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The Sixty Year Dream: Mandarin Companion Graded Readers Level 1, Traditional Chinese Edition
**Traditional Chinese Edition**
Mandarin Companion: New graded readers for a new generation of Chinese learners. Now you can read books in Chinese that are fun and accelerate your language learning. Every book is carefully written to use only characters, words, and grammar that you, a learner, are more likely to know. The Mandarin Companion leveling system has been painstakingly developed through in-depth analysis of textbooks, education programs, and natural Chinese language. Every story is written in a style that is easy for you to understand and enjoyable to read.
Level 1 is intended for Chinese learners who have obtained an elementary level of Chinese. Most students will be able to approach this book after one to two years of formal study. This story is written using approximately 300 characters and contains approximately 400 elementary words.
Zhou Xuefa (Rip Van Winkle) is well loved by everyone in his town, everyone except his nagging wife. With his faithful dog Blackie, Zhou Xuefa spends his time playing with kids, helping neighbors, and discussing politics in the teahouse. One day after a bad scolding from his wife, he goes for a walk into the mountains and meets a mysterious old man who appears to be from an ancient time. The man invites him into his mountain home for a meal and after drinking some wine, Zhou Xuefa falls into a deep sleep. He awakes to a time very different than what he once knew.
Mandarin Companion: New graded readers for a new generation of Chinese learners. Now you can read books in Chinese that are fun and accelerate your language learning. Every book is carefully written to use only characters, words, and grammar that you, a learner, are more likely to know. The Mandarin Companion leveling system has been painstakingly developed through in-depth analysis of textbooks, education programs, and natural Chinese language. Every story is written in a style that is easy for you to understand and enjoyable to read.
Level 1 is intended for Chinese learners who have obtained an elementary level of Chinese. Most students will be able to approach this book after one to two years of formal study. This story is written using approximately 300 characters and contains approximately 400 elementary words.
Zhou Xuefa (Rip Van Winkle) is well loved by everyone in his town, everyone except his nagging wife. With his faithful dog Blackie, Zhou Xuefa spends his time playing with kids, helping neighbors, and discussing politics in the teahouse. One day after a bad scolding from his wife, he goes for a walk into the mountains and meets a mysterious old man who appears to be from an ancient time. The man invites him into his mountain home for a meal and after drinking some wine, Zhou Xuefa falls into a deep sleep. He awakes to a time very different than what he once knew.
138 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 13, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 7, 2020
I finished reading my first ever Chinese book! The story is an adaptation of the classic short story Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving, in which a man falls asleep and wakes up 20 years later as an old man. In the Chinese story, however, the protagonist falls asleep in 1939 and wakes up 60 years later in the industrialised and modernised People's Republic of China. Many things have changed, among which, as the the man's daughter says:
"中国再也没有皇帝了。中国再也不是一个人的中国，是我们每一个人的中国。"（There are no more emperors in China. China is no longer a one-man China, it is a China for each of us）
It is amazing how much can be said with so little words. This book only contains 400 unique words, and when a more difficult word appears it is explained with a footnote and repeated multiple times shortly thereafter. This is an great technique, since language learners need to encounter a word 10 to 30 times on average before they will truly understand a word and how it is used in different contexts. So this is a very good book to study Chinese!
"中国再也没有皇帝了。中国再也不是一个人的中国，是我们每一个人的中国。"（There are no more emperors in China. China is no longer a one-man China, it is a China for each of us）
It is amazing how much can be said with so little words. This book only contains 400 unique words, and when a more difficult word appears it is explained with a footnote and repeated multiple times shortly thereafter. This is an great technique, since language learners need to encounter a word 10 to 30 times on average before they will truly understand a word and how it is used in different contexts. So this is a very good book to study Chinese!
August 25, 2021
Great book by Mandarin Companion, this was my fourth one. The story is interesting with a nice twist in the plot in the middle, and ending that leaves room for interpretation.
I’m already at HSK 4/5 level, so I read this book as fast as I would read an English language book, so it was a bit too easy. HSK 2-4 level students would get much more out of this. For HSK1 students this is too difficult, though
I’m already at HSK 4/5 level, so I read this book as fast as I would read an English language book, so it was a bit too easy. HSK 2-4 level students would get much more out of this. For HSK1 students this is too difficult, though
December 11, 2022
I'm definitely past the point of reading from these graded readers, but I figured it's not a bad idea to read one anyway to test myself on reading speed given the low overall level. Well, I was able to get through the book quickly - it took roughly an hour or so - but it got to the point where the repetitive phrases and sentences and super simple vocabulary was really annoying.
