Sinolingua‘s Graded Chinese Reader series is great if you want something to read, learn from, and not feel like a textbook. While a lesson intentionally shoehorning 15 new words in each paragraph might be more efficient, there gets to be a point where you just want to read something that isn’t structured or guided.
These are legitimate short stories which have been edited to fit a vocabulary limitation without entirely controlling the content. You get a mix of writing styles, content, and similar. It isn’t just a short story written as a textbook exercise (like On the Organization of the Chinese Government in this old book I pulled off the shelf), it’s the heart and soul of an actual literary piece put in accessible language for your reading level. You live as the character or witness of the story immersed in genuine cultural interactions. It’s a unique slice of life you can’t get elsewhere.
The Series
There are 6 books in the series, one at a level suitable for 500 words, one at 1,000 words, and then 1,500 words, 2,000 words, 2,500 words, and 3,000 words. Each of these is a learning milestone in most Chinese classrooms. The different levels also map to certain HSK levels on a slightly different axis. The copy I has says they’re based on the levels in The Chinese Proficiency Test Syllabus.
They’re written so you’re more in line with common textbooks and in between levels when you start to plateau and lose motivation. It gives you a way to review without being bored. It gives you a way to see what you’re missing at that milestone’s level or to push ahead in real understanding.
This is a solid strategy and makes these books even more enchanting. The breakdown is also in units which are a bit more tangible. Someone at HSK level 4 (1,200 words) may still get as much out of the 1,000 word book as someone down the ladder. It all depends on how much culture you want to see and how committed you are to learning.
If you’re sold on learning Chinese, these will help you. They may not teach you that many words, but they show you new novel uses of words and phrases. You get an insight into Chinese culture in the way only native media can provide. Not every story will touch your heart, but you’ll at least learn something from them.
Layout
The layout in these books is extremely simple. Each “chapter” is a separate novella or short story. The first section covers an introduction to the story, then you get the story. After each story is a short author bio and some questions about the story.
The stories are composed of the Chinese with Pinyin over it. The book also comes with a card to block the Pinyin should you desire. Each story has some words which are outside the HSK level or culturally significant enough to warrant an introduction or definition. Some of these have examples, others don’t.
This book doesn’t really do much to provide insight to the stories except provide a quick background, and the tools to read at (or above your level) without as many issues. The series doesn’t go past 3,000 words, but it doesn’t have to either. Shi Ji, the editor, has done an amazing job with these works. You get a real cultural work and accessible to where you get a native insight to some element of real life.
Content Quality
The content is top notch. Each story is going to be a little easier than its native counterpart, but not by enough to feel it’s lost spirit. You’ll almost definitely still appreciate the originals when you can read them, but you also won’t be surprised by anything in the story either.
You get a variable number of stories, but each volume works out to about 250 to 300 pages. The stories are entirely (as far as I’ve seen) from the past 50 years or so, with a focus on the 80’s. I didn’t really pay as much attention to the years, but you can tell certain pieces are bit dated from the technology or situation. Very little of the relevant language is dated though.
Even at the higher levels, there are stories you can tell are edited. They’ve been reduced in linguistic complexity to be more accessible and it shows. Luckily, Shi Ji has handled this well. The sections may be simpler, but the same context and ideas still manage to persist despite the heavy reduction in complexity.
Content Considerations
If you’re learning for a test, these books won’t help you that much. If you’re learning to really understand Chinese though, these books will help you a lot. You lose the canned Chinese cultural notes through rose glasses and see a gritty snapshot of truth and real life.
You may know bits of what’s happening, but unless you’ve been abroad, how to people react to these situations? Even if you’ve been abroad, you may still not know exactly how they felt in those situations. There’s a difference between telling and showing which is made apparent by these sorts of works.
One of the most intimate ways to learn about a culture is to read the subtle signs in its media. This requires you to want to learn the culture for more than just basic functioning, and also to be able to read the signs in the story. The chapter might give you a little context, but it doesn’t interpret much for you. You have to connect to character or subject in each story by yourself.
This is a fruitless exercise if you don’t care or can’t interpret the meaning behind the words. I would recommend reading at a lower level in the beginning, so if you know 700 words, go for the 500 word book. As you improve and hit a more intermediate level, reach up to the next book. When you can read 1,800 words, jump to the 2,000 word one if you’re motivated. You can still fall back if the new words get out of hand.
Advanced Learners
Once you get to the point you’re more advanced than most textbooks (usually past 2,000 words), these can serve as an ego boost, a learning aid, or a break. You’re at the point some authentic materials become available. This is great and all, but can be extremely tiresome if vocabulary isn’t your strong suit. This is also the most painful level to get materials.
Most texts will feel trite around this level. You get tired of grammatical descriptions which assume you’ve never actually talked to someone in Chinese or vocabulary examples which are too esoteric for real usage. Most textbooks and courses lose track of this dichotomy by the end of their intermediate levels. They expect you to be speaking and listening rather than reading new spoken vocabulary.
Literature gives you a bridge between these extremes. You see how the language is really used without it being as sterile as the average text progression. A newspaper reads differently than a story. A story feels different than a spoken account. You get language which is in the twilight rather than dedicating entirely to one or the other. Your language becomes more natural and poetic with the right application.
Conclusion
If you’re really wanting to learn Chinese and truly understand Chinese, these books are a great stepping stone. They provide reading practice and an insight into the culture. Don’t lean on them for an explanation or any kind of interpretation though.
These are an exercise to test and advance you’re reading. You may know every, single character, but not really understand the sentiment without something to guide you. Why do the characters in the story feel and act the way they do? To really understand, you have to see into the cultural elements they represent.
This series is incredibly insightful. It provides a nice, but structured, break to learning that doesn’t feel forced or structured. You learn on an axis which gets increasingly difficult to address. This series covers life as written rather than the romanticizations of a textbook. This difference gets increasingly important to see as you progress learning Chinese.
Where does the notion of a Chinese funeral cease being an academic exercise and become something you feel? What about a Chinese wedding? Did you know that pretty much no two places are going to agree on either of these? These sorts of things you may have never thought about while learning the language come up naturally and resolve themselves naturally. Whenever something goes against expectation, you can see it with the characters’ reaction or reactions.
These books won’t hand you the keys to the kingdom, but they’ll teach you a lot if you listen. You hear the whispers from the edges of the zeitgeist with a different perspective for each. It gives you a break from the regular textbook materials and helps you transition into real literature. These books are amazing and help you more than you’d think. That being said, they can’t be treated as a concrete step in the standard learning process. They help reinforce your progress and help you better understand real life worries and feelings in China.
Get them here.