<aside> <img src="/icons/heart_purple.svg" alt="/icons/heart_purple.svg" width="40px" /> The ultimate guide to starting Mandarin Chinese for webnovels — Link to The Cozy Study, a blog owned by Moon

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<aside> <img src="/icons/cafe_brown.svg" alt="/icons/cafe_brown.svg" width="40px" /> Want to support us? Buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/heavenlypath

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Introduction

This guide is heavily focused on fiction reading and aimed at those with an interest in Chinese fiction and webnovels. If you are more interested in reading the news, business, scientific or other specific content then this may not be the right guide for you.

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_red.svg" alt="/icons/book_red.svg" width="40px" /> Chinese webnovels are different from fan fiction or self-published novels, in fact, they closely mirror their traditionally published fellows. For more information see Chinese Media Explained

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In order to cater for all learners, those following and not following a language learning programme, we’ve divided the sections in this guide by character count (not to be confused with words). The number of characters you know is not necessarily an accurate reflection of your reading level as grammar, writing style and sentence structure play a part in your ability to comprehend a piece of text. However, it is a decent enough indication for this guide.

If you are unsure how many characters you know, you can take a quick test over at Hanzishan which will give you a rough estimate. If you are strictly following the HSK 2.0 or HSK 3.0 programme, reference the below table to see the cumulative number of words and characters you should know after passing each level:

This should be of help when referencing our reading-difficulty sections given below, as the HSK approximations given are only on the 2.0 framework.

<aside> ❗ As a second language learner, reading should not be the sole study method, especially during the early stages of your Chinese studies. Reading should only be in addition to textbooks or other formal studies.

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<aside> <img src="/icons/user-circle-filled_yellow.svg" alt="/icons/user-circle-filled_yellow.svg" width="40px" /> As a heritage speaker, if you have some degree of Mandarin listening comprehension, combining listening with reading can be a great way to quickly boost your Chinese literacy at any stage of your journey. However, be mindful not to jump too far ahead as—depending on the novel—the language and vocabulary found in literature differ greatly from those used colloquially.

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Tools

Pleco

Pleco is a free Chinese-English dictionary app available on Android and iOS. Additional add-ons can be purchased, which provide extra features such as a flashcard (SRS) system, Chinese to Chinese dictionary, stroke order, additional native sound packs, OCR, and graded readers. Pleco is a must-have app for learners of all stages, and its Basic Bundle is a very worthwhile investment.

An SRS app (Anki or Pleco)

Ideally, this app should utilize spaced repetition, so that you only learn words when you’re on the verge of forgetting them.

Anki is a spaced repetition flashcard software, available on Mac OS, PC and mobile devices with cloud syncing. It’s customizable with plugins for extra features such as dictionaries and audio. While free on Windows, MacOS, and Android phones, it is priced $25 for iPhone users.

Onto Pleco: as well as being a brilliant dictionary, it has a $10 spaced repetition flashcard add-on. This has the added benefit of native audio and a dictionary right out of the box and is specifically catered to Chinese learners.

Regular review of vocabulary, pronunciation, and phrases using spaced repetition is highly recommended at all stages of your Chinese learning journey.

A popup Chinese → English dictionary

There are browser extensions that enable you to hover over any Chinese word to see its pinyin and definition. Some additional features include audio, dictionary look-up, and add-to wordlist. We recommend Zhongwen or Zhongzhong — try these two extensions and see which you prefer.

Available on Chrome and Firefox.

Must-have for all learners.

Exporting from Zhongwen to Anki

Guide to exporting from Zhongwen’s wordlist to Anki - Step-by-step guide written by Nad of 看剧学汉语 Discord server to guide you in exporting words from the browser extension Zhongwen into the SRS programme Anki.

Readibu

Readibu is an app that allows for easy immersion into the webnovel world. It puts the content of a webpage into a user-friendly reader mode, with a one-tap popup Chinese -> English dictionary and text-to-speech.

Readibu has popular webnovels already listed in the app, as well as the ability to create your own custom bookmarks of any webnovels, short stories or articles you find online.

The app is available for both iOS (phone only) and Android (older version only)

Suitable for HSK 4+ (1000 characters+) learners

Baidu Fanyi

Baidu Fanyi is a translation tool for natives. As well as providing translations to any Chinese word or phrase, a further explanation of each word is also included for both English and Chinese. It is more accurate than Google Translate (for English–Chinese).

Example sentences with an English translation can also be found for any word that you search for.

Looking up example sentences is a great way to further deepen your understanding of a word or phrase.

