Read and listen at your level: TongTong Stories are here

TongTong now has Stories — short Mandarin texts pitched to your level, with synced audio and tap-to-look-up. Reading and listening to connected text is the fastest way to turn vocabulary you recognise into vocabulary you understand, and now you can do it without leaving the app.

Comprehensible input, at the right level

The hardest part of Chinese reading and listening practice is finding material that's neither baby-talk nor a firehose. TongTong Stories are written and graded so most words are ones you already know, with just enough new ones to stretch you — the "i+1" sweet spot that makes input stick. The For You tab even surfaces the stories where you already know most of the words.

Every story has a single, natural-sounding narrator, so you can read along or just listen.

What you get

• Synced audio. The Chinese text highlights as it's spoken — read along, or look away and just listen.
• The words you don't know, highlighted. TongTong knows roughly which words you've learned and which you're assumed to know at your level, and gently tints the rest — so you can see at a glance what's new.
• Per-story vocabulary. The key words for each story are listed up front with pinyin and English.
• Tap to look up. Tap any word in the text to open its full dictionary entry — definition, audio, examples, and stroke order.
• Simplified or Traditional. Read in whichever script you study.
• Pick up where you left off. Your place is saved, and you can mark a story as read once you've finished it.

Why reading and listening matter

SRS reviews build a store of words you recognise in isolation. Stories make you retrieve them in context, in connected language — and the audio adds speed, tone, and liaison. Doing both — review plus level-matched reading and listening — is what moves a word from "I've seen that" to "I just understood that".

How to start

Open TongTong, open Stories, and pick one near your level. Read with the audio on the first pass, then try it audio-only. New stories are added over time.

FAQ

Are Stories free? Yes, like the rest of TongTong.

What level are they for? Each story is graded by HSK band, and the For You tab surfaces the ones pitched to your level. Start with what you can read comfortably.

Can I read without the audio? Yes — every story is a full text you can read in Simplified or Traditional, with tap-to-look-up on any word. Some stories have synced audio, with more added over time.

Do I need headphones or a download? No — stories open right in the app on web and iOS.