Meizhou website
If you have read a previous post, Free Online Chinese Textbooks and Course Materials, you might have visited the Meizhou website, which is the resource download area for Meizhou Chinese 美洲華語 Textbooks and workbooks used by a number of Chinese schools in United States and other countries.
There are literally over a thousand files available for download. It was a tad overwhelming, when I first clicked on Level One, to see over 400 files and links (yes I counted) for me to choose from. I did go over most of the files to see what might be suitable for my child, and I am super-excited to have found STORIES, or Leveled Readers and with Colloquial Cantonese and Formal Cantonese audio. And for FREE. ( If you are unsure of the difference between Colloquial Cantonese and Formal Cantonese, this blog post explains it.).
Leveled Readers on Meizhou Chinese website
Stories with Colloquial Cantonese and Formal Cantonese audio are rare. Often, I find recordings in Colloquial Cantonese or Formal Cantonese but seldom both together for the same resource. Books with CDs tend to be in Formal Cantonese, and audio books tend to be in Colloquial Cantonese. Leveled Readers such as Greenfield only come with Formal Cantonese audio. (In fact, most leveled readers come only with Mandarin audio – Sage, Lele and Better Chinese).
Meizhou Chinese offers Leveled Readers for Level One to Level Eight, with Colloquial Cantonese and Formal Cantonese audio from Level One to Level Five. Each level has eight to ten stories available. The stories in printed in Standard Chinese. There are no written Cantonese print materials but the recordings are a good guide).
If you are teaching (or learning) to read in Cantonese, then these Leveled Readers, about 71 short stories in total, of which 48 come with audio, are a valued resource. There are a variety of stories, from modern living, Chinese mythology and legends, proverb stories and animal stories.
They are also great to listen as stories to help expand vocabulary. I find listening to both versions helpful to improve both my written Chinese and colloquial Cantonese. (If you are looking for more Colloquial Cantonese stories with audio, I would also recommend Storybooks Canada. )
How to Download:
First, go to the Meizhou website. Please note not everything on this website translates with the Google translate extension.
Secondly, click the “資源分享”or “Resources” depending on which language you have chosen. You should reach this page showing the covers of Textbooks from Kindy to Level Ten.
Thirdly, click on the textbook cover of the appropriate level. (L1 to L8 has stories, L1 to L5 also has accompanying recordings. You should reach a page that looks like this. (Do note that each level has a slightly different layout. )
EDITED to add: There are many individual files to be downloaded, but you can use a batch downloader extension for Google Chrome. (There might be other ways but someone had just given me this tip).
To download the PPT of the stories (L1 to L4)
Stories in L1 to L4 are also available in PowerPoint (PPT) in color, in Traditional Characters with Zhuyin (Mandarin phonetics.
To download each story in PDF, click on the following:
繁體(Traditional) 教學PPT> 故事 (Translation: Traditional Chinese Teaching PPT > Story )
Each chapter is a separate file.
To download the PDF of the stories (L1 to L8)
The print copy of the stories are available in PDF, in Black and White only . You can also choose Traditional or Simplified Characters.
To download each story in PDF, click on the following:
繁體版 課文/故事 下載> 故事 (Translation: Traditional Chinese Textbook/ Story Download > Story )
Each chapter is a separate file.
To download the Cantonese recordings of the stories (L1 to L5)
To download each recording (MP3), click on the following:
廣東話錄音(Cantonese Recording) > 故事(女, 男) [Translation: Cantonese Recording > Story (Female, Male)]
The male recording (also indicated with A in the file name) is in Formal Cantonese, and the female recording (indicated with B in the file name) is in Colloquial Cantonese.
Each recording is a separate file.
To download the animation of the stories in Mandarin (L1 to L3)
There are animated versions of the stories in Mandarin form Level one to Level Three. These are Flash files in swf format and are very big. They are in Mandarin only but including them here in case you wish to teach Mandarin too. To download each animation , click on the following:
課程影片下載 > 繁體> (講故事) (Translation: Download Course video> Traditional Chinese > Telling Story)
Each recording is a separate file.
Please note the layout of the website varies between each level, hence the above is a guide only.
Other Resources with Recordings on the Meizhou website
There are also Textbooks and Conversations available for various Levels for download
- Textbook 課文 in PDF format – L1 to L8
- Textbook 課文 in PowerPoint (PPT) format – L1 to L8
- Cantonese recordings for Textbook 廣東話錄音 – 課文- L1 to L5
- Cantonese recordings for conversations 廣東話錄音 – 會話- L1 to L5
- 課程影片 Animations in Mandarin – L1 to L4
- 課文歌曲 MP3 Songs in Mandarin (MP3) – L1
There are also other resources including flashcards, quizzes, games and more, but without recordings.
How to use these Level Readers
- If you are already teaching reading in Cantonese, then these readers make perfect practice. The Formal Cantonese Recording serves as a guide. You can then play the Colloquial Cantonese Recording and compare your understanding of both.
- If you are not teaching reading and writing in Cantonese, you can just play the audio while looking at the booklet and enjoy the story while brushing up on your listening skills and expanding your vocabulary. Or you can just play the audio without the booklet.
Colloquial Cantonese Transcripts?
The stories are only available in Standard Chinese but not written Cantonese. If you want to know how different the two texts will be, here is a comparison based on one of the Level One Readers: 氣球飛上天
Formal Cantonese 書面語 |
Colloquial Written Cantonese 口語 |
有一天，小石買了一個很大很大的氣球。 |
有一日，小石買咗一個好大好大嘅氣球。 |
哎呀！不好了！氣球帶著小石飛上天了！ |
哎呀！弊喇！氣球帶住小石飛上天呀！ |
小石用力抓著氣球，氣球一會兒往左飛！氣球一會兒往右飛！ |
小石用力捉住氣球，氣球一陣飛去左！氣球一陣啲去右！ |
氣球往上飛！往上飛！ 哎喲！氣球碰到月亮了！ |
氣球飛上去！飛上去！ 哎喲 ！氣球掂到月亮啦！ |
月亮用尖尖的牙齒，咬了氣球一口！啪！氣球破了！ |
月亮用尖尖嘅牙齒，咬咗氣球一啖。啪！氣球穿咗！ |
小石往下掉！往下掉！往下掉！ |
小石跌落去！跌落去！ 跌落去！ |
啊！正好掉在他自己的床上。 |
啊！啱啱好跌喺佢自己嘅床上面。 |
Does anyone need the a Written Cantonese transcript version? If that might be of help, please leave me a comment, and if there is enough interest, I’ll try to get some completed, and uploaded.
You might also enjoy reading:
- Our collection of Cantonese nursery Rhyme and Songs (Each come with a free lyrics printable. )
- Free Online Chinese Textbooks and Course Materials
- Cantonese Storytime and Book Reading on YouTube
- How To Read To Your Child When Your Cantonese Is Not Fluent
- Colloquial Cantonese Kid’s Educational Resources and Printables