In Search of Hua Ma: Mandarin Companion Graded Readers Breakthrough Level

As a young boy is walking through the mountains in search of a gift for his mother’s birthday, he comes across an ancient looking home. An old lady beckons him inside and asks him to find “Hua Ma”. As he leaves, he finds himself inexplicably transported to the distant island of Hainan while the old lady and the house have disappeared. Unsure of who or what Hua Ma is, he sets out on a quest to find him, realizing this mysterious Hua Ma may be his only chance to find his way back home!

Adaptation Notes

Any learner that has managed to learn 150 Chinese characters knows it is not an easy task, and the prospect of reading a real text in Chinese seems discouragingly faroff. Typically textbook dialogs are the only reading material available for years on end. That’s why being able to read an actual story with only 150 Chinese characters is a very big deal, and a huge help to the fluency development of early-stage learners.

The stories told at this 150-character Breakthrough Level are special, however. Nouns, verbs amd adjectives at this level are in short supply, and the stories revolve around the limited vocabulary by necessity. This is why Breakthrough Level stories are not adaptations of western classics. They are original stories co-written by John Pasden and Jared Turner, specifically designed to be engaging to readers despite the limitations.

This story also ties into the larger “Mandarin Companion Universe.” It’s one of the more fantastical stories, partly inspired by stories like Alice in Wonderland and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. But if you continue reading other Mandarin Companion stories, you may see the mysterious old man from this story in The 60-Year Dream, a Mandarin Companion Level 1 story.

Because of the fantastic nature of this story, liberties were taken with some cultural details, such as the clothing worn by the old man and woman (although both are dressed in ancient Chinese styles). Enjoy the story… those who can read this book at an enjoyable pace, you are already well on your way towards progressing to the Level 1 stories.

Character Adaptions

The following is a list of the characters from In Search of Hua Ma in Chinese followed by their corresponding English names from Pasden’s original story. There are, of course, other characters in the story besides these, but many do not have exact correspondences to the original. The names below aren’t translations; they’re new Chinese names used for the Chinese versions of the original characters. Think of them as all-new characters in a Chinese story.

• 南南(Nánnán) Nannan
• 妈妈(Nánnán Māma) Nannan’s Mom
• 老太太(Lǎo Tàitai) Old Woman
• 老头(Lǎotóu) Old Man
• 花马(Huā Mǎ) Hua Ma