The Sixty Year Dream: Mandarin Companion Graded Readers

Level 1, Simplified Chinese Edition

By: Washington Irving

Narrated by: Zhang Xiuye

Length: 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

Based on Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving

Zhou Xuefa (Rip Van Winkle) is well loved by everyone in his town, everyone except his nagging wife. With his faithful dog, Blackie, Zhou Xuefa spends his time playing with kids, helping neighbors, and discussing politics in the teahouse. One day after a bad scolding from his wife, he goes for a walk into the mountains and meets a mysterious old man who appears to be from an ancient time. The man invites him into his mountain home for a meal and after drinking some wine, Zhou Xuefa falls into a deep sleep. He awakes to a time very different than what he once knew.

Mandarin Companion is a series of easy-to-listen-to novels in Chinese that are fun to listen to and proven to accelerate language learning. Every book in the Mandarin Companion series is carefully composed to use characters, words, and grammar that a learner is likely to know.

Level 1 is intended for Chinese learners at an upper-elementary level. Most learners will be able to approach this book after one to two years of formal study, depending on the learner and program. This series is designed to combine simplicity of characters with an easy-to-understand storyline which helps learners to expand their vocabularies and language comprehension abilities. The more they practice, the better they will become at reading and grasping the Chinese language.

©2013 Mind Spark Press LLC (P)2018 Mind Spark Press LLC

Excellent

This is an outstanding book for beginners. Being able to listen to the audiobook and read the text in the ebook does make it for a great resource. My only "complaint" is that the narrator should complete other books in the Mandarin Companion Graded Readers series, as this is the only one currently available on Audible.

Great way to learn Mandarin

Very easy to listen to and a great way to learn Mandarin. Very clear and Really enjoyed listening

Good listening for HSK 2 practice

This is a great short story for Chinese listening practice. It is also among the better Mandarin companion books. It has a nice sense of mystery and tragedy. The performer's voice modulation to reflect thought is also a nice detail.

Great language level adjustment!

I've been looking for something like this for a long time! The book is easy to read and easy to listen (I combined the book with the audiobook). It's a very helpful next step in learning the language.