chinese audio books

[Guest bmilkwick]

Does anyone know whether Chinese novels (or other books, for that matter) are available on audio (CD, downloadable, or cassette)? If so, where might I find them?

Thank you.

[gao_bo_han]

This site contains a few.

http://www.multilingualbooks.com/tlstore/chinaudio.html

Cheers,

Bo Han

[Guest bmilkwick]

Thank you

[dmr1203]

Guys, I have a question. I am in the states, and if I want to pick up a New York bestseller in an audio format............I can. Well, I have started studying Mandarin, and would like to know if I can find regular books(absolutely no English) in audio format that are in Mandarin? Everything that I have found is educational with English as well. I know I would'nt understand everything that I would hear, but it will help to train my ears to listen to the language. I am also using Pimsleur.

Where do Chinese buy audio books?

[geraldc]

Rather than pay money for audio books etc, you could just try recording radio plays off the internet.

http://www.hichannel.hinet.net/cat/radio/radio.htm#

Then click on 中廣新聞網現場直播

This is a Taiwanese radio station that at about 5pm UK time, i.e late night Taiwan time, puts on radio dramas. Sometimes they're martial arts stories, other times its romance stories etc.

[dmr1203]

I might not always be available at that time. I don't mind buying them, I am looking for some source that sells them.

I could not get the link to work.

[Altair]

You may be interested in the following, available online from Cheng & Tsui (http://www.cheng-tsui.com):

Across the Straits: 22 Miniscripts for Developing Advanced Listening Skills in Chinese (3 Cass.)

Price: $39.95

Author: By Jianhua Bai, Juyu Sung, and Hesheng Zhang

Unit: Cass

This thoughtfully developed Chinese language program aims to improve the listening skills of intermediate and advanced students. It utilizes recordings of unscripted conversations on a variety of topics, introducing students to social and cultural issues in Taiwan, mainland China, and the U.S. These engaging dialogues are designed specifically to facilitate learning and provoke discussion. Can be used by itself or in conjunction with any of Cheng & Tsui Company's intermediate Chinese textbooks. The audiotape set includes three cassettes totaling 160 minutes. A transcript (T & S) of the audio portion is available separately. A multimedia program is also in the works. C&T, 1998; 8.5 x 11.

There are also similar materials available on their site. If you order the selection above, make sure you order the correct formats, since cassettes, transcripts, and study material are all sold separately. (I think some also are priced differently for individuals and group purchasers.)

Another choice would be:

Radio Broadcasts from China. Recordings of authentic news, music, and cultural broadcasts (1979-1981).

Volume 1 : 2 audio cassettes (95 min.) and 111-p. book, $49.50. Order #SCH100.

This is available online from http://www.audioforum.com/ along with other material you might find appropriate to what you are looking for. This paticular item is basically in the format of a news broadcast. About 5% of it is just music, with no words.

Neither of the materials I quote above has any recorded English; however, both are associated with transcripts (in characters) and study material in English that includes vocabulary, exercises, and study notes.

If all you want to do is accustom your ear to Chinese, either of the two selections would do fine.

[dmr1203]

Dude, you are AWESOME!!

Thank you very much Altair.

[Capablanca]

Hi,

I'm looking for chinese audio book. Any ideas where I can

buy?

[carlo]

Online at www.listenworld.com

In bookshops around China

[Capablanca]

Listenworld seem to be fine but I don't understand how to pay.

Can't I pay with a normal credit card like VISA etc ?

[carlo]

Oops, I didn't notice you were in Sweden. It's dead easy to buy credits online if you are in China, but at the moment it seems you can't make international payments, so VISA won't work. The easiest thing would be to get a friend in China to register for you (with 30 yuan you can download hours of audio material). In the meantime you can listen to their online radio.

[Xiao Kui]

This site has lots of free audio books. I didn't figure out how to download them but you can listen online. Even has the complete Hong Lou Meng if you want to bewilder yourself. I'm listening to Pingfande Shijie right now, and checking out some others.

http://www.cnr.cn/library/lbbqtj/

[randall_flagg]

WOW! Thank you, that's a cool site! They even have Harry Potter, how awesome is that?

Now, does anyone know how you can download this? Sorry, I keep asking questions about downloading stuff, but all the audio stuff is really helping me improve my Chinese. And it's fun!

Thanks!

Randall

[johnmck]

You can try this freeware:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=Real7ime_Converter

I have heard complaints about it, (mainly that it crashes at the end of the recording), but it works for me. It is extremely gormand with its usage of RAM especially at the end of the recording when it is processing the file (maybe that is why it crashes for some others) so you may want to close other applications when running.

As with all software off the internet there is a risk of viruses, malware, etc.

[nipponman]

Hate to sound like a prude but, are they free books, or "free" books (i.e. pirated)

Cause if they're not, then I'm down.

[Xiao Kui]

I don't think they're pirated. The site is the library of China News Radio and I think the books may even be read by their broadcasters. The main library page has photos of some of the reader/broadcasers over on the right. (you can search for works by 播者 or 作者) I didn't post this page originally because a lot of the links don't work (for Hong Lou Meng, Muslim Funeral, etc.) but here it is if you want to investigate it more thoroughly - I find reading Chinese web pages a little cumbersome at times:

http://www.cnr.cn/library/

Also if you want the texts to some of the works they can be found at www.shuku.net Now, I have no idea whether those are pirated but most of them you can pick up at a Chinese bookstore for $3 or less anyway, and some of the classics might even be in the realm of public domain. I like to listen first without the text and then go back and read. Brain-switching and all that jazz.

[Jim]

Thanks Xiao Kui! I'm listening to the first chapter of 白鹿原 as I type this.

[in_lab]

Nothing happens when I click on the .ra links. Do I have to install real audio player first, or can windows media player play them?

[necroflux]

Thanks for the great links. But my God who recorded this crap, the Harry Potter chapters clip about half of the time (i.e. the "megaphone distortion effect").