Recommended books

Recommended books for upper-intermediate learners of Mandarin Chinese (HSK 4)

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You have made it this far down the learning Mandarin Chinese road and it would be a shame not to continue your journey. This is a selection of the best books for your learning level.  

Pick the perfect books for you

This selection of books is addressed to those of you planning to take the HSK 4 examination and is filled with interesting learning materials that help you achieve a top score in your endeavour.

Second of all, we would like to let you know that we invested time researching the marketplace for the best Mandarin Chinese textbooks and other printed materials, so you don’t have to. Just scroll, read and pick the ones you like or need the most. 

Before you start browsing, know that for a complete and solid foundation in Mandarin Chinese, we recommend that you pair your printed or other online learning resources with our Online Mandarin Chinese Dictionary for HSK for the simple reason that it is the only online dictionary that you will ever need to learn Chinese both thoroughly and quickly.

Enjoy your Mandarin Chinese learning journey and feel free to return to us anytime; our doors are always open. 

HSK Standard Course Level 4a covers 900 words (of Levels 1, 2, 3 and the first half of 4) and language points required by the HSK Level 4 test. The book is illustrated with photos that match the test’s style and is printed in full colour. 

This course is developed for students who want to learn all aspects of the Chinese language. You will get a lot of practice in listening, speaking, reading and writing. This course also matches the HSK test in all aspects, from the content and form to the levels. So students can attend the HSK level 4 test after finishing this course.

There are 10 lessons in this course. The topics are as follows:

Lesson 1 简单 jiǎndān de ài qíng Simple love

Lesson 2 真正 zhēnzhèng de 朋友 péngyou A true friend

Lesson 3 经理 jīnglǐ duì 印象 yìnxiàng 不错 bù cuò I’ve made a good impression on the manager

Lesson 4 yāo tài zhāo zhuàn Qián Don’t be anxious to make money.

Lesson 5 zhǐ mǎi duì de mǎi guì de Buy the right, not the expensive

Lesson 6 fēn Qián fēn huò The higher the price, the better the quality

Lesson 7 最好 zuìhǎo de 医生 yīshēng shì 自己 zìjǐ The best doctor is yourself

Lesson 8 生活 shēnghuó Zhōng 缺少 quēshǎo Měi Beauty is not rare in life

Lesson 9 阳光 yángguāng zǒng zài fēng Hòu The sun will shine again after the storm

Lesson 10 幸福 xìngfú de 标准 biāozhǔn Standards of happiness

Buy the Standard Course for HSK 4 shǎng Pack from Amazon
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HSK Standard Course Level 4b covers 1200 words (of Levels 1, 2, 3 and  4) and language points required by the HSK Level 4 test. The book is illustrated with photos that match the test’s style and is printed in full colour. 

This course is developed for students who want to learn all aspects of the Chinese language. You will get a lot of practice in listening, speaking, reading and writing. This course also matches the HSK test in all aspects, from the content and form to the levels. So students can attend the HSK level 4 test after finishing this course.

There are 10 lessons in this course. The topics are as follows:

Lesson 1 dòu Shū hǎo dòu hǎo   Shū hǎo dòu Shū It’s good to read; read good books and like reading

Lesson 2 用心 yòng xīn xiàn Shì jiè Discover the world with your heart

Lesson 3 zhāo chá kān 京剧 Jīngjù Drink tea while watching Beijing Opera

Lesson 4 Bǎo de qiú qīn Protect our Mother Earth

Lesson 5 Jiào hái de shù The art of educating children

Lesson 6 shēng huó 可以 kěyǐ gēng Měi hǎo Life can be better

Lesson 7 rén rán Humans and nature

Lesson 8 Shì jiè Science, technology and the world

Lesson 9 生活 shēnghuó de 味道 wèidao Taste of life

Lesson 10 shǎng de fēng Jǐng The view along the way

56%

Get fluent & increase your Chinese Vocabulary with 2000 Chinese Phrases

Have you been trying to learn Chinese (Mandarin) and simply can’t find the way to expand your vocabulary?

Do your teachers recommend you boring textbooks and complicated stories that you don’t really understand?

Are you looking for a way to learn the language quicker without taking shortcuts? If you answered “Yes!” to at least one of those previous questions, this book is for you! We’ve compiled the 2000 Most Common Words in Chinese, a list of terms that will expand your vocabulary to levels previously unseen.

Did you know that — according to an important study — learning the top two thousand (2000) most frequently used words will enable you to understand up to 84% of all non-fiction and 86.1% of fiction literature, and 92.7% of oral speech? Those are amazing stats, and this book will take you even further than those numbers!

In this book:

  • A detailed introduction with tips and tricks on how to improve your learning
  • A list of 2000 of the most common words in Chinese and their translations
    An example sentence for each word – in both Chinese and English
  • Finally, a conclusion to make sure you’ve learned and supply you with a final list of tips

Of course, beginners may find this book a challenge to digest, but intermediate and advanced learners should be able to grasp and comprehend its rich content reasonably well.

Every word is matched with its Chinese pinyin, an English translation of the word, and an example sentence that teaches you how to use it in context.

The emphasis leans more towards vocabulary edification and expansion rather than stroke-by-stroke character writing.

