The Lady in the Painting is the only full-length story written in Chinese for low-intermediate level learners of Chinese as a foreign language. The story is told with vocabulary and structures familiar to students who have completed a basic course in Chinese. Using an inventory of only about 300 Chinese characters, it serves as an excellent transition between the short reading passages that students encounter in a basic level Chinese course and the longer and more demanding passages in subsequent levels.
The original edition of the story has been widely used for decades as a supplementary reader in Chinese language classes in the United States.
Claudia Ross has been teaching Chinese for over 25 years. She is a member of the board of directors of the Chinese Language Teachers Association and has twice served as president of the organization. Jocelyn Ross is currently an associate with the Balloch Group, working primarily on geology-related projects in China.
