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.
- 晚到三十年的信HSK 6
A Letter Thirty Years Late
Workers repairing a county post office find a dusty cloth bag of letters posted more than thirty years ago. Old Liu sets out to deliver them all, and one reaches Li Xiuying, who opens an apology from the brother she quarrelled with and has not seen since. Her daughter finds him within a fortnight, and at the Spring Festival the two meet again; a dozen letters in the bag are still unclaimed. About 820 characters inside HSK 1–6.
故事Daily life阅读 10 分钟- 汉字
- 920
- 句子
- 26
- 收听
- —
- 忘记也是一种能力HSK 6
Forgetting Is Also a Skill
A science essay on forgetting. A nineteenth-century German psychologist memorised meaningless letter strings and found that forgetting is fast at first and then slows; the curve still shapes revision apps. Forgetting keeps the useful from being buried, as the people who forget almost nothing can testify, and spaced revision tells the brain what to keep. About 820 characters inside HSK 1–6.
故事Science阅读 10 分钟- 汉字
- 899
- 句子
- 25
- 收听
- —
- 怎样听专家的话HSK 6
How to Listen to Experts
A short argument against two easy positions: believing every expert and believing none. Expertise has a field, knowledge gets revised and some experts are selling something; but experts still err less than amateurs inside their field, and disagreement means a question is open, not that every view is equal. The essay ends with three questions to ask of any advice. About 800 characters inside HSK 1–6.
故事Opinion阅读 10 分钟- 汉字
- 888
- 句子
- 24
- 收听
- —
- 四合院里的生活HSK 6
Life in a Courtyard House
An essay on the siheyuan of Beijing’s hutongs: closed walls outside, a quiet courtyard inside, and rooms assigned by age and standing, with the sunny north room for the eldest. Then the decades of crowding, demolition and tower blocks with kitchens but no neighbours, and the restored houses turned into museums and cafés. About 820 characters inside HSK 1–6.
故事Culture阅读 10 分钟- 汉字
- 910
- 句子
- 25
- 收听
- —
- 社区食堂HSK 6
The Neighbourhood Canteen
A report from a neighbourhood canteen for older people who live alone: two meat dishes, three vegetables and a soup, a discount over seventy, and a full room before eleven. Mrs Wang, 76, comes for the soft food and the conversation; staff phone anyone who misses two days. Thin margins, subsidies and home delivery are the open problems. About 810 characters inside HSK 1–6.
新闻Society阅读 10 分钟- 汉字
- 903
- 句子
- 24
- 收听
- —
- 在家办公，是好是坏HSK 6
Working from Home: Gains and Losses
A feature on working from home. Supporters count the two hours of commuting saved, the quiet for focused work and the wider pool of hires; critics list three problems: blurred hours, fewer chance conversations that new staff learn from, and managers who compensate with constant reporting. Companies settle on two fixed office days, and a researcher argues the real variable is how people are managed. About 850 characters inside HSK 1–6.
新闻Work阅读 10 分钟- 汉字
- 930
- 句子
- 25
- 收听
- —
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.
分级故事与对话
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.