I still think Mandarin Companion is a decent series to get beginners to start reading, but after having read a few actual adult novels (yes, some parts were a struggle, but it was doable), going back to this was just painful - like going from high school lit to first grade picture books, except less fun. I think if Mandarin Companion series had more than two levels it would have a lot more potential in the language learning community, but as it stands, it's really good for people at the very elementary level and there just doesn't seem to be much benefit once you've passed that.
This version of Rip Van Winkle was okay and I think it's probably one of the more interesting adaptations in the series. I've read nearly all of them at this point since my library offers them as ebooks, and the two I liked best were The Country of the Blind and Journey to the Center of the Earth.
I still think Mandarin Companion is a decent series to get beginners to start reading, but after having read a few actual adult novels (yes, some parts were a struggle, but it was doable), going back to this was just painful - like going from high school lit to first grade picture books, except less fun. I think if Mandarin Companion series had more than two levels it would have a lot more potential in the language learning community, but as it stands, it's really good for people at the very elementary level and there just doesn't seem to be much benefit once you've passed that.
This version of Rip Van Winkle was okay and I think it's probably one of the more interesting adaptations in the series. I've read nearly all of them at this point since my library offers them as ebooks, and the two I liked best were The Country of the Blind and Journey to the Center of the Earth.
December 14, 2017
This one was actually a bit interesting, beyond simply as a learning exercise, because it touched on the changes that have occured in China over the last century. Guy falls asleep in Bejing in 1937, wakes up in 1997. At first I thought it was going to be essentially communist propaganda, because of this hilarious line by one of the characters (in 1937, before the guy falls asleep):
以前的中国不是一个人的国家，是我们每一个人的国家!
But actually, apart from one character repeating this line in 1997, the book gave a quite balanced portrayal of the changes that taken place. I almost feel like this line was added as insurance just in case any CCP official ever happened to pick up the book.
以前的中国不是一个人的国家，是我们每一个人的国家!
But actually, apart from one character repeating this line in 1997, the book gave a quite balanced portrayal of the changes that taken place. I almost feel like this line was added as insurance just in case any CCP official ever happened to pick up the book.
March 16, 2021
Really fun story. This was probably my second favorite that I have read in the series after The Secret Garden. When I first started reading my first Level 1 Mandarin Companion the first chapter took me close to an hour, but now I can read an entire Level 1 graded reader in about 2 hours. I'm excited about starting my first Level 2 Mandarin Companion today!
March 17, 2020
I am now reading Level 2 in Chinese Breeze, then listening to their inexpensive audio versions. Reverse order (listen then read) works well for Mandarin Companion Level 1 at this pt, and Inexpensive Audible audio is available.
November 11, 2020
Historie sympa à suivre : mon premier livre en mandarin lu et écoute (Audio et numérique).
Seul bémol : la ME ne propose rien au dessus du niveau 1 en audio et que 3 textes en niveau 2 en numérique. Qu’en est il des niveaux plus avancés ? Comme d’habitude c’est un peu le désert...
Seul bémol : la ME ne propose rien au dessus du niveau 1 en audio et que 3 textes en niveau 2 en numérique. Qu’en est il des niveaux plus avancés ? Comme d’habitude c’est un peu le désert...
April 5, 2019
Nepochopila jsem pointu :D
April 14, 2020
Fuck, this was bleak. Great reader though.
April 10, 2021
What a strange and intriguing story. It leaves one thinking. Lovely way to keep a struggling Chinese reader on their toes! Bravo!
October 4, 2023
I miss reading these Chinese books :-)
July 30, 2023
I feel that this is the weakest of the level 1 books among those that I've read. Still enjoyable and good practice but I was left with a feeling that the story didn't really go anywhere.
September 27, 2022
Trop abrégé pour conserver un intérêt. Phrases vraiment trop répétitives, donnant l'impression de tourner en rond. De plus, les dessins sont assez laids. Il est vraiment dommage qu'il n'y ait pas de traduction en annexe...
Utile certes, mais on souhaiterait mieux dans le genre. Malheureusement je n'ai rien trouvé d'autre.
Utile certes, mais on souhaiterait mieux dans le genre. Malheureusement je n'ai rien trouvé d'autre.
April 21, 2014
This series of mandarin companion are very good because they use extensive reading.
April 30, 2019
Another good graded reader for practice.
August 21, 2022
Very useful as study materials. The story had a slow start, but ended up strongly moving. Warmly recommended for any Chinese learner.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews