The Country of the Blind: Mandarin Companion Graded Readers Level 1, Simplified Chinese Edition

This is a great book in a great series from Mandarin Companion. I would recommend this book to any intermediate student of the Chinese language to practice their reading skills and really build confidence in their learning. As a graded Chinese reader, this book uses the concept of 'extensive reading' and fully accomplishes its goal to provide a fun and enjoyable story, with smooth and relatively 'easy' Chinese vocabulary and grammar. The book allows you to enjoy the story, while internalizing the flow of language and improving your reading comprehension. The story is a fun adaptation of The Country of the Blind to an interesting Chinese context. Kindle version is great and convenient for language students. You can read on various devices, highlight words as you read, navigate easily, etc.

Of all of the Mandarin Companion Level 1 books, this was my favorite. The story was really interesting and engaging and I could hardly put it down. Reading this series is really improving my Chinese and I've recommended them to friends at similar fluency levels to me. I would say I'm at an early to mid elementary level of Chinese, after studying on and off for about 2 years. I knew most of the words in the book except the majority of the new highlighted vocabulary words, which are listed at the bottom of the pages with definitions and in a glossary in the back. If you're tired of textbooks, give this a try! It's the funnest way to actually increase my fluency I've found yet.

I like it and find it helpful for learning Mandarin Characters. I'd recommend the product for learners. I started reading this book when I hit book two in Integrated Chinese. That seems to be about the right number of characters and grammar patterns. I didn't give it 5 stars because it could use a couple of more features to be really perfect. For example, when you click on a defined word, it should just pop up a box with the pinyin/definition instead of taking you to a glossary in the back of the book. That might be a Kindle shortcoming, I don't know. I do know it is a bit jarring for the reader with the current implementation - especially since you have to hunt for the word in the glossary if it isn't the first time you've seen it. More that that suggestion, I would recommend that the authors include a way to see the pinyin for any character. There are some characters that I recognize but don't fully recall. I find that if I see the pinyin, I can recall the meaning. Likewise, there are some characters which I recognize and recall the word but don't remember the tones. Rather than reinforcing an incorrect pronunciation, I end up copying the text, and pasting it into a Mandarin program that shows the pinyin.

I love this series and I loved this book. I made it through Chapter 18 of the Integrated Chinese textbooks and took 3 semesters in College before starting this book. You could probably tackle this with just finishing the first Integrated textbook but I would use flashcards with the vocabulary on the back before doing so. It would be a bit challenging as you would need to look up new grammar but it's doable. Also, It's easy to find all the vocab because they are listed with the definitions on the back. I like that they are on every page too, so that when you read along all you need to do is look down if you don't know a character. However, for full comprehension and enjoyment, I would suggest starting this book after making it through at least Chapter 15 of the Integrated Chinese textbooks. The story is interesting and is NOT redundant. It recycles new vocabulary in a fresh way that doesn't over-encumber the reader with repeating the same portion of the story over and over again (I can't stress how much I HATE this). The sentence structures are all different, with new words, and doesn't make me feel like I'm reading flashcards or that I'm in class doing drills. There's a little drama, some emotions, and a good ending. It's not Shakespeare but I'm more than happy with the quality. I recommended this series to all of my classmates and anyone who is trying to learn Mandarin independently. No it doesn't have audio. The satisfaction I get from being able to comprehend what I'm reading and the fact it doesn't feel monotonous makes me more than happy to pay for the book without it. I'm hooked and a supporter. Keep it up Mandarin Companion. (I also read the traditional character versions at times so don't get rid of those!)

This is the fourth Mandarin Companion book that I've read. I'm finding that as I read more, it becomes easier. I've never read anything by H.G. Wells before, so I really didn't have a reference point as I did with Sherlock Holmes, the Secret Garden, and the Sixty Year Dream. But they gave me the foundation to get through this book with greater ease. I found that I could pronounce most of the characters. Just pick up these books and read them! They are a great break from online lessons, flash cards, etc. And they give you greater context than a simple conversion in a Chinese lesson with Chinese narration. Hope they publish more level 1s and look forward to the level 2s!

I have been learning Chinese for quite a while, so this was quite easy for me (although a bit harder than The Secret Garden). I think that intermediate learners can greatly benefit from this type of reading since it reinforces character recognition and basic sentence patterns. Also, it's nice to just read at a relaxing pace and not have to look up words - the adaptation is well done and they managed to hold my interest despite the limited number of words they could use. It's a particularly good reading experience on an iPad because you can get pop up definitions if you're stuck (otherwise the authors have provided useful footnotes that should help people to avoid relying on a dictionary). I look forward to reading the rest of these graded readers.

Amazingly helpful!

On n'a pas besoin d'être très avancé pour lire ce livre, qui utilise un système de notes numérotées récurrentes permettant de retrouver au fur et à mesure le sens de mots inconnus, et de même d'apprendre ces mots pour ne plus avoir besoin de s'y référer. Il y a beaucoup de répétitions : celles-ci sont à la base d'un enseignement progressif, intuitif et sans douleur. C'est simple, mais efficace (ce liver s'adresse plutôt à des adolescents ou jeunes adultes qui veulent apprendre par eux-même) : c'est gratifiant de se dire qu'on arrive à lire un chapitre entier voire tout le livre, en peu de temps, et en ayant révisé et/ou appris un certain nombre de caractères au passage.

Adaptación muy sui generis del relato de Wells, apto para un nivel justo por debajo del intermedio. El vocabulario está bien explicado, y hay muchas repeticiones para fijar los nuevos vocablos y conceptos gramaticales.

Although the level might be high for beginners, I found this to be a rewarding purchase after one year of study at uni and some time practicing with apps. I never find learning with apps like duolingo to give a genuine learning experience, but this made me feel confident that I was getting exposure to Chinese grammar that I could use myself in context. I think this would be better if it came with a feature to play the audio while reading, and should be supplemented with conversation practice.

The characters are a good size and easy to read. I am disappointed that the audio has to be purchased separately through audible that charges a monthly fee. I would like to be able to purchase the audio in an MP3 and be able to use on any device without having to go through an APP or stream.