Mandarin Companion Graded Readers

Level 1: 300 characters

Mm Huyun

The Secret Garden (Sample)

Original Story by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Mind Spark Press LLC

SHANGHAI

Mandarin Companion Graded Readers

Mandarin Companion creates books you can read! This series offers Chineselearners enjoyable and interesting reading materials to accelerate languagelearning. Each book uses characters, words, and grammar that a learner is mostlikely to know at each level based on in-depth analysis of textbooks, educationprograms, and natural Chinese language. Every story is written in a style that iseasy for a learner to understand and enjoyable to read.

Mandarin Companion Level 1

Level 1 is intended for Chinese learners who have already obtained a solidelementary level of Chinese. Most students will be able to approach this bookafter one to two years of traditional formal study, depending on the learner andprogram. In creating each 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, we must pay close attention to both Chinesecharacters and vocabulary words used. The level is designed around MandarinCompanion's core set of 300 basic characters ensuring that most vocabulary willbe simple, everyday words, composed of characters that the learner is most likelyto know. This book contains approximately 400 unique words, a figure similar tolow-level graded readers for English learners. New words and characters may beadded as the plot requires, but are strictly limited to fall within the science ofextensive reading, and corresponding pinyin readings and English definitions are

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 adictionary to look up a character, then this book is probably at your level. If youare able to ready fluidly and quickly without interruption, then you may be readyfor a higher level. Even if you can read all of the characters and words but are notable to read fluidly, it is recommended that you build your reading speed beforemoving to a higher level.

Learners should read at a level where they can understand most of the words in thebook. It is ideal to have only one unknown word or character for every 40-50words or characters. New characters and words that fall outside the level of thisstory are introduced throughout the book with numbered footnotes referenced inthe 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 effectiveways to build fluency. However, the key is to read at a level of highcomprehension. Reading at the appropriate level in Chinese will increase thespeed of your character recognition, help you acquire vocabulary faster, allow youto naturally learn grammar, and train your brain to think in Chinese. It also makeslearning Chinese fun and enjoyable. You'll finally be able to experience the senseof accomplishment and new confidence that only comes from reading entire booksin Chinese.

Please visit the chapter Extensive Reading and Graded Readers for more

information.

Table of Contents (Sample)

Story Adaptation Notes

Cast of Characters

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10. "!"

11. "!"

12.

Key Words

Discussion Questions

Extensive Reading and Graded Readers

Credits and Acknowledgements

About Mandarin Companion

Other Stories from Mandarin Companion

Story Adaptation Notes

This story is an adaptation of British author Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1911classic novel, The Secret Garden. This Mandarin Companion graded reader hasbeen adapted into a fully localized Chinese version of the original story. Thecharacters have been given authentic Chinese names as opposed to awkwardtransliterations of English names, and the locations have been adapted to well-known places in China.

Character Adaptations

The following is a list of the characters from The Secret Garden in Chinesefollowed by their corresponding English names from the original novel. Thesearen't translations; they're new Chinese names used for the Chinese versions of theoriginal characters. Think of them as all-new characters in a Chinese story.

(L Y) - Mary Lennox

(M y) - Mrs. Medlock

(Wn Xinsheng) - Archibald Craven

(Wn Titai) - Mistress Craven

(Wng Lxn) - Martha Sowerby

(Ln Yye) - Ben Weatherstaff

(Wng Ltin) - Dickon Sowerby

(Wn Syun) - Colin Craven

Cast of Characters

1

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [10] [9] [11] [11] [10] [12] [11] [4] [9] [13] [4] [4] [14]

[4] [10] [4] [4] [10] [4] [4] [4] [4]

[15] [1] [5] [16] [17]

[18] [17] [8] [19] [2] [11]

[18] [20] [7]

[4]

[18] [4] [14]

2

[21] [22]

[22] [22] [4] [23]

[22] [4] [7] [2]

[3] [24] [13] [7] [9] [2]

[2] [22]

[5]

[25] [25] [14]

[26]

[22] [27] [28]

[28]

[25] [16] [14] [5]

[25] [22]

[25]

[25] [9] [1]

[22] [22] [25]

We hope you enjoyed this sample! Please visit www.MandarinCompanion.com fora full copy of this book and to browse other titles in this series.

