Graded stories and dialogues
Short Chinese texts written to a level, not cut down from a newspaper. Each one shows its level, topic, length, reading time and audio before you open it, so you can pick a text you will actually finish.
- 邮局里的误会HSK 3
A Misunderstanding at the Post Office
Amine posts a birthday parcel to his mother in Morocco. Everything goes smoothly until the clerk says how long it will take: he hears 四十天 where she said 十四天, and panics about missing the birthday. She smiles, writes “14” on her phone, and the whole thing dissolves into laughter — and into a resolution about numbers. Twenty-two sentences inside HSK 1–3.
StoryAdmin4 min read- characters
- 390
- sentences
- 22
- Listen
- —
- 公园里的星期六HSK 3
A Saturday in the Park
A father tells the story of one Saturday: the family cycles to the park, the old men sing under the trees, his six-year-old wants to know the name of a bird nobody can identify, and they picnic in the shade. At three the wind gets up and the sky greys over — but his wife, as usual, has packed an umbrella. Eighteen sentences within HSK 1–3.
StoryDaily life3 min read- characters
- 297
- sentences
- 18
- Listen
- —
- 校园新闻：新图书馆下星期一开门HSK 3
Campus News: The New Library Opens on Monday
Short campus-paper copy on the library that opens next Monday: five floors, two hundred thousand books, what is on each floor, borrowing by phone, opening hours at the weekend, a word from the head of the university and one from a third-year student who used to arrive early just to find a seat. Twenty sentences inside HSK 1–3.
NewsUniversity5 min read- characters
- 438
- sentences
- 20
- Listen
- —
- 在银行办卡HSK 3
Opening a Bank Account
Amine walks into a bank to get a card. He hands over his passport, learns that his name should be written exactly as it appears in it, waits ten minutes on a chair by the window, and checks that the card will work for shopping online. Eighteen turns of a real errand, inside HSK 1–3.
DialogueAdmin3 min read- characters
- 230
- sentences
- 18
- Listen
- —
- 一起商量去旅游HSK 3
Planning a Trip with Friends
Four free days next month, three friends and one budget. Mountains are ruled out as too cold, Shanghai wins, the plane loses to the train on price, and a night departure saves a hotel night. By the end of the conversation the rooms are booked, the jobs are shared out, and Amine has to go and ask about missing Friday’s class. Twenty-two turns inside HSK 1–3.
DialogueTravel4 min read- characters
- 383
- sentences
- 22
- Listen
- —
- 租房间HSK 3
Renting a Room
Amine wants to move out of the dormitory. A landlord shows him the fourth-floor room: south-facing, air conditioning, a small fridge, his own bathroom. They talk price — two thousand five hundred asked, two thousand three hundred agreed — and he checks what matters to a student: wi-fi, five minutes to the metro, a supermarket downstairs. Twenty-two turns inside HSK 1–3.
DialogueHousing4 min read- characters
- 328
- sentences
- 22
- Listen
- —
- 医生说我要休息HSK 3
The Doctor Said I Need Rest
A student studies until midnight every night in the run-up to exams and wakes one Wednesday with a splitting head and a fever. A classmate notices, takes him to the hospital near campus, and the doctor sends him to bed for two days. His teacher tells him not to worry about the exam. He recovers — and starts exercising every morning. Seventeen sentences within HSK 1–3.
StoryHealth3 min read- characters
- 304
- sentences
- 17
- Listen
- —
- 新来的邻居HSK 3
The New Neighbour
A grandmother in her seventies moves in next door, and the six o’clock music she exercises to is not welcome news to a student who goes to bed late. One morning they finally meet; she turns the volume down, he starts sleeping earlier — and the day he locks himself out in the rain, it is her door that opens. Twenty-two sentences inside HSK 1–3.
StoryDaily life5 min read- characters
- 405
- sentences
- 22
- Listen
- —
- 天气消息：冷空气就要到了HSK 3
Weather Report: A Cold Front Is on Its Way
A city weather bulletin: cold air arrives from the north tonight, Saturday turns grey after midday with a strong wind from three, rain in the evening and snow further north, and Sunday morning is the coldest point of the week. Advice for cyclists, drivers, air travellers and the elderly, then a return to clear skies from Monday. Twenty sentences inside HSK 1–3.
NewsWeather5 min read- characters
- 410
- sentences
- 20
- Listen
- —
Audio duration is shown once a recording or a generated track has been attached to the text. A dash means the audio has not been produced yet — sentence-level playback still works inside the reader.
Written to a level
Each text is attached to a curriculum level and written to that level’s vocabulary ceiling. A handful of concrete nouns the scene cannot be written without — a passport, a dormitory, a bank card — sit above it, and the text glosses them where they appear.
Read, then check
Pinyin and translation are switched on by default and can be switched off per text. Read once with support, once without, and you will notice what you actually know.
Every sentence has audio
Sentence-level playback means you can listen, repeat and compare a single line instead of restarting a five-minute track.
Graded stories and dialogues
Pick a text where you already know most of the words
Reading improves fastest slightly below the edge of your ability, not at it. Roughly one unknown word in twenty is where most learners keep going; one in ten is where most stop.
Once you are signed in, each text also shows the share of its words you have already met in your own study history, so the choice stops being guesswork. Words you tap in the reader can be sent straight to your review queue.
How to use one text three times
- Listen first, eyes closed. Play the sentences in order and see how much survives without the characters in front of you.
- Read with support. Pinyin and translation on. Tap anything unfamiliar; the definition opens without leaving the page.
- Read again with both off. Then answer the comprehension questions. What you miss is what to study next.