Beginner Stories (A1) in Mandarin
Start reading Mandarin with our beginner stories. At the A1 level every character comes with pinyin, tone marks included, built from the couple hundred words you'll actually use first, greeting someone, asking directions, ordering food. Tap any character for its pinyin, tone, and meaning, then send it straight to your review. Read it again and the characters start to look less like puzzles.
愚公移山
A free Mandarin A1 story: Yu Gong vows to dig away the mountains before his door, generation after generation.
司马光砸缸
A free Mandarin A1 story: a child falls into a water vat, and Sima Guang smashes it to save them.
孔融让梨
A free Mandarin A1 story: young Kong Rong takes the small pear and gives the big ones to his brothers.
守株待兔
A free Mandarin A1 story: a farmer waits by a tree for another rabbit — and his fields go to waste.
乌鸦喝水
A free Mandarin A1 story: a thirsty crow drops stones into a pitcher until the water rises.
金发姑娘和三只熊
A free Mandarin A1 story: Goldilocks wanders into the three bears’ house and tries the porridge, chairs, and beds.
三只小猪
A free Mandarin A1 story: three pigs build houses of straw, wood, and brick as a wolf huffs and puffs.
小红帽
A free Mandarin A1 story: Little Red carries food to grandma and meets a wolf in the woods.