Easy-to-Read Chinese Stories
Learn Chinese with stories you love and build fluency with adaptations of classic novels.
Start leveling up your Chinese today!
Reading in Chinese is one of the best ways to build fluency
Learn Vocabulary Faster
Acquire vocabulary twice as fast compared to flash cards
Learn Grammar Naturally
Seeing grammar patterns over and over again trains your brain to naturally understand
Automatically Process Chinese
As your reading speed increases, you’ll start to understand it in Chinese instead of translating in your head
Enjoyable
Interesting and fun stories you can AND want to read
We offer three levels of graded readers to help you learn Chinese confidently.
Breakthrough Level
For those who are just getting started with Chinese
Level I
For those with some built up vocabulary
Level II
For those taking it to the next level of learning
Not sure what level you are?
You Are In Charge of Your Learning
Welcome to Mandarin Companion!
We’ve worked hard to create enjoyable stories at the right level for you — that can help you build confidence and competence to improve your Chinese.
Our Graded Readers use language that is controlled and simplified that makes them easy for learners to read. Reading long strings of text in context shows you how the language is used to build proficiency in and naturally understand Chinese.
Research shows that learners need to ‘encounter’ a word 10-30 times before truly learning it. Graded Readers provide that repetition that you need to develop fluency NOW at your level.
In the next section, you can take an assessment and discover if this is the right level for you. We also explain how it won’t just improve your Chinese skills but will have a wide range of benefits, from better test scores to more confidence.
We hope you enjoy our books and all the best with your studies!
Start Learning Chinese Today!
Latest Articles
You Can Learn Chinese Podcast
Learn HOW to learn Chinese with hosts Jared Turner and John Pasden. You will learn tips, strategies, and insights so you can supercharge your language learning. You will also be inspired by guest interviews with people from all over the world who have learned Chinese.
Both Jared and John both learned Chinese, lived in China for many years, and have worked with learners all over the world and understand the unique challenges that Chinese learners face. They stay at the forefront of language learning research and methods and bring that to listeners everywhere.
Why do tones sometimes seem “good enough”… until they suddenly create complete chaos?
In this episode, Jared and John dive into one of the trickiest realities of learning Chinese: when small tone mistakes collide with low-context situations and produce surprisingly big misunderstandings.
Inspired by a real-life exchange student story in Shanghai, they share some hilarious examples of Chinese mix-ups involving pandas vs. chest hair, thesis defenses vs. poop, and one especially memorable mistake involving “receiving payment.”
Beyond the laughs, this episode explores why context matters so much in Chinese, especially with names, place names, numbers, and situations where listeners don’t have enough clues to infer what you mean.
Jared and John also share practical strategies to reduce communication breakdowns: using written backup, giving extra context, confirming understanding, paying closer attention to “recasts,” and learning how to spot your own pronunciation errors.
If you’ve ever been convinced you said something correctly only to get blank stares in return, this episode is for you. Mistakes are part of the process, but with a little awareness and a few smart habits, you can avoid some of the most spectacular ones.
Links from the episode: