Reading About Chinese in French | Language Reading Challenge

The books in this series are what I’ve read as a part of the Language Reading Challenge. You can find out more information on how to participate in the challenge in this post and you can linkup for your February book at the bottom of this post. 

This month, as a part of the Language Book Challenge, I read two books in my target languages.

The first was a book in one target language about another target language (I love when it works out that way) and the second was a graded reader.

Essai Sur La Langue Et La Litterature Chinoises by Abel Remusat

I don’t remember how I stumbled upon this book, but from the minute I discovered it, I knew that I just had to read it. There’s something about reading about languages from different perspectives and time periods that really interests me.

The transliteration used in the book is almost beyond comprehension but it was really interesting to read about the French perspective on the Chinese language from more than 200 years ago. In the introduction, the author also briefly discussed his methods for learning Chinese which I also found interesting.

To be honest though, if this book is something that sounds like it might interest you, I might recommend just reading the introduction and skimming the notes section, skipping the text analysis (this is where the transliteration I’m not familiar with is used most heavily in this book and it’s hard to get through).

Overall I enjoyed reading the book. I love that I was able to keep French fresh while learning about another language that I’m studying.

Book: Essai Sur La Langue et La Litterature Chinoises
Author: Abel Remusat
Pages: 202 pages
Publisher: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
Publication Date: 1811 (original date)

The Secret Garden in Chinese

I wrote a review of the Mandarin Companion graded Chinese readers a while back, and I only want to reiterate my adoration for their publications.

It feels so incredible to be able to actually read an entire book in Chinese (even if it’s simple) and understand everything, especially since it was something I struggled with for so long. Because of the unique writing system, I’d have to say it’s even more rewarding to read in Chinese than any of the other languages I’m studying and it just makes me so glad that there’s material out there for someone at a very beginner reading level.

Mandarin Companion recently released their first Level 2 book in two parts, an adaptation of Great Expectations, so I am definitely going to tackle that next. I’m really quite excited about it and can’t wait to start reading it. I’ve loved all of the Level 1 books that I’ve read thus far and I’m sure this new publication stands up to the quality of what they’ve released so far.

Book: The Secret Garden: Mandarin Companion Graded Readers: Level 1, Simplified Chinese Edition
Authors: Frances Hodgson Burnett (Author), Renjun Yang (Editor), Cui Yu (Editor), John Pasden (Editor), and Jared Turner (Introduction)
Pages: 108 pages
Publisher: Mind Spark Press LLC
Publication Date: September 30, 2013

Language Reading Challenge Linkup

1. Share your post discussing the book that you’ve read this month. Submissions unrelated to the theme or links to your homepage will be deleted.

2. Link back to this post as a part of your post.

3. Follow the hosts: Shannon from Eurolinguiste, Lindsay from Lindsay Does Languages, and Alex Gentry from The Language Voyager.

4. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: Please visit the site of the person who linked up immediately before you and leave them an encouraging comment! If you do not do this, you will be removed from the linkup.

What about you? Do you have you read any books in one of your target languages that you’ve loved? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.