Online shop for native Chinese books for beginners/intermediates in North America

[gato]

Poor Chinese kids.

[Silent]

So I think you might make the happy mistake of overestimating the effort needed to reach the level at which you can choose your own books

I can always choose my own books, but not necessarily wisely:) In my experience it can be very hard to judge the level of a book. Even if you have it physically at hand. This is even more true if you want books that are above your level. The difference between hard and too hard is not that big. When ordering a book online it becomes impossible to judge the level. If you're lucky you can preview a couple of pages. Hence, the more granular the level can be indicated the better.

[jbradfor]

Hence, the more granular the level can be indicated the better.

While true, I think a strict "this is harder than that for all people" is impossible, given that people "at the same level" have different skills in terms of vocab learned, ability to parse Chinese grammar, etc. If you are talking about one series, in which you can control the vocab, then maybe. However, if you are taking about different series, especially for adult learners of Chinese as a foreign language (as apposed to children learning as their native language, in which I would guess there is a lot more consistency in terms of what one learns when), I think approximate is the best one can do.

Maybe you should augment your website to allow user rating of difficulty? That would both potentially save you some work, plus allow for different opinions.

[imron]

Can 6-7 year old kids really learn that much characters in two years?

let's rephrase the question. Given that for the characters they will be learning they'll already know the meaning, the pronunciation and how to use them, can a child learn 2-3 characters a day? If you think yes, then that is all that is required to reach the levels quoted above. I don't think it's that difficult to achieve.

[Silent]

However, if you are taking about different series, especially for adult learners of Chinese as a foreign language (as apposed to children learning as their native language, in which I would guess there is a lot more consistency in terms of what one learns when), I think approximate is the best one can do.

I agree 100% that it's impossible to rate difficulty properly there are too many variables. Vocabulary and grammar being the obvious ones. Also previous knowledge is very important. If you know the subject very well it's much easier to predict the meaning of the unknown words than when the subject is completely new. But also the length and layout of the text and the aids provided such as pinyin and vocabulary lists. Despite all those issue's I would greatly appreciate such a list even if it would only take into consideration word/character count.

[phyrex]

I can always choose my own books, but not necessarily wisely:) In my experience it can be very hard to judge the level of a book. Even if you have it physically at hand. This is even more true if you want books that are above your level. The difference between hard and too hard is not that big. When ordering a book online it becomes impossible to judge the level.

My thoughts exactly, that's why I opened the store ;)

As for 'more granular is better', I'm with jbradfor (and your later comment) - real language is too messy and too subjective for very granular categorization (one of the reasons why I'm not a fan of big grammar tomes ;) ). That being said, I'll consider what you said and will think about whether my four levels are really enough.

Maybe you should augment your website to allow user rating of difficulty? That would both potentially save you some work, plus allow for different opinions.

Good idea, thank you! I'll start looking for smart ways to integrate that!

Given that for the characters they will be learning they'll already know the meaning, the pronunciation and how to use them, can a child learn 2-3 characters a day? If you think yes, then that is all that is required to reach the levels quoted above. I don't think it's that difficult to achieve.

I think that's quite difficult. Not in the beginning of course, but if you factor in a forgetting curve and the need for reviews, then that really adds up over time. As gato said, poor Chinese kids.. ^^