This beginner course, featuring 200 essential simplified Chinese characters, is designed to build a strong foundation in fluency through the actual reading of Chinese text. Instead of requiring learners to spend years memorizing characters through often tedious rote techniques, this book offers a more engaging approach, integrating reading practice from the very beginning. "Learn Chinese Characters through Reading" is organized into 20 units, each introducing 10 new Chinese characters. The characters are presented gradually and systematically, allowing learners to immediately apply their knowledge through reading exercises. As the course progresses, the character base expands, enabling learners to read increasingly complex texts with each new unit. Additional expanded reading practice is included after every 5 units as well. The selection of these 200 characters is based on AllSet Learning's extensive experience of over a decade working with beginners learning Chinese in Shanghai, China since 2010. The successes of these learners have shaped the development of this course through extensive iterations. This method not only fosters a stronger sense of accomplishment earlier than traditional approaches but also aligns with modern pedagogical methods that prioritize e-writing over traditional handwriting. The "Learn Chinese Characters through Reading" course is ideal for students of Chinese who have a foundation in pinyin and basic grammar. However, it is also accessible to even advanced learners who have never studied Chinese characters before. The course is accompanied by complimentary online resources which also teach stroke order to learners interested in this aspect of Chinese characters. Upon completing the 200 characters in this course, learners will also be well-prepared to smoothly and seamlessly transition to Mandarin Companion's Breakthrough Level (150-character) graded readers.
