Become a

Read, Practice, and Improve Club Member

to instantly unlock our entire online library of leveled stories from HSK 1 Starter to HSK 6 Mastery.

● Immediate access to our entire digital library of previously published stories covering HSK 1 Starter to HSK 6 Mastery
● 25 NEW stories every quarter. Our team of writers is always writing new and exclusive stories for our members. Our writers are highly educated with degrees in Linguistics and Literature and have extensive experience teaching Chinese as a foreign language.
● Every story comes with an eBook with the translation of the story, a list of New Words, and Reading Comprehension Exercises & Solutions
● Every story also comes with a Speaking Activity eBook to help you improve your speaking skills
● Audio recordings of the stories read at a natural speed by a native speaker
● Exclusive online events and challenges to enhance your learning experience

Our online library provides easy access to stories from HSK 1 Starter to HSK 6 Mastery. It doesn't matter where you are, we have stories to help you improve your Chinese reading comprehension.

Click on the image to check out the eBook (Story with Pinyin/Translation, New Words, Exercises & Solutions), Speaking Activities eBook, and the natural speed audio recording of the story.

● All our stories are written by our exclusive team of highly educated writers with degrees in linguistics and literature.

● Accompanying exercises are designed by teachers with extensive teaching experience in teaching Chinese as a foreign language and have been tested with students.

● All of our contents (eBooks, exercises, audio) are original and written exclusively for AL Language Cafe

How we help you improve your Chinese skills

Reading is a key component to learn a new language. Extensive reading not only expands a learner’s vocabulary but also provides exposure to correct grammar structures and natural expressions that native speakers use. While we know that reading is a great method to acquire a new language, there are three biggest obstacles that often prevent learners from using reading as an effective technique to learn a new language.

Obstacle #1 - Struggling to find suitable reading materials that are at the right level

Research shows that understanding a text without needing the help of a dictionary requires the reader to understand 95% or more of the vocabulary used in the text. To improve one’s language skills, the “input” (reading materials) needs to be one level above the learner’s level.

With that in mind, our teachers go through an extensive process to ensure our stories are properly assigned to the appropriate level. There are many factors that our teachers take into consideration, one of them being the percentage of known words based on the official HSK vocabulary list. In addition, our teachers also take into consideration whether the new words are critical to understanding the main concepts of the story.

Every story in our digital library is assigned a label that indicates two levels.
For example:
如果没有明天 (If there is no tomorrow) is labeled as HSK2-HSK3.
小灰兔的早餐 (Gray Bunny’s Breakfast) is labeled as HSK3-HSK4.

If a learner is at HSK 3, he/she can choose either story. 如果没有明天 (If there is no tomorrow), rated as HSK2-HSK3 will contain between 90% to 98% of the known words to a learner who has mastered HSK 3. 小灰兔的早餐 (Gray Bunny’s Breakfast), rated as HSK3-HSK4, will be a bit more challenging as now the learner will know about 80% to 90% of the words used in the story.

Don’t worry if you are not sure what level you are, try reading stories from each level to get an idea of your appropriate level. With a large selection of stories, you are bound to find the right level and fun stories that will improve your Chinese skills, learn new words, gain exposure to natural expressions and grammar structures, and have fun all at the same time.

Obstacle #2 - Lack of Interest in Reading

Once you have found the appropriate level of reading materials, the next barrier is whether the reading material is interesting enough to keep you entertained and engaged. You can’t make progress if you can’t even get past the first paragraph!

“Interest is the best teacher.” - Einstein

Nothing motivates a learner more than his/her interest. The inner drive will be the guiding light to move you forward. If you are interested in a story, you will take the initiative to study, practice, and enjoy the learning process.

Our group of exclusive writers knows the importance of engaging materials. With that in mind, our stories not only span across multiple categories/genres but are also written from different perspectives to provide a wide range of reading materials with the hope that all of our readers can find something that is drawn to them in our digital library.

Obstacle #3 - How to Learn through Reading

Last but not least, simply reading is not sufficient. You can fast-track your learning with a proven learning system. Below is a breakdown of language learning/acquisition:

1. Input (Reading and Listening)
2. Understand, practice, and memorize
3. Output (Speaking and Writing)

With everything in mind, AL Read, Practice, and Improve Club aims to solve the biggest struggles with a proven learning system through reading materials that are carefully written and designed to make learning Chinese fun, easy, and efficient.