Learning Chinese Language and Culture is an intermediate-level textbook intended to be used throughout the entire school year and designed mainly for students who have completed introductory courses of Chinese as a foreign language. 

Written in English and in both traditional and simplified Chinese, this book illustrates Chinese-language knowledge and introduces Chinese culture in twenty-two lessons, covering a variety of cultural content, including customs and manners, holidays and festivals, poems and idioms, calligraphy and couplets, myths and legends, feng shui and superstitions, and historical relics and sceneries and many others.

In every lesson, the authors have strived to maintain a clear topic and a coherent structure.

They have also endeavored to keep the contents lively and achieve a fluent writing style while closely controlling the structure and grammar of every lesson.

Intermediate Written Chinese is tailored to your personal Chinese language-learning goals and abilities so that you can become fluent — as smoothly as possible!

Part of the widely-used and highly acclaimed Kubler series, Intermediate Spoken Chinese provides separate but integrated “tracks” to help you learn to read, write and speak Chinese efficiently, at your own pace. Some students and teachers wish to emphasize speaking ability first, whereas others want to focus on learning to read and write Chinese at the same time. These Chinese language study books allow you the flexibility to acquire the spoken language and the written language with the method that best fits your needs.

Intermediate Spoken Chinese allows you to experience real-life situations in different Mandarin-speaking locales. (It also exposes you to the authentic range of Chinese accents; you’re not limited only to learning an imaginary “textbook Beijing accent” as in other books). Each of the everyday situations explored here–from shopping at a market to playing unexpected phone tag–is one you’re likely to encounter as you interact with Chinese language speakers.

You can choose to use this book with its corresponding Intermediate Chinese Practice Essentials Workbook, available separately, which offers you a wide range of one-of-a-kind activities to help you practice the language skills you learn here.

You can choose to use this book with its corresponding Intermediate Chinese Practice Essentials Workbook, available separately, that offers you a wide range of one-of-a-kind activities to help you practice the language skills you learn here.

Intermediate Key Features of Intermediate Spoken Chinese include:

You can choose to use this book with its corresponding Intermediate Chinese Practice Essentials Workbook, available separately, that offers you a wide range of one-of-a-kind activities to help you practice the language skills you learn here.

  • Clear and detailed explanations of natural, colloquial Chinese grammar, pronunciation and usage
  • Recommended strategies to help you learn to speak Chinese more efficiently
  • Experience the actual speaking styles of Chinese people in various parts of mainland China as well as Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia
  • Notes on Chinese culture and society allow you to understand situational etiquette
  • Discussions of challenges faced specifically by English speakers who are learning Chinese and how to overcome them
  • Audio recordings by native speakers of all the vocabulary, dialogues, and other vital items
  • A separate Teacher’s Guide and a full character transcript (Simplified and Traditional) are both available electronically
  • An accompanying DVD contains 56 videos shot on location, which allows you to view conversations involving Chinese speakers from different parts of China

Feel confident traveling in the Mandarin-speaking world; with this language learning set you will be speaking Chinese gracefully and fluidly in no time.

All disc content is alternatively accessible on tuttlepublishing.com/downloadable-content.

DVD and MP3 Audio CD Included

Intermediate Written Chinese is tailored to your personal Chinese language-learning goals and abilities so that you can become fluent — as smoothly as possible!

Part of the widely-used and highly acclaimed Kubler series, the Basic Chinese and Intermediate Chinese books provide separate but integrated “tracks” to help you learn to read, write and speak Chinese efficiently, at your own pace. Some students and teachers wish to emphasize speaking ability first, whereas others want to focus on learning to read and write Chinese at the same time. These Chinese language study books allow you the flexibility to learn the spoken language and the written language with the method that best fits your needs.

This carefully designed books and CD-ROM combination will:

  • Teach you to use 288 high-frequency Chinese characters, and over 700 standard words written with them
  • Have you quickly reading and writing related Chinese sentences
  • Offer you the choice of learning both Simplified and Traditional Chinese characters; both are used throughout
  • Feature a variety of fonts in both typeset and handwritten styles, to prepare you to use the Chinese language in many different contexts — from reading signs and newspapers, to computers and mobile phone texts
  • Come with hours of native-speaker recordings and practice sheets, plus printable flash cards, on the enclosed CD-ROM

Intermediate Written Chinese stands out among Chinese books and textbooks for its dynamic study system and practical exercises, which will assist you in learning Chinese quickly and comfortably.

DVD and MP3 Audio CD Included

A Boy and his Dragon

Once upon a time, a Little Boy was living in a village near the woods. One day, a Dragon came out of the cave secluded in the middle of the forest and began to relentlessly follow the Little Boy, always breathing on the back of his neck, burning the young boy at his slightest misstep.

The child received refuge in an old Temple where there were no mirrors allowed, and it was forbidden to speak of life before entering the sanctum. Ancient books, hidden rooms with unimaginable treasures and beauty beyond comprehension, became part of the boy’s new life.

Time went by until, one day, the now old young boy accidentally glimpses his own reflection in a pond. The Dragon smiled back.

Come for Knowledge. Stay for Wisdom.

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