Key Words

(Gunjinc)

1. (wn) v. to play

2. (l) v. to pay attention to

3. (hoxing) v. it seems

4. (y) n. maid, housekeeper

5. (kixn) adj. happy

6. (knqlai) vc. to look (a certain way)

7. (shu) adj. thin

8. (shngbng) v. to get sick

9. (zngsh) adv. always

10. (shngq) vo. to get angry

11. (k) v. to cry

12. (wile) conj. for the purpose of, in order to

13. (tnghu) vo. to obey, lit. "to listen to (someone's) words

14. (gunxn) v. to be concerned about

15. (pngsh) tn. usual; usually

16. (ydng) adv. definitely

17. (chsh) vo. to have an accident

18. (huli) tn. afterwards

19. (nngu) adj. to feel upset

20. (fxin) v. to discover

21. (jirn) n. family

22. (shshu) n. uncle, father's younger brother

23. (di) v. to bring

24. (ynggi) aux. should, ought to

25. (qgui) adj. weird, strange

26. (lmin) n. inside

27. (yuysi) adj. interesting

28. (xingf) n. thinking, idea

Part of Speech Key

adj. Adjective

adv. Adverb

aux. Auxiliary Verb

conj. Conjunction

mw. Measure word

n. Noun

on. Onomatopoeia

part. Particle

pn. Proper noun

tn. Time Noun

v. Verb

vc. Verb plus complement

vo. Verb plus object

Extensive Reading

After years of studying Chinese, many people ask, "why can't I speak Chinese?"Fluent speaking only happens when the language enters our "comfort zone." Thiscomfort only comes after significant exposure to and experience with thelanguage. The more times you meet a word, phrase, or grammar point, the sooner itwill enter your comfort zone.

In the world of language research, the experts agree that learners can acquire newvocabulary through reading if the overall text can be understood. Decades ofresearch indicate that if we know approximately 98% of the words in a book, wecan 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 learningand helps the learner to naturally understand grammar. Perhaps most importantly,it trains the brain to automatically process the language thereby leaving space inthe memory for other things. As they build reading speed and fluency, learnerswill move from reading "word by word" to starting to process "chunks oflanguage" at a time. A defining feature is that it's less painful than the "intensivereading" commonly used in textbooks. In fact, extensive reading can be downrightfun.

Graded Readers

Graded readers are the best books for learners to "extensively" read. Researchhas taught us that learners need to "encounter" a word 10-30 times before truly

learning it, often many more times for especially complicated or abstract words.Learners can read a graded reader because the language is controlled andsimplified to their level, as opposed to reading native texts, which are inevitablyslow, difficult, and demotivating. Reading extensively with graded readers allowslearners to bring together all of the language they have studied and absorb how thewords naturally work together.

To become fluent, learners must not only understand the meaning of a word, butalso understand its nuances, how to use it in conversation, how to pair it withother words, where it fits into natural word order, and how it is used in grammarstructures. No textbook could ever be written to teach all of this explicitly. Whenused properly, a textbook introduces the language and provides the basicmeanings, while graded readers consolidate, strengthen, and deepenunderstanding.

Without graded readers, learners would have to study dictionaries, textbooks,sample dialogs, and simple conversations until they have randomly encounteredenough Chinese for it to enter their comfort zones. With proper use of gradedreaders, learners can tackle this issue and develop greater fluency now, at theircurrent levels, instead of waiting until some period in the distant future. With astronger foundation and greater confidence at their current levels, learners areencouraged and motivated to continue their Chinese studies to ever greaterheights. Plus they'll quickly learn that reading Chinese is fun!

Credits

Original Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett

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 AllSetLearning for working on this project and contributing the perfect mix of talent toproduce this series.

Thank you to Mark Neville who tested it with students in his Chinese class andoffered valuable insights and edits. We're grateful to Dong Hua for her academicfeedback, and to our enthusiastic testers Erick Garcia, Ben Slye, BrandonSanchez, and Mary Ann Abejuro.

A special thanks to Rob Waring to whom we refer to as the "godfather of

extensive reading" for his encouragement, expert advice, and support with thisproject.

Thank you to Heather Turner for being the inspiration behind the entire series andnever wavering in her belief. Thank you to Song Shen for supporting us, handlingall 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 forpioneering the first graded readers in Chinese and to whom we owe a debt ofgratitude for their years of tireless work to bring these type of materials to theChinese learning community.

