Mandarin Chinese Reading Comprehension Books (Test Series, Level 1/2/3)

Do you know how many characters we need to learn in order to be fluent in Mandarin Chinese language? Well, the native Chinese people are nearly fluent in about 8,000 Mandarin Chinese characters. This is certainly a huge number. Thankfully, the natives use only about 3,000 characters in their daily lives). 🙂 Nevertheless, according to the US Government studies, the difficulty level of learning Mandarin Chinese (in comparison to most of other global languages) is pegged at Level 5. Moreover, a basic fluency in Chinese language requires a rigorous study of about 2,200 class hours (it’s about 700 hours for French and Spanish). Taken together, Mandarin Chinese is one of the hardest languages to learn on this planet (at least that’s the case for the foreigners). Obviously, it’s a very time-consuming process to learn Mandarin Chinese. Specifically, learning those thousands of mysterious characters is one of the most daunting tasks when it comes to learn the Chinese languages. Not to mention, it’s not just about remembering the characters, it’s a lot about connecting those characters to form words, idioms, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, etc.

Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 1 (Level 2, 600 Characters).
Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 1 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).

So, what’s the best way to fast learn Mandarin Chinese language in general, and the characters in particular? Well, I think you should be reading as many books as possible (once you know about 100 characters). Moreover, you should read different genres of books (stories, culture, history, etc.). Although, in the very beginning, it would take a long time to read Chinese books, especially the beginners, it’s certainly a recommended way to move forward with your Mandarin journey. Therefore, in this blog post, I’m going to recommend you a set of books (Level 1/2/3) for Chinese reading comprehension (汉语阅读理解).

Each of these books, composed of traditional Chinese stories, provides you 600+ unique Chinese characters. I’m sure these books would help you understand Chinese culture better. Each of the books provide you about 5 to 10 stories. Each story is accompanied with about 10 objective type questions. The answer keys are included as well in the books. Moreover, for your convenience, the pinyin of the characters is as well included (however, don’t use pinyin until absolutely necessary). 🙂

Before I list down the books for Chinese reading comprehension, here are a couple of links for learning Chinese characters (in case you are still struggling with Chinese characters):

  1. How to Learn Fast Reading Mandarin Chinese Characters
  2. How to Learn Mandarin Chinese Words Fast?

Learn Chinese Language and Culture

Here are some of the related books/resources to learn Chinese language fast:

  1. Level 1: Chinese Reading Books (Chinese Elementary/Primary School Education Series)
  2. Level 1: Chinese Reading Books (Chinese Short Story Series, 500+ characters)
  3. Level 1: Chinese Reading Books (Journey to the West Series, 600 characters)
  4. Level 2: Chinese Reading Books (Biographies of China’s Famous Personalities, 600 characters)
  5. Level 2: Chinese Reading Books (Chinese Reading Comprehension, 600+ characters)
  6. Level 2: Chinese Reading Books (Chinese History Series, 900 characters)
  7. Level 3: Chinese Reading Books (Chinese Culture Series, 1000 characters)
  8. Level 4 & 5: Chinese Reading Books (Chinese Geography and Economy Series, over 1000 characters)
  9. Level 5/6: Chinese Reading Books (Chinese Classical Literature Masterpieces, about 1300 characters)

Now it’s time to do Chinese reading practice with Chinese Reading Comprehension (Level 2) books!

Level 2: Chinese Reading ComprehensionSeries: Reading Books with Pinyin

Here is the list of books for Chinese Reading Comprehension (Mandarin reading practice book series). You may also want to check out the author’s home page (for readers in Japan, please click here Amazon Japan).

Reading comprehension is an essential skill for success in academia and in the real world. Good readers have great skills to absorb what they read, analyze it, make sense of it, and answer questions about it. In the Chinese Reading Comprehension Series (汉语阅读理解), we are going to learn reading some of the famous and selected Chinese short stories (中国短篇小说精选) and answering questions for each of these stories (测测你的中文水平). These literary works often reflect certain essential aspect of social life through stories.

Chinese Reading Comprehension 15: Epic Love Stories

Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 11 (Level 2, 600+ Characters)
Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 11 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).

Chinese Reading Comprehension 14: Chinese Festivals 2

Chinese Festivals 2, Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 11 (Level 2, 600+ Characters)
Chinese Festivals 2, Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 11 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).

Chinese Reading Comprehension 13: Chinese Festivals 1

Chinese Festivals 1, Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 11 (Level 2, 600+ Characters)
Chinese Festivals 1, Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 11 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).

Chinese Reading Comprehension 12: Chinese Poetry

Chinese Reading Comprehension 11: China’s Geography

Chinese Reading Comprehension 10: China’s History

Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 10 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).

Chinese Reading Comprehension 9

Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 9 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).

Chinese Reading Comprehension 8

  • Paperback (ISBN 9798887340890): Amazon
  • Paperback (ISBN 9798887340890): Barnes & Noble
Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 8 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).

Chinese Reading Comprehension 7

Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 7 (Level 2, 600+ Characters)
Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 7 (Level 2, 600+ Characters)

Chinese Reading Comprehension 6

Mandarin Test Series Book 6 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).

Chinese Reading Comprehension 5

Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 5 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).
Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 5 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).

Chinese Reading Comprehension 4

Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 4 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).
Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 4 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).

Chinese Reading Comprehension 3

Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 3 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).
Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 3 (Paperback, Level 2, 600+ Characters).

Chinese Reading Comprehension 2

Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 2 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).
Chinese Reading Comprehension Book 2 (Level 2, 600+ Characters).

Chinese Reading Comprehension 1

I will regularly update the list, so do stop by, at least once in a while!

That’s all in this post about How to Learn Chinese by Reading Practice Books. If you have any question about learning Mandarin Chinese, traveling, living or working in China, do let me know in the comments! Feel free to post in our forum so that others could also contribute and learn. For regular updates like us on Facebook, or follow on Twitter!

If you find the write-ups useful, don’t forget to buy me a beer!

Wish you a great time learning Mandarin Chinese!

Cheers!

Last updated: Friday, December 16, 2022

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