Great Expectations
Great Expectations is hailed as Charles Dickens'
masterpiece. A gripping tale of love and loss, aspiration and moral redemption,
the story follows the young orphan Xiaomao (Pip) from
poverty to a life of unexpected opportunity and wealth. In Part 2, Xiaomao (Pip) leaves his life of poverty behind to seek his
fortunes in
Journey to the Center of the Earth
This
novel is not only based on Jules Vernes’ classic,
Journey to the Center of the Earth, but also pays tribute to several of Édouard Riou’s classic
illustrations from the 1864 version, which are now in the public domain. The
illustrations in this book are, of course, our own versions, and this Mandarin
Companion graded reader has been adapted into a fully localized Chinese version
of the original story. The characters have been given authentic Chinese names as
opposed to transliterations of English names, which sound foreign in Chinese.
The locations have been adapted to well-known places in
.
The
translation of the title is worth pointing out, because it’s the standard
translation used in Chinese, and it’s a good one, but why it’s good might not
be obvious to an intermediate learner. The title Dixin
Youji mirrors the title of one of
The
original story focuses on the German professor Lidenbrock
and his nephew Axel. That story begins in
Perhaps
the biggest change to the story was replacing the nephew Axel with a niece
named Xiaojing. We saw no reason that the lead role
couldn’t be female, and it makes for easier identification of the characters in
illustrations where the characters are smaller.
As
one of the oldest stories that we have adapted at Mandarin Companion, we have
been extremely impressed by how well Verne’s classic sci-fi tale holds up even
for modern-day readers.
Sherlock Holmes and a Scandal in
Based on a story by: Arthur Conan Doyle
A movie star, a politician’s nephew, and
a photograph with compromising implications, Gao Ming
(Sherlock Holmes) faces a high stakes case involving the international
community of 1920’s Shanghai. With the trusty Dr. Watson at his side, Sherlock
finds himself pitted against the beautiful Hu Die, a
star of Chinese cinema. Will Sherlock retrieve the picture in time or will Hu Die outwit the master of deduction?
Level 2 is intended for Chinese learners
at a low intermediate level. Most learners who have been able to comfortably
read Mandarin Companion Level 1 should be able to read this book. This series
is designed to combine simplicity of characters with an easy-to-understand
storyline that helps learners grow their vocabulary and language comprehension
abilities. The more they read, the better they will become at reading and
grasping the Chinese language.