Why Graded Readers?

Build confidence, competence, and enjoy reading something at the right level of Chinese for YOU!

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.

You’ll speak Chinese more Confidently!

As you read faster and understand in Chinese – your speaking and listening will naturally improve

You’ll know what to say without stumbling over each word.

Learning Chinese as a second language is hard, for so many reasons.

Do any of these sound familiar?

You’ve been studying for years but still can’t speak Chinese as well as you should
Even with something ‘easy’ to read, it’s filled with characters you’ve never seen
You quickly become lost whenever you do hear any Chinese
You pass all the tests, you have all the apps, but you just don’t feel like your Chinese is getting any better

John and I know just how you feel – we’ve struggled through textbooks and conversations that quickly turned awkward. We’ve known what we wanted to say but couldn’t figure out how to say it.

Discovering Graded Readers — easy-to-read books in Chinese that are designed specifically for your level of understanding — was life altering. Let us show you why.

Find your level

After just a few graded readers at the right level, you’ll find yourself:

Feeling accomplished – yes, you can read in Chinese!
With a better grasp of Chinese vocabulary and grammar
More confident when speaking Chinese
Understanding concepts IN CHINESE, not just slowly translating words.

Graded readers are:

Specifically for foreign language learners
Enjoyable fictional stories
To be read at a high level of comprehension
Full of repetition – you need 10 – 30 encounters with a word to connect it to its meaning
Long enough so you get caught up in the story

Graded readers are not:

Short articles packed with unfamiliar characters
Books for Chinese children
Full of words you’ll never use
Supposed to be a struggle to read
Books with pinyin over the characters. If you can’t read something without pinyin – it’s too hard for you right now

Graded Readers are Science Backed

Graded readers are based on science from decades of research on the theory of Extensive Reading. We learn best when what we are reading, or listening to, can be easily understood.

There are three general reading levels you need to know. The science is clear, extensive reading is the level at which we learn best.