<p>I built some tools to help me with reading practice. I sieved through Chinese text looking for sentences that use only the characters I know. My first attempt was with <a href="http://code.google.com/p/donkirkby/wiki/ChineseTweets">Twitter updates</a>, but it was kind of a slow process to find and translate them. More recently, I found a huge collection of translated sentences on <a href="http://tatoeba.org">Tatoeba</a>. I've collected all the sentences that used the 500 most common traditional characters and posted them on <a href="http://donkirkby.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/frequency-flashcards/sentence-rank/output/sentences.html">my Google Code page</a>. They're sorted with the most common characters at the start of the page.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T16:39:58.660Z
+1, Tatoeba is a nice find!
dr Hannibal Lecter
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-18T06:05:46.230Z
Yes +1 for mentioning Tatoeba, didn't know about it.
laurent
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-15T19:12:51.393Z
2011-12-15T19:12:51.393Z
Don Kirkby
<p>My personal preference is children's books and television.</p>

<p>If you have a China town section of your local city you should be able to find a book store with children's books in them. You usually won't find these books in a regular foreign langauges store or even large chain book stores.</p>

<p>The alternative is to go to the children's second language section of a local university where you can usually find materials for teaching children Chinese as a second language.</p>

<p>In my local city we have a large Chinese population so we can get plenty of reading material at the local library.</p>

<p>I also like children's television as a starting point to practice reading (subtitiles). If you can't get your hands on some children's DVDs with Chinese subtitles, try the Chinese online streaming video site from CCTV. You can see the <a href="http://shaoer.cntv.cn/">children's section here</a>. Most videos have sub titles.</p>

<p>Reading subtitles on TV will help train your brain to read quickl if you already have a good basic vocabulary.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-15T13:12:35.720Z
+1 for kids' books
jsj
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-15T09:46:28.877Z
2011-12-15T09:46:28.877Z
going
<p>There are books specifically designed for learners, such as the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_14?url=search-alias=stripbooks&amp;field-keywords=chinese%20breeze%20graded%20reader%20series&amp;x=0&amp;y=0&amp;sprefix=chinese%20breeze">Chinese Breeze Graded Readers</a>. These books are small, have constrained vocabulary, and relatively simple stories, but not so basic that you don't feel some sense of accomplishment after reading one. I read the book <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00127AJG0">错，错，错！</a> which features police officers investigating a suspicious suicide. The plot would make a terrible movie but it was still fun to read.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-18T05:56:44.897Z
Thanks, will have a look at the Chinese Breeze Graded Readers books.
laurent
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-23T05:23:04.173Z
Really interesting looking series - hopefully they come out with some higher level stuff soon. Thanks for sharing :-)
Ciaocibai
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-15T13:45:08.683Z
2011-12-15T13:45:08.683Z
Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
<p>Are there any good magazines (or perhaps books) that can be used to practice reading for beginners? I feel that my Chinese level is good enough to read simple sentences but it's still impossible to read newspapers or normal magazines, so I'm looking for something easier to practice. Any suggestion?</p>

<p><strong>Edit:</strong> Just started reading a "Chinese Breeze Graded Readers" book and I confirm they are quite good, and it's relatively easy to find a book that matches your level.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-04T14:38:59.233Z
**For visitors**: If you're looking for resources visit the question [Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese](http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/1120/resources-for-learning-chinese).
Alenanno
<reading><practice>
How to practice reading for beginners?
# How to practice reading for beginners?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-12-15)

Are there any good magazines (or perhaps books) that can be used to practice reading for beginners? I feel that my Chinese level is good enough to read simple sentences but it's still impossible to read newspapers or normal magazines, so I'm looking for something easier to practice. Any suggestion?

**Edit:** Just started reading a "Chinese Breeze Graded Readers" book and I confirm they are quite good, and it's relatively easy to find a book that matches your level.

**Tags:** reading, practice

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: **For visitors**: If you're looking for resources visit the question [Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese](http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/1120/resources-for-learning-chinese).  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2011-12-15. Score: 9 | Accepted answer

There are books specifically designed for learners, such as the [Chinese Breeze Graded Readers](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_14?url=search-alias=stripbooks&field-keywords=chinese%20breeze%20graded%20reader%20series&x=0&y=0&sprefix=chinese%20breeze). These books are small, have constrained vocabulary, and relatively simple stories, but not so basic that you don't feel some sense of accomplishment after reading one. I read the book [错，错，错！](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00127AJG0) which features police officers investigating a suspicious suicide. The plot would make a terrible movie but it was still fun to read.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks, will have a look at the Chinese Breeze Graded Readers books.  
> **username_7**: Really interesting looking series - hopefully they come out with some higher level stuff soon. Thanks for sharing :-)  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2011-12-15. Score: 5

I built some tools to help me with reading practice. I sieved through Chinese text looking for sentences that use only the characters I know. My first attempt was with [Twitter updates](http://code.google.com/p/donkirkby/wiki/ChineseTweets), but it was kind of a slow process to find and translate them. More recently, I found a huge collection of translated sentences on [Tatoeba](http://tatoeba.org). I've collected all the sentences that used the 500 most common traditional characters and posted them on [my Google Code page](http://donkirkby.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/frequency-flashcards/sentence-rank/output/sentences.html). They're sorted with the most common characters at the start of the page.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: +1, Tatoeba is a nice find!  
> **username_0**: Yes +1 for mentioning Tatoeba, didn't know about it.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2011-12-15. Score: 5

My personal preference is children's books and television.

If you have a China town section of your local city you should be able to find a book store with children's books in them. You usually won't find these books in a regular foreign langauges store or even large chain book stores.

The alternative is to go to the children's second language section of a local university where you can usually find materials for teaching children Chinese as a second language.

In my local city we have a large Chinese population so we can get plenty of reading material at the local library.

I also like children's television as a starting point to practice reading (subtitiles). If you can't get your hands on some children's DVDs with Chinese subtitles, try the Chinese online streaming video site from CCTV. You can see the [children's section here](http://shaoer.cntv.cn/). Most videos have sub titles.

Reading subtitles on TV will help train your brain to read quickl if you already have a good basic vocabulary.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: +1 for kids' books  

---