About Mandarin Companion

Mandarin Companion was started by Jared Turner and John Pasden who met onefateful day on a bus in Shanghai when the only remaining seat left them sittingnext to each other. A year later, Jared had greatly improved his Chinese usingextensive reading but was frustrated at the lack of suitable reading materials. Heapproached John with the prospect of creating their own series. Having worked inChinese education for nearly a decade, John was intrigued with the idea and thusbegan the Mandarin Companion series.

John majored in Japanese in college, but started learning Mandarin and latermoved to China where his learning accelerated. After developing languageproficiency, he was admitted into an all-Chinese masters program in appliedlinguistics at East China Normal University in Shanghai. Throughout his learningprocess, John developed an open mind to different learning styles and a tendencyto challenge conventional wisdom in the field of teaching Chinese. He has sinceworked at ChinesePod as academic director and host, and opened his ownconsultancy, AllSet Learning, in Shanghai to help individuals acquire Chineselanguage proficiency. He lives in Shanghai with his wife and daughter.

After graduate school and with no Chinese language skills, Jared decided to moveto China with his young family in search of career opportunities. Later whileworking on a investment project, Jared learned about extensive reading anddecided that if it was as effective as it claimed to be, it could help him learnChinese. In three months, he read 10 Chinese graded readers and his abilityquickly improved from speaking words and phrases to a conversational level. Jaredhas an MBA from Purdue University and a bachelor in Economics from theUniversity of Utah. He lives in Shanghai with his wife and three kids.

Other Stories from Mandarin Companion

Level 1 Readers: 300 Characters

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 afterhaving spent years traveling in the mysterious hills of Yunnan. Mr. Qian tellsthe Zhang family of a monkey's paw he was given that has magical powers togrant three wishes to the holder. Against his better judgment, Mr. Qian givesthe monkey paw to the Zhang family with a warning that the wishes come witha great price for trying to change one's fate

The Sixty-Year Dream

Based on "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving

Zhou Xuefa is well loved by everyone in his town, but always given a hardtime by his nagging wife. With his faithful dog Blackie, Zhou Xuefa spendshis time playing with kids, helping neighbors, and discussing politics in theteahouse. One day after a bad scolding from his wife, he goes for a walk intothe mountains and meets a mysterious old man who appears to be from anancient time. The man invites Zhou Xuefa into his mountain home for a meal,

and after drinking some wine, Zhou Xuefa falls into a deep sleep. He awakesto a time very different than what he once knew.

The Country of the Blind

By H.G. Wells

"In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" repeats in ChenFangyuan's mind after he finds himself trapped in a valley holding acommunity of people for whom a disease has long since eliminated the senseof sight. Chen Fangyuan quickly finds that these people have developed theirother senses to compensate for their lack of sight, and indeed no longer evenunderstand what it means "to see." His insistence that he can see only causesthe entire community to believe he is crazy. With no way out, Chen Fangyuanbegins to accept his fate until one day the village doctors believe they nowunderstand the cause of his insanity: those useless round objects in his eyesockets.

The Case of the Curly-Haired League

Based on "Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Red-Headed League" by SirArthur Conan Doyle

Mr. Xie was recently offered admission into the Curly-Haired League. For ahandsome weekly allowance, he was required to sit in an office and copyarticles from a book, while his assistant looked after his shop. Mr. Xie hadanswered an advertisement in the paper, and although thousands of peopleapplied, he was the only one selected because of his very curly hair. When the

league unexpectedly dissolved, Mr. Xie sought out Gao Ming (SherlockHolmes) and shared his strange story. Gao Ming is certain something is notright, but will he solve the mystery in time?

Mandarin companion is producing a growing library of graded readers for Chineselanguage learners.

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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 Learning2013,

licensed exclusively to Mandarin Companion.

ISBN 978-0-9910052-0-8

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the

publishers.

Title PageMandarin Companion Graded ReadersTable of ContentsStory Adaptation NotesCast of Characters1 2 Key WordsExtensive Reading and Graded ReadersCredits and AcknowledgementsAbout Mandarin CompanionOther Stories from Mandarin CompanionCopyrights