Emma: Mandarin Companion Graded Readers: Level 1, Simplified Chinese Edition

by Jane Austen, Shishuang Chen (Editor), John Pasden (Editor)

Clever, rich, and single, the beautiful Ān Mò (Emma Woodhouse) is focused on her career as fashion designer in the glamor of 21st-century Shanghai. She sees no need for romance in her life, but when she tries to find a boyfriend for her new friend Fangfang (Harriet), her carefully laid plans being to unravel. As she ignores the warnings of her good friend Shi Wenzheng (Mr. Knightley), her decisions bring consequences that she never expected. With its witty and charming characters, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen’s most flawless work.

Mandarin Companion is a series of easy-to-read novels in Chinese that are fun to read and proven to accelerate language learning. Every book in the Mandarin Companion series is carefully written to use characters, words, and grammar that a learner is likely to know.

Level 1 is written using approximately 300 unique Chinese characters and intended for Chinese learners at an upper-elementary level. Most learners will be able to approach this book after one to two years of formal study, depending on the learner and program. This series is designed to combine simplicity of characters with an easy-to-understand storyline that helps beginners grow their vocabulary and language comprehension abilities.

Visit www.MandarinCompanion.com for the latest updates on new titles.

Genres: China, Fiction

104 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 4, 2018

About the author

Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works are an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her deft use of social commentary, realism and biting irony have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.

The anonymously published Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), were a modest success but brought her little fame in her lifetime. She wrote two other novels—Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1817—and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and the unfinished novel The Watsons.
Since her death Austen's novels have rarely been out of print. A significant transition in her reputation occurred in 1833, when they were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series (illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering and sold as a set). They gradually gained wide acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience. Her work has inspired a large number of critical essays and has been included in many literary anthologies. Her novels have also inspired many films, including 1940's Pride and Prejudice, 1995's Sense and Sensibility and 2016's Love & Friendship.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great Chinese graded reader and a great adaptation of an iconic Austen novel. I learned A LOT reading this book, especially various uses of some grammar structures I've seen in my textbook. I am planning to go through this book again for a more intensive review of some words and phrases that I want to learn better. I love that these books provide a grammar breakdown in the back of the book and online. And the Key Word List provided lots of new and helpful words. And as for the story, it was really well done. Even though Mandarin Companion has a reputation for high quality books, I was still a little skeptical that something like Emma could be made into an interesting graded reader. I mean, how you can you fit Jane Austen into a 300-word vocab list in Chinese? But I was pleasantly surprised. The story was so fun to read, especially to an Austen fan like me. I think even those that have never read Emma will enjoy the story. I am looking forward to checking out the other books in the Level 1 series.

[Helen (they or he) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only is this book a great graded chinese reader, it is also a great adaptation of Emma! I didn't think they could do it because of the limited set of vocabulary but they absolutely nailed the plot and the character motivations. Dare I say, I'd watch this adaptation if it were a movie. I'd even enjoy this more than Clueless! Apart from the adaptation, it is also a good book for extensive reading. I'm already at an advanced level so I am just here for the reading practice but I'm very sure my students of hsk level 2 will enjoy this immensely.

[Rachel Gerner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic intermediate reader

I appreciated the intentional repetition of key vocabulary. I could sense my reading speed pick up as I anticipated words and phrases. I stayed engaged in the story, which motivated me to continue to pick up the book. Will re-read again soon to see how much I can improve my speed and comprehension the second time around.

[Rob Hocking · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in order to familiarize myself with reading traditional characters in preparation for attending Chinese school in Taiwan. This book accomplished my purpose and did so while being moderately entertaining.

[Tiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story to read for struggling Chinese readers like me!

[Cosmos Candies · Rating 5 out of 5]

我真的喜欢这本书。 这个故事替别有趣。 The repeated vocab and similar sentence structures are great for getting into the flow of the story. This is my second graded reader by mandarin companion after Just Friends (read 4 months ago) and I had a much easier time with this one, though I've done some reading in between. The plot can get quite complicated so it felt nice to be able to understand it despite being a beginner, but it is probably because it's simple and concisely explained. Never read Jane Austen's Emma but this makes me want to! I do wonder what they choose as the new words that are highlighted and available in the glossary because it isn't always ones i dont know and instead others that aren't included that i have to search up.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was easily the most entertaining graded reader I've ever read (and I've read others from the same company, and have read French graded readers too)! Like Emma is one of my favorite literary classics, and they put a fun, modern spin on it that totally worked. And speaking of modern, I find it nice to read a graded reader that has a modern setting once in a while, cause it helps reinforce modern tech vocab and stuff

[Peggy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I get that graded readers are supposed to repeat a set of vocabulary so a language learner can be exposed to them multiple times, but the book did it in such a repetitive and boring way that I had to give up at about 30%.

[Indy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helps a lot with learning mandarin, especially if you're looking for a fun way to be familiar with the characters and grammar. It contains a lot of everyday phrases which are very useful. Very enjoyable way of learning.

[Jessica Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top notch for its purpose

[Doris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for fun via ebook to practice my language skills. I enjoyed this modern adaptation of Emma, and I'm proud of myself for reading this whole story in Chinese!