Sign up now to take your Chinese to the next level.

How do we help you improve your Chinese skills?

A Step-by-Step Explanation

Make Reading Easier

Our eBook includes the story in 3 different formats:
1. Chinese Characters only
2. Chinese Characters with Pinyin (For HSK 1, HSK 2, and HSK 3 Only)
3. Chinese Characters with Translation (Side-by-Side)

To help you become comfortable with Chinese characters, you need to expose yourself to characters. By reading characters only (Format 1), you will train your eyes to see and recognize Chinese characters.

But what if you are a complete beginner to Chinese characters? No worries. We have Chinese Characters with Pinyin (Format 2) for learners who have trouble reading Chinese characters and/or only know the pronunciation (pinyin) of a word but don’t recognize Chinese characters yet. This version will help you recognize and gain exposure to Chinese characters. The more you read, the more characters you will see and remember.

Format 3 has the Chinese characters and the English translation side-by-side to help you quickly identify any words or phrases that you are not sure of so you can continue reading with ease.

Improve Your Listening

Every story comes with an audio recording that is read by a native speaker at a natural speed. As a member, you can download the audio files of stories that you enjoy and listen to them anywhere, anytime.

Repetition is important to improve your listening skills. Whether you are on the way to work, doing housework, or getting ready for bed, you can play the audio to instantly create an immersive environment to train your ears to get used to the speed and sound of native speakers.

故事名称：小灰兔的早餐
Sample: Gray Bunny's Breakfast
Level: HSK 3 - HSK 4, Intermediate Level

For more samples, please click here.

Increase Your Vocabulary Size

Every story comes with a list of new words to help you improve your vocabulary size. If a story is labeled as HSK 2 - HSK 3, then you will find a list of HSK 4, HSK 5, HSK 6, and non-HSK words. The non-HSK words are words that are not from the official HSK vocabulary list but are still essential and commonly used in modern Chinese. When you are studying new words, make sure to pay attention to the context to learn to properly use the words.

If you still run into unknown words after reviewing the New Words list, then you might need to review words from HSK 1 to HSK 3. However, don’t feel discouraged. It is completely normal when it comes to language learning. Our teachers have considered that and designed exercises to help you review and practice these words in the exercises following the new words.

Improve Your Reading Comprehension

With years of experience teaching Chinese as a foreign language, our team of teachers is very well aware of the difficulties that students run into learning Chinese. Therefore, they are also able to design various exercises that target the common problems that students run into.

In the exercises section, you will find exercises that help you review words that you have learned, understand difficult words, practice grammar and sentence structures, and understand the key concept of the story.

All the exercises come with solutions so you never have to wonder whether your answers are correct or not. Some difficult exercises even have a brief explanation to help you understand the solution so students can self-study and improve their reading comprehension without needing help from a teacher.

Improve Your Speaking Skills

Can you really improve your spoken Chinese skills without anyone talking with you?

The answer is yes, as long as you have the appropriate material and use it the right way.

We recommend the following studying method:

1. Find a story that is your level from our online library
2. Understand the story
3. Listen to the audio of the story and imitate the native speaker (this technique is known as Shadowing)
4. Memorize the new words and expressions from the story
5. Use the key words provided in our Speaking Activities eBook to retell the story
6. Try to answer the discussion questions in our Speaking Activities eBook

The key to improving one’s speaking skills is to actually SPEAK. You have to say the words out loud.

Note: This studying method is suitable for students who have already learned Chinese pronunciation and tones, and do not have serious problems in these two aspects. If you are a complete beginner, we recommend studying the pronunciation first.

● Immediate access to our entire digital library of previously published stories covering HSK 1 Starter to HSK 6 Mastery
● 25 NEW stories every quarter. Our team of writers is always writing new and exclusive stories for our members. Our writers are highly educated with degrees in Linguistics and Literature and have extensive experience teaching Chinese as a foreign language.
● Every story comes with an eBook with the translation of the story, a list of New Words, and Reading Comprehension Exercises & Solutions
● Every story also comes with a Speaking Activity eBook to help you improve your speaking skills
● Audio recordings of the stories read at a natural speed by a native speaker
● Exclusive online events and challenges to enhance your learning experience