OCR on a Windows computer

Guide to setting up OCR on a Windows computer Nad and Casiyus of our 看剧学汉语 Discord server wrote this guide to setting up OCR on a Windows computer, showing you the tools and steps you need to set up OCR on your Windows computer. This’ll be a boon when playing games, reading manhua (漫画, Chinese comics), or reading the hardcoded subtitles of Chinese TV shows.

Below 1000 characters (HSK1 - HSK4)

In order to start reading content outside of your textbook or other formal study material, you’ll need to have at least a good understanding of basic sentence structures and grammar.

<aside> ❗ As a second language learner, reading should not be the sole study method at this point.

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<aside> <img src="/icons/user-circle-filled_yellow.svg" alt="/icons/user-circle-filled_yellow.svg" width="40px" /> As a heritage speaker, if you are familiar with the fundamentals, are able to hold basic conversations, and find apps or textbooks for second language learners too elementary—it’s time to get your feet wet, starting with simple reading materials! We highly recommend Little Fox Chinese (see below for more details).

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Resources (FREE)

• Little Fox Chinese (free when using the website, but requires a subscription to use on mobile)
  • This is the best free resource available (at this level) for improving your literacy and listening skills.
  • All content is presented visually as stories narrated by natives but catered to learners. Optional subtitles can be toggled, along with a wordlist and separate English transcript.
  • Little Fox currently has 5 levels, each with lessons ranging from a few words long (Level 1) to full-length short chapters (Level 5). Level 5 content contains approximately 2.5k unique characters. We strongly recommend working through to Level 5 and learning most of its vocabulary.
  • These levels do not follow any particular framework, such as the HSK, so bear in mind that their videos may include some advanced/out-of-syllabus words.
• Mandarin Bean (FREEMIUM) - excellent HSK 1-6 stories, with dozens under each HSK tag. Native audio for all stories is available, along with pinyin, traditional characters and a pop-up dictionary. Paid memberships grants access to various features including translation and the option to download the story.
• Chinese Reading Practice - Good resources for shorter stories, and while only a few of the more difficult words in the story are explained further, there is still a full English translation for each text, HSK 1-6, sadly it isn’t continued anymore, so no new stories.
• HSK Reading - HSK 1-6 articles for reading, some with native audio. Note that the difficulty of an article can vary somewhat despite the tag.
• Maayot (FREEMIUM) - you can get one story a week for free with this service straight to your email, or once a day by paying $10/mo. Stories are in the HSK 1,2,3 / 4,5 / 6+ levels. Each story is a few hundred characters, with a native recording, a quiz, and character definitions. The levels line up very well with the HSK levels, and new words are clearly marked.
• Yes! Chinese - this website sorts their short stories by HSK, but different authors will have very different ideas of what difficulty matches up with which HSK level (for example, some will use many idioms (成语 - chengyu) or high-level words, but grade it quite low - grading is all done subjectively by those who upload). Recommended to find an author that writes at a level that is generally understandable, and read their works.

Resources (PAID)

• Graded readers

  <aside> ☀️ You can find paper copies of many graded readers on Purple Culture

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  • Mandarin Companion

    Their books are divided into 150, 300 and 450 unique character levels. The best graded readers for beginners, the authors put a lot of effort into ensuring reading is extensive and provide clear links to difficult definitions - read a sample. Stories are very compelling, often retellings of English classics.

    Available on Pleco, Apple Books, Google Books, Kobo and Amazon. Paid audiobooks are available, fortunately, some are available as part of Amazon’s Audible subscription.

  • Imagin8 Press

    From 100 to 2000 unique words, with many different stories. “The Journey to the West” series is particularly popular among learners. The first book starts at 600 words and goes up to 2000 words in the latest book. We recommend reading this series in order.

    Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo and more. Audiobooks are available for completely free on their Youtube channel.

  • Sinolingua’s Rainbow Bridge Series

    The books are divided into 150/300/500/750/1000/1500/2500 unique words, with dozens of different stories available, each with vibrant images. However, they are often “graded” quite loosely because higher-level words are often used - especially at lower levels; at higher levels, they become more readable. Stories are almost all summarized fables (lower levels) or Chinese classics (higher levels) which allows for some insight into the culture.

    Available on Pleco. Native audio is available for almost all their stories, which can be found on their website.

    Sinolingua also offers another series, Graded Readers for Chinese Language Learners, with character limits of 500/800/1200 (a step up from word limits).

  • Honourable Mentions

    Chinese Breeze - 300/500/750/1100 unique word levels, with images. Relatively well-graded, but storylines can be a bit boring.

