Great Expectations: Part 1: Mandarin Companion Graded Readers Level 2, Simplified Chinese Edition Paperback – December 25, 2015

If you are an intermediate Chinese student like me, then you know there is a dearth of good material out there for our level. Beginner students get catered to because they represent the largest chunk of the market, and of course, advanced students can read and watch native Chinese content. But we intermediates continually have to search for scraps.Well, this book (and Mandarin Companion in general) represents an oasis in the desert. In my opinion, this is the best-written Chinese content you can find at the intermediate level, both in terms of education and enjoyment.Case in point: by the time I reached the latter half of the second volume, I binge-read the final 4 or 5 chapters, staying up until the early hours of the morning to do so. I just HAD to know how it ended, a sensation I had previously only experienced while reading compelling English language novels. Only after I put the book down did I realize I had totally forgotten I was reading Chinese.

This is a great book in a great series from Mandarin Companion.A few months ago, I discovered Mandarin Companion with their series of Level 1 graded Chinese readers. I read through all of those and was eager for Great Expectations as their first Level 2 book.This book, and the whole series, is great for intermediate students of Chinese to practice their reading skills. The books use the 'extensive reading' concept and fully accomplish their aims of providing fun and enjoyable stories, with relatively easy text and vocabulary. Each chapter provides a handful of challenging vocab words and grammar structures within the story that help you learn as you read. These vocabulary and grammar are repeated naturally throughout the text to reinforce your learning.I really liked this book and I would recommend it to anyone looking to improve in the Chinese Language.

I'm a big fan of the Mandarin Companion graded readers. The stories - like this Great Expectations adaptation - are familiar enough that I already have a bit of context before I open the book but the authors have done a good job of adding a "Chinese twist" to keep it fresh.While the Mandarin Companion level two seems to be aimed at advanced beginner/intermediate Chinese learners, even as an advanced student I enjoyed the easy read. It improves my confidence (I'm used to reading news articles where I'm guessing at a number of words and phrases) and introduces grammar concepts in a simple way.Silly as this sounds, I also like the illustrations scattered throughout the book.Overall, if you're anything beyond a beginner Chinese learner, you'll enjoy this relatively short read.

The book tells an interesting story with a limited vocabulary. I recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book. I own and am currently working through a number of graded readers...for the Mandarin Companion series, the Chinese Breeze series is a natural comparison. Because Mandarin Companion uses real stories in the public domain, they are of a MUCH higher quality (though they don't come with audio).Though it's greatly simplified from the actual story, because they used Dicken's story, it's really quite gripping! Even though it's a more basic version with a restricted set of characters, I definitely found myself involved in the story, which is ideal for something that you want to use to study a language.So if you're making your way through the hanzi, I whole heartedly recommend this book!

As all of the other Mandarin Companion books, this new Level 2 book is awesome for improving ones reading and vocabulary in Mandarin. My 10 year old daughter has started the Secret Garden and her reading, sentence structure and vocabulary is improving by by leaps and bounds. Thanks to John and the crew at Mandarin Companion for putting these books together. Can't wait for the next Level 2 book.

I read four level 1 books, now I've passed to the next level. I wish there were more level 2 books.

Another great book in the mandarin companion series. It's available on Kindle and the quality is great. The stories are well written and the interpretation into modern Chinese of classic European and American books adds additional interest to an already great set of books. I just wish there were more!