I want to highlight a great resource for studying Chinese: Chinese Text Analyser
As a language learner, you should already be taking advantage of the benefits of extensive reading. But one major requirement of extensive reading is the need to select material that is at just the right level for you (i.e. Roughly 1 unknown word for every 50 words).
Fortunately, there are various reading resources, such as graded readers, that have become available in recent years. It’s become easier for learners to find books that are at their current level (i.e. novice, intermediate, advanced).
But what if you wanted to read something beyond graded readers or textbooks? Maybe Harry Potter in Chinese? How could you assess whether a novel is within reach or completely beyond the grasp of your current level of Chinese?
Chinese Text Analyser helps fill this gap. The software, which is available for both PC and Mac, is a tool that helps you analyze Chinese text. In seconds it can process and segment various text files to give you statistics on characters and words. You tell the software which characters and words you are familiar with, and the software will highlight the unknown characters and words in red. The software also lets you export lists of words.
So for example, if after studying the HSK 6 vocab, you were keen on reading Harry Potter. You can simply ask Chinese Text Analyser to highlight all the unknown words in Harry Potter that are not part of the HSK 1-6 vocab. You could even export this list of unknown words to import into your favorite SRS flashcard app.
Here is a sample of some books I have analyzed with Chinese Text Analyser:
Fiction
| Title | 名字 | Unique Characters | Unique Words |
| Fantastic Mr Fox | 了不起的狐狸爸爸 | 1,227 | 1,927 |
| Little House on the Prairie | 草原上的小木屋 | 1,398 | 2,479 |
| The Little Prince | 小王子 | 1,496 | 2,572 |
| The House on Mango Street | 芒果街上的小屋 | 1,859 | 3,495 |
| Grandma in the Apple Tree | 苹果树上得外婆 | 1,875 | 3,670 |
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | 查理和巧克力工厂 | 2,038 | 4,227 |
| To Live | 活着 | 1,881 | 4,361 |
| Charlotte’s Web | 夏洛的网 | 2,112 | 4,445 |
| Chronicles of Narnia – Book 1 | 纳尼亚传奇 – 狮子女巫魔衣橱 | 2,149 | 4,827 |
| Peter Pan | 彼得潘 | 2,505 | 6,709 |
| Wolf King Dream | 狼王梦 | 2,826 | 7,457 |
| Harry Potter – Book 1 | 哈利波特与魔法石 | 2,582 | 7,738 |
| Hunger Games – Book 1 | 饥饿游戏1 | 2,728 | 8,458 |
| Anne of Green Gables | 禄山墙的安妮 | 2,751 | 8,879 |
| Twilight – Book 1 | 暮光之城1 | 2,818 | 9,472 |
Non-Fiction
| Title | 名字 | Unique Characters | Unique Words |
| Power of Habit | 习惯的力量 | 1,775 | 3,871 |
| Tipping Point | 引爆点 | 1,797 | 4,451 |
| 7 Habits | 高效能人士的七个习惯 | 1,935 | 5,057 |
| 5 Love Languages | 爱得五种语言 | 1,942 | 4,739 |
| Country Driving | 寻路中国 | 2,387 | 6,918 |
| River Town | 江城 | 2,911 | 10,760 |
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