I like reading and learning Japanese. Will post book reviews on Japanese books and consider their readability for other learners. Happy to give rcommendations on how to start reading in Japanese!
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An unmissable collection of eight unconventional and captivating short stories for young and adult learners …
A great collection of short stories for Japanese learners! This book covers many genres of stories and manages to write interesting plot while still maintaining an understandable way of speaking for readers with intermediate reading abilities. Some stories were a bit silly, though.
学校での居場所をなくし、閉じこもっていた“こころ”の目の前で、ある日突然部屋の鏡が光り始めた。 輝く鏡をくぐり抜けた先にあったのは、城のような不思議な建物。 そこにはちょうど“こころ”と似た境遇の7人が集められていた―― なぜこの7人が、なぜこの場所に。 すべてが明らかになるとき、驚きとともに大きな感動に包まれる。 生きづらさを感じているすべての人に贈る物語。
Japanese Short Stories for Beginners includes 20 stories for language learners. Every story is only about 2 pages short and learners then get about 8 pages each of additional content of translations, vocabulary lists, summaries and reading comprehendion quizzes.
I think this approach is very close to how Japanese is taught in textbooks with a focus on intensive reading. If the aquiring of new vocabulary and word-by-word translation is what you are looking for in a reader, then this book is a good fit.
But if you are looking for simple stories to get into the practise of fluently reading in Japanese most other graded readers for beginners would be a better choice in my opinion.
あなたを、助けたい。
学校での居場所をなくし、閉