of these books (which you may consider a strength or a weakness depending on your goals) is that the grammar used is not typical of written Chinese, and my native Chinese friends have told me the style seems both spoken style, and like a foreigner wrote them. The positive to this is that for a beginner student this makes it easier to understand, and requires less knowledge of complex grammar to read.
There was also a dictionary in the back of the book which was helpful, although it didn't include all of the words used in the book. This meant that I still ended up using my phone to look up the words I didn't know.
Overall, this book is a helpful learning tool for a beginner/intermediate level student at around HSK 2-3 level who is looking for an accessible way to practice their Chinese. The stories themselves are not always the most exciting reads, but they're good enough for the purpose of practicing.
July 19, 2022
4 stars, one added because of the free audio that's included.
It's a very useful book for learners who are roughly between HSK 2 and 3. I don't think I'd recommend it for anyone who's not comfortable with HSK 2 level vocabulary yet, as there will just be too many new characters and words. I noticed as I was progressing through the book that I was starting to recognize more and more characters more easily, so I absolutely think it's good practice to work your way through a graded reader like this.
The reader includes both pinyin and vocabulary lists, both of which are very helpful. Occasionally there would be some word that wasn't defined and that I had no clue what meant, which meant that I had to have some way of looking it up available. This is a bit annoying, but the author couldn't predict each and every student's weak points.
Speaking of weak points, the stories in this book were honestly, on average, not that good. Some were hilariously simplistic, but I actually found that some of the stories towards the end of the book were a little bit more interesting (to my tastes). There are obviously some limitations on the language that can be employed in a graded reader, though, so I don't think it's that big of a deal.
What makes this series of graded readers great, however, is that they include free downloads of audio versions of the stories. Graded readers are usually short, and you generally have to purchase the audio separately, if it even exists. This book is of decent length and isn't particularly expensive (where I live), so the fact that you get the audio as well makes it a great resource for learners of Mandarin.
It's a very useful book for learners who are roughly between HSK 2 and 3. I don't think I'd recommend it for anyone who's not comfortable with HSK 2 level vocabulary yet, as there will just be too many new characters and words. I noticed as I was progressing through the book that I was starting to recognize more and more characters more easily, so I absolutely think it's good practice to work your way through a graded reader like this.
The reader includes both pinyin and vocabulary lists, both of which are very helpful. Occasionally there would be some word that wasn't defined and that I had no clue what meant, which meant that I had to have some way of looking it up available. This is a bit annoying, but the author couldn't predict each and every student's weak points.
Speaking of weak points, the stories in this book were honestly, on average, not that good. Some were hilariously simplistic, but I actually found that some of the stories towards the end of the book were a little bit more interesting (to my tastes). There are obviously some limitations on the language that can be employed in a graded reader, though, so I don't think it's that big of a deal.
What makes this series of graded readers great, however, is that they include free downloads of audio versions of the stories. Graded readers are usually short, and you generally have to purchase the audio separately, if it even exists. This book is of decent length and isn't particularly expensive (where I live), so the fact that you get the audio as well makes it a great resource for learners of Mandarin.
September 22, 2018
This is the best series of graded readers that I have found yet. There are a total of 6 books, starting from the 500-word level going up to the 3000-word level in increments of 500 words. These graded readers are superior for two reasons:
1. They are much thicker - around 200 to 350 pages each, vs. the more typical 40-70 page readers.
2. The stories are selections of actual Chinese literature, which have been shortened and simplified (compared with most graded readers that make up there own - usually terrible - stories).
Although this book is only at the 500 word level, I still encountered a lot of new vocabulary. The "500 words" refers only to the base words the knowledge of which is assumed. The authors are free to include an arbitrarily large number of additional words, which are highlighted and whose definition is included on the side of the page. I noticed that compared with the 1000 word book, these "extra words" were much more frequent, probably because the authors were having trouble telling their stories with only 500 words. I didn't mind this, as it meant I encountered new vocabulary in what would otherwise have been too low level of a reader.
1. They are much thicker - around 200 to 350 pages each, vs. the more typical 40-70 page readers.
2. The stories are selections of actual Chinese literature, which have been shortened and simplified (compared with most graded readers that make up there own - usually terrible - stories).
Although this book is only at the 500 word level, I still encountered a lot of new vocabulary. The "500 words" refers only to the base words the knowledge of which is assumed. The authors are free to include an arbitrarily large number of additional words, which are highlighted and whose definition is included on the side of the page. I noticed that compared with the 1000 word book, these "extra words" were much more frequent, probably because the authors were having trouble telling their stories with only 500 words. I didn't mind this, as it meant I encountered new vocabulary in what would otherwise have been too low level of a reader.
September 26, 2018
A fairly good collection of simplified and abridged Chinese short stories. Together they paint a picture of daily life in China, giving enough cultural reference to understand each story better. There's also a CD included, although I feel an online accessible MP3 would have been much better. Overall, it's an interesting position worth reading roughly at a HSK 3 level.
October 3, 2021
Vaguely depressing short story collection. Lots of new words I’ve never seen before, but they have definitions on the side so easy to read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews