The Mandarin Stories series is a collection of 30 engaging stories organized by difficulty. This series helps you build vocabulary naturally through reading, with each story introducing new words in context.
Series Summary
The Mandarin Stories series is designed to help learners at all levels improve their Chinese through engaging, level-appropriate stories. Each story is carefully crafted to introduce new vocabulary and grammar patterns in a natural context.
This series is organized into weekly modules, with 6 stories per week. As you progress through the weeks, the stories become more challenging and the vocabulary expands.
Each story comes with vocabulary lists, grammar explanations, comprehension questions, and other exercises to reinforce learning. All new words are highlighted with tooltips, so you can check meanings and pinyin instantly.
We also provide Anki decks for each week so you can practice with spaced repetition and remember the words for longer.
How to Use This Series
- Study – Look at the vocabulary list for the story before you read.
- Practice – Use the Anki deck to review the words regularly.
- Read – Enjoy the story. You will recognise every word because you already studied it.
- Remember – The words appear again in later stories, which helps you keep them in your memory.
The Structure
- Week 1 (6 stories): Beginner level. ~30 new words and simple sentence structures for everyday situations.
- Week 2 (6 stories): Beginner level. ~30 new words and simple sentence structures for everyday situations.
- Week 3 (6 stories): Intermediate level. ~50 new words and simple sentence structures for everyday situations.
- Week 4 (6 stories): Intermediate level. ~50 new words and simple sentence structures for everyday situations.
- Week 5 (6 stories): Advanced level. ~50 new words and simple sentence structures for everyday situations.
Perfect For
- Self-directed readers who want structured, engaging content
- Learners building vocabulary for HSK 3.0 Band 2-3
- Those who want to move beyond textbook dialogues into real stories
- Students interested in practical Chinese for daily life
Course Syllabus
Week 1
夜班开始 – Night Shift Begins
安娜点茶 – 安娜点茶
周姐教林涛 – 周姐教林涛
大伟的笑话 – 大伟的笑话
小雨休息 – Xiao Yu Takes a Break
林涛学做新咖啡 – Lin Tao Learns to Make New Coffee
Week 2
安娜和林涛一起学习 – Anna and Lin Tao Study Together
周姐的秘密 – Zhou Jie’s Secret
大伟谈夜晚 – 大伟谈夜晚
小雨讲述勇敢孩子的故事 – 小雨讲述勇敢孩子的故事
忘记钱包的客人 – The Guest Who Forgot His Wallet
安娜帮助游客 – Anna Helps Tourists
Week 3
周姐的提醒 – Zhou Jie’s Reminder
大伟堵车 – Dawei’s Traffic Jam
小雨差点睡着 – Xiao Yu Almost Fell Asleep
林涛练习写菜单 – 林涛练习写菜单
安娜的笔记本 – 安娜的笔记本
周姐的新甜点 – 周姐的新甜点
Week 4
大伟忘记点单 – 大伟忘记点单
小雨的好消息 – 小雨的好消息
林涛想起许多事 – 林涛想起许多事
安娜说中文 – 安娜说中文
周姐的故事 – Zhou jie de gu shi
大伟带点心来 – 大伟带点心来
Week 5
小雨的计划 – 小雨的计划
林涛帮助新客人 – 林涛帮助新客人
安娜和林涛的约定 – 安娜和林涛的约定
周姐表扬大家 – 周姐表扬大家
大伟最美好的回忆 – 大伟最美好的回忆
最后一个安静的夜晚 – 最后一个安静的夜晚