• DuChinese ($12 a month, $6 a month for students by emailing them with evidence of being a student)

  • They have hundreds of stories, quite well-graded and regularly updated. Can be read from the website or on their app (which has an excellent UI). Big plus: native audio is provided for each story.
  • HSK correspondence isn’t always clear. The support team shared that each level generally tries to use the words from the corresponding HSK (so if you passed HSK 3, an Intermediate story would be perfect for your level, with the words being used primarily coming from HSK levels 1, 2, and 3).
  • “Lessons” are generally quite short, in the range of a few hundred characters. “Stories” are collections of lessons that have one overarching plot, with generally 5-12 lessons per story.
  • You can read roughly half a dozen stories a week (across all of their levels) for a limited time to get a taste of what you can expect. The first couple of chapters in each story are also generally available for free.
  • If you are going to pay for any other Chinese learning resource outside of Pleco, then spending it on this app’s subscriptions, especially as a student, wouldn’t be a bad choice to make.

• WordSwing

  • This is essentially a series of very fun interactive graded readers. The site provides eight “text adventures”, which are “choose your own adventures” - but all in Chinese. You read some text (narrated by a native speaker and with a pop-up dictionary) and then choose what the character does in response. The storylines are extremely interesting and very long, with each story taking several hours to complete. A big benefit of WordSwing is that you can go back to a “checkpoint” or even to the beginning of the adventure, which means one adventure brings the possibility of many stories.
  • The number of unique characters for each story is between 300-700, but it is recommended to save this for around the HSK 3/4 level, as many are lower-frequency words.
  • One story is provided for free, as well as introductory playing (~20-30 mins) for the other stories. To unlock the rest of the games fully, however, you will need to pay $8/mo.
  • There are also free DuChinese-esque dialogues and comics provided at beginning/intermediate Chinese levels.

• M Mandarin

  • This is an app that helps you read your first manhua (漫画 Chinese comic). It’s divided into HSK levels and each story has vocabulary, grammar explanations and an audio version. You even can have a little bit of fun and try to dub the manhua yourself!
  • Some of the stories are free but for others (especially higher HSK level) you will need a subscription.

Tips

• When reading content from outside your textbook (i.e. a graded reader, DuChinese) and you are frequently encountering the same unknown word, consider adding it to your flashcard deck even if it’s from a higher HSK level or not in the HSK programme. However, do not fall into the trap of adding every unknown word. Consider setting a daily limit and sticking to words that you see frequently.
• Not reading specific - be clear with your goals. If you’d like to speak well, try to remember the tones of words when you learn them so that you can pronounce them accurately - or even practice reading aloud (or equally, “shadowing” - closely repeating the audio from a story, ideal with those that have native audio). But if you only want to read, this can be skipped, although it is not advised.
• Don’t be afraid of diving into slightly more challenging content. Even if the reading is intensive (under 98% of words understood, but more than 90%, see Reading Tools, Tips, and FAQ), you will still gain something from the practice. At the end of this level, you could already dive into simple novels, such as the much-beloved 秃秃大王 by 张天翼.
• Learn to read characters - pinyin will only get you so far. While many graded readers for beginners may provide pinyin on top, or apps support this, it’s a crutch rather than a tool. At later stages, there will be many words with the same pinyin, which will make reading harder if you don’t learn characters. Equally, the majority of native Chinese sites and resources won’t provide pinyin. If you’re still not sure, I advise listening to this podcast episode (from the creators of Mandarin Companion): #23 Pinyin - the Crippling Crutch.

1000 - 2000 character count (HSK 4 - HSK 6)

With around 1000 characters under your belt, you can start to dive into simple native content for young children and some short adult webnovels.

“Children’s books are made for native children and therefore not suitable for second language learners.” As each individual has their own goals and reason for learning Chinese, this statement doesn’t apply to everyone. You are reading this guide because you want to eventually read native novels, therefore your needs and goals are very different from those learning Chinese for other reasons such as communication and business. Children’s books are written to entertain children but also to teach them words and improve their literacy skills. If it can improve theirs, it can improve yours.

<aside> 💪 This is the most difficult stage of your literacy journey where most native adult content will feel inaccessible and difficult but we promise, it won’t last forever. You may have to power through content that isn’t particularly interesting to you in order to reach where you need to be, but it’s all worth it in the end. Don’t give up, 加油 you can do it!

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Resources (Free)

• Short stories
  • Qigushi
  • Gushi365 - a wonderful website for finding children’s short stories.
  • Yes! Chinese - this website sorts their short stories by HSK, but different authors will have very different ideas of what constitutes an HSK level.