Mandarin · Beginner
Read in Mandarin Beginner
7 Short Stories for Language Learners, with Vocabulary and Questions
Most stories written for people learning a language are written for the grammar. These were written as stories first, in English, by somebody trying to write a good one. Here they are retold in simple Mandarin, with the English beside every paragraph. A woman who will not sell her shop. A man told there is no apartment 307. Four people stripping a dead ship for parts, and something aboard it that starts talking back.
Expected November 25, 2026
- Level
- Beginner, about A2
- Format
- Paperback (6 x 9 in) and Kindle ebook
- Language
- Mandarin, with the English side by side
- Publisher
- Lexxio
What's in the book
Side by side
Mandarin on the left, English on the right, paragraph by paragraph and numbered, so you never lose your place.
Words at the foot of the page
The words worth learning in each chapter are set in bold, with their meaning in English and how they are said, at the foot of every page they appear on.
Exercises every chapter
A word-matching exercise and comprehension questions after every chapter, answered at the back.
Illustrated
A cover for every story and a drawn plate opening every chapter.
The seven stories
Every volume holds the same seven stories. Each has its own page.
- The Blue DoorSome doors wait a lifetime.
- When the Tide ReturnsDifferent lands. Shared waters. Some secrets won’t stay buried.
- Salvage RightsSome doors only open together.
- Apartment 307Nobody else counts the doors.
- Three OffersThree days, three offers, one shop on the coast road.
- Under a Broken SkyA storm that was not weather. A country with no coastline. A name nobody says the same way twice.
- The Wall of the WorldA title he never asked for. A knot that unties itself. A wall at the edge of the world.
The other level
Read in Mandarin Intermediate
The same seven stories in natural Mandarin, for when this one gets easy.
Also at this level
Questions
What level of Mandarin do I need?
About A2: the present and past tenses and a few hundred everyday words. The English beside every paragraph covers the rest.
Are these children's stories?
No. They are written for adults. Nothing in them is explicit, but somebody dies in most of them.