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Mandarin Companion Graded Readers
Level 1: 300 characters
Mngrn Gu
The Country of the Blind (Sample)
by H.G. Wells
Mind Spark Press LLC
SHANGHAI
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Mandarin Companion Graded Readers
Mandarin Companion creates books you can read! This series offers Chinese
learners enjoyable and interesting reading materials to accelerate language
learning. Each book uses characters, words, and grammar that a learner is most
likely to know at each level based on in-depth analysis of textbooks, education
programs, and natural Chinese language. Every story is written in a style that is
easy for a learner to understand and enjoyable to read.
Mandarin Companion Level 1
Level One is intended for Chinese learners who have obtained an elementary lev
of Chinese. Most students will be able to approach this book after one to two
years of traditional formal study, depending on the learner and program. In
creating this story we have carefully balanced the need for level-appropriate
simplicity against the needs of the story's plot.
When writing a story in Chinese, close attention must be paid to both Chinese
characters and vocabulary words. The level is designed around Mandarin
Companion's core set of 300 basic charactersensuring that most vocabulary wi
be simple, everyday words, composed of characters that the learner is most likely
to know. This book contains approximately 400 unique words, a figure similar
low-level graded readers for English learners. New words and characters may be
added as the plot requires but are strictly limited to fall within the principles of
extensive reading. Corresponding pinyin readings and English definitions are
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provided at each occurrence.
What level is right for me?
If you are able to read this book without stopping every sentence to pull out a
dictionary to look up a character, then this book is probably at your level. If you
are able to ready fluidly and quickly without interruption, then you may be ready
for a higher level. Even if you can read all of the characters and words but are no
able to read fluidly, it is recommended that you build your reading speed before
moving to a higher level.
Learners should read at a level where they can understand most of the words in t
book. It is ideal to have only one unknown word or character for every 40-50
words or characters. New characters and words that fall outside the level of this
story are introduced throughout the book with numbered footnotes referenced in
the glossary with pinyin and an English definition.
How will this help my Chinese?
Reading extensively in a language you are learning is one of the most effective
ways to build fluency. However, the key is to read at a level of high
comprehension. Reading at the appropriate level in Chinese will increase the
speed of your character recognition, help you acquire vocabulary faster, allow yo
to naturally learn grammar, and train your brain to think in Chinese. It also make
learning Chinese fun and enjoyable. You'll finally be able to experience the sens
of accomplishment and confidence that only comes from reading entire books in
Chinese.
Please visit the chapter Extensive Reading and Graded Readersfor more
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information.
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Table of Contents
Story Adaptation Notes
Characters and Locations
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Key Words
Discussion Questions
Extensive Reading and Graded Readers
Credits and Acknowledgements
About Mandarin Companion
Other Stories from Mandarin Companion
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Story Adaptation Notes
This story is an adaptation of English sci-fi author H.G. Wells 1904 classic stor
The Country of the Blind. This Mandarin Companion graded reader has been
adapted into a fully localized Chinese version of the original story. The characte
have been given authentic Chinese names as opposed to transliterations of Engli
names, and the locations have been adapted to well-known places in China. We
have used the English language classic title's official translation in Chinese, but
we have converted all character names to natural Chinese names and changed
some details to better fit a Chinese setting.
The time period of this adaptation is left up to the readers imagination, but
clearly modern technology does not play a role in the story. The original 1904
story and a revised version published in 1939 actually have different endings. W
have made an unusual choice in this case and decided to follow neither original
ending exactly, rather giving the story our own twist. We hope you enjoy it.
Character Adaptations
The following is a list of the characters from The Country of the Blindin Chines
followed by their corresponding English names from Wells original story. The
names below aren't translations; they're new Chinese names used for the Chineseversions of the original characters. Think of them as all-new characters in a
Chinese story.
(Chn Fngyun) - Nuez
(Jing Tiny) - Yacob
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(Jing Xu) - Medina-Sarot
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Cast of Characters
Locations
Guzhu Guizhou Province is in southwest China, between Yunnan
and Hunan. Like Yunnan, it is home to many Chinese ethnic minoritie
and is also a very mountainous province.
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1
[2] [3]
[4]
[5] [3] [6]
[7]
[8] [9]
[10]
[2]
[11] [12]
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[8] [13] [6] [14] [15]
[16] [2] [8]
[6] [14] [13] [17]
[2] [8] [17]
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[18]
[2] [12]
[19]
[20] [21]
[1] [19]
[22]
[17]
[23] [8]
[13] [6] [14]
[24] [25]
[17] [12]
[26] [23] [27]
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[9] [19] [21]
[24]
[28] [18]
[2] [1]
[1]
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2
[17] [1] [2]
[1] [29]
[30] [30] 6
8 [31] [13]
[14] [14] [32] [32]
[14]
[12]
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[9] [1] [1] [18]
[1] [17]
[22]
[11]
[26]
[19] [33] [34] [21]
[21]
[1]
[35] [36]
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[37]
[21] [1] [12]
[38] [1]
[12] [24] [19] [24] [17] [24]
[19] [32]
[32] [7]
[1] [19] [21]
[39] [1]
[33]
[40] [41] [1] [13]
[17] [1] [12] [17]
[24] [17] [24]
[17] [5]
[1] [23]
[17] [1] [23]
[1] [42] [43]
We hope you enjoyed this sample! Please visit www.MandarinCompanion.comf
a full copy of this book and to browse other titles in this series.
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Part of Speech Key
adj. Adjective
adv. Adverb
aux. Auxiliary Verb
conj. Conjunction
mw. Measure word
n. Noun
num. Numeral
on. Onomatopoeia
part. Particle
pn. Proper noun
tn. Time Noun
v. Verb
vc. Verb plus complement
vo. Verb plus object
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Extensive Reading
After years of studying Chinese, many people ask, "Why can't I speak Chinese?
I've been studying for years but I still can't speak!" Fluent speaking only happens
when the language enters our "comfort zone." This comfort only comes from
experience with the language. The more times you meet a word, phrase, or
grammar point, the more likely it will enter your comfort zone.
In the world of language research, the experts agree that learners can acquire new
vocabulary through reading if the overall text can be understood. Decades of
research indicate that if we know approximately 98% of the words in a book, we
can comfortably "pick up" the 2% that is unfamiliar. Reading at this 98%
comprehension level is called "Extensive Reading."
Research in extensive reading has shown that it accelerates vocabulary learning
and helps the learner to naturally understand grammar. Perhaps most importantly
it trains the brain to automatically process the language thereby leaving space in
the memory for other things. As they build reading speed and fluency, learners
will move from reading "word by word" to starting to process "chunks of
language" at a time. A defining feature is that it's lesspainfulthan the "intensive
reading" commonly used in textbooks. In fact, extensive reading can be downrigh
fun.
Graded Readers
Graded readersare the best books for learners to "extensively" read. Research
has taught us that learners need to "encounter" a word 10-30 times before truly
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Credits
Original Author: H.G. Wells
Series Editor: John Pasden
Lead Writer: Yang Renjun
Associate Editor: Yu Cui
Illustrator: Hu Shen
Producer: Jared Turner
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Yang Renjun, Yu Cui, Song Shen and the entire team at AllS
Learning for working on this project and contributing the perfect mix of talent to
produce this series.
Thank you to our enthusiastic testers, Logan Pauley, Ashlyn Weber, Michelle
Helding Birkenfeldt, Vanessa Dewey, and Ariel Bowman. Thank you to Judy
Yang who helped with our cover and book design.
A special thanks to Rob Waring, to whom we refer as the "godfather of extensive
reading" for his encouragement, expert advice, and support with this project.
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Thank you to Heather Turner for being the inspiration behind the entire series an
never wavering in her belief. Thank you to Song Shen for supporting us, handlin
all the small thankless tasks, and spurring us forward if we dared to fall behind.
Moreover, we will be forever grateful for Yuehua Liu and Chengzhi Chu for
pioneering the first graded readers in Chinese and to whom we owe a debt of
gratitude for their years of tireless work to bring these type of materials to the
Chinese learning community.
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Other Stories from Mandarin Companion
Level 1 Readers: 300 Characters
The Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Li Ye grew up never knowing the love and affection of her parents. After an
epidemic leaves her an orphan, Li Ye is sent off to live with her reclusive
Uncle in his sprawling estate in Nanjing. She learns of a secret garden where
no one has set foot in ten years. Li Ye finds the garden and slowly discovers
the secrets of the manor. With the help of new friends, she brings the garden
back to life, a decision that forever changes several lives.
The Monkey's Paw
by W.W. Jacobs
Mr. and Mrs. Zhang live with their grown son, Xide, who works at a factory.
One day Mr. Qian, an old friend of Mr. Zhang, comes to visit the family afte
having spent years traveling in the mysterious hills of Yunnan. Mr. Qian tell
the Zhang family of a monkey's paw he was given that has magical powers to
grant three wishes to the holder. Against his better judgment, Mr. Qian gives
the monkey paw to the Zhang family with a warning that the wishes come wi
a great price for trying to change one's fate
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language learners. Visit our website for the newest books available:
www.MandarinCompanion.com
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Mandarin Companion is a trademark of Mind Spark Press LLC.
www.MandarinCompanion.com
Design and Illustrations contained herein are Mind Spark Press 2013.
First published 2013. This Chinese language original adaption AllSet Learnin
2013,
licensed exclusively to Mandarin Companion.
ISBN 978-0-9910052-3-9
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanica
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of t
publishers.
http://mandarincompanion.com/