Em Casalena
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5 Easily Accessible Chinese Audiobook Resources for the Avid Chinese Learner
Had enough of the radio?
Done with being stuck in rush hour traffic with the same top 40 hits?
Do you take daily walks or work out regularly, finding yourself growing bored with the high-energy electronic music?
Or maybe you just want to relax and do absolutely nothing, but you’re not in the mood to waste hours scrolling through Twitter or other social media.
There’s a way to take advantage of this time, especially if you’re trying to learn Mandarin Chinese! Listening to Chinese audiobooks is a great way to naturally integrate learning and make the most use of your time.
And not just audiobooks of novels that have been collecting dust on your bookcase. There are a ton of great audiobooks out there in Mandarin Chinese that can help you become fluent while you’re living your very busy life.
Are audiobooks really worth looking into? Shouldn’t we save “learning time” for when we actually have the time?
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Why Should I Use Chinese Audiobooks to Learn Mandarin?
Audiobooks aren’t just great for catching up on books on the go. They’re also great for improving language fluency.
If you’re a beginner, keep an eye out for audiobooks that also feature side-by-side English translations. If you’re an intermediate or advanced learner, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself with a more difficult Chinese audiobook.
- Some are free. While many cost money, you may be surprised by the availability of free Chinese audiobooks. What’s better than free stuff, especially when it comes to resources that help people learn a language? Not much!
- Reading for leisure is a great way to fit in Mandarin practice. At the gym, in the car, while lounging about—you can enjoy the fact that you are actively improving your Chinese without doing much more than pressing “play.”
- Fluency in reading, listening and sentence structure can be gained through casual listening. There are a plethora of ways you can improve your fluency in a new language. Talking to Chinese friends. Watching Mandarin-language films. Jamming out to music. Why not expand your repertoire and include Chinese audiobooks in the mix?
Chinese Audiobook Resources and Recommendations to Improve Your Mandarin
Whatever level you’re at, Chinese audiobooks will help you reach the next one. However, using a program like FluentU will get you there faster.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Click here to check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
But that’s not all. FluentU also has a unique “learn mode,” where it takes videos and turns them into language learning lessons. “Learn mode” asks questions based on what you know, which sets you up for success.
FluentU is an amazing way to see all that new Chinese vocabulary you’re learning in context. With entertaining, real-life videos, this resource is a great complement to your use of audiobooks.
Now let’s get to those resources!
Audible
Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard of this massive online audiobook resource site. They collaborate with just about everybody on YouTube, and advertisements for this resource can be found everywhere.
However, the hype is definitely not without merit. Audible has a massive amount of audiobooks and a pretty sizable section of Mandarin Chinese instruction audiobooks, as well as a few Mandarin-language leisure books. The user interface is very simple to use, too. All you need to do is download the app, browse for a book and either buy or rent it. Your audiobook will be ready to listen to immediately.
Audiobook recommendations from Audible:
- “Learn in Your Car: Mandarin Chinese” by Henry N. Raymond — Don’t want to sit in traffic listening to garbage on the radio? Spend some intentional time learning Mandarin instead!
- “十宗罪” (shí zōng zuì) — “The Ten Deadly Sins” by 蜘蛛 (zhī zhū) — Zhizhu — If you’re a sucker for serial killer crime thrillers, this gritty horror-thriller will definitely entice you.
Ximalaya
Ximalaya is entirely in hanzi and probably not the best audiobook resource for Mandarin newbies.
For intermediate and advanced readers, you can enjoy an equally ample supply of audiobooks that are mostly free of charge. Ximalaya also boasts streaming features for some of its audiobooks, so you don’t even have to download anything! Enjoy audiobook novels, biographies, podcasts, news and much more.
Audiobook recommendations from Ximalaya:
- “昏婚欲睡” (hūn hūn yù shuì) — “Dying to Sleep” by 君颜 (jūn yán) — Jun Yan —A young woman makes a deal with a mysterious stranger, only for him to return six years later for what is his. Definitely an audiobook for soap opera drama lovers.
Innovative Language
Innovative Language also has a handful of useful audio textbooks. If you’re looking for more of a textbook for leisurely learning rather than a novel in the Mandarin language, this resource could prove to be pretty useful.
Downloading these audiobooks is also a simple process. Simply click “More Info” for the textbook of your choice, then “Try It,” then “Buy for 0.00” to download the textbook. They have textbooks for all levels of learning as well.
Audiobook recommendations from Innovative Language:
- “Learn Chinese – Word Power 101” by Innovative Language — If you’re an absolute beginner to Mandarin, this audiobook can help you power through over a hundred vocabulary words and sentence context with ease.
- “Free! Learn Chinese: Advanced Level 5” by Innovative Language — If you’re a much more advanced learner, this audiobook can help you improve your fluency with context clues and real-life conversations.
tingbook.com
This Chinese-language audiobook resource offers everything from free audiobooks in Mandarin to podcasts. As with some of the sites we’ve mentioned thus far, this website is entirely in Chinese, so it would be much easier to navigate for the intermediate or advanced student.
To download a book from tingbook.com, select the title of your interest. Select 全本下载 (quán běn xià zài) — download, then select the orange 本地下载 (běn dì xià zài) — local download button to download the audiobook.
Audiobook recommendations from TingBook:
- “把栏杆拍遍” (bǎ láng ān pāi biàn) — “Beating the Railing” by 鸿达 (hóng dá) — Hong Da —If you’re a fan of journalist essays, this audiobook highlights the background of disputes between literature and politics in modern-day China.
- “西游记” (xī yóu jì) — “Journey to the West” by 鸿达 (hóng dá) — Hong Da — Another great Chinese classic, this audiobook follows the journey of a Buddhist monk to find hidden sacred texts across Central Asia and India.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of these great audiobook resources? Bookmark your favorites, download a few audiobooks to start, press play, lay back and relax.
While learning at the same time, of course.
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And One More Thing...
If you want to continue learning Chinese with interactive and authentic Chinese content, then you'll love FluentU.
FluentU naturally eases you into learning Chinese language. Native Chinese content comes within reach, and you'll learn Chinese as it's spoken in real life.
FluentU has a wide range of contemporary videos—like dramas, TV shows, commercials and music videos.
FluentU brings these native Chinese videos within reach via interactive captions. You can tap on any word to instantly look it up. All words have carefully written definitions and examples that will help you understand how a word is used. Tap to add words you'd like to review to a vocab list.
FluentU's Learn Mode turns every video into a language learning lesson. You can always swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you're learning.
The best part is that FluentU always keeps track of your vocabulary. It customizes quizzes to focus on areas that need attention and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You have a 100% personalized experience.
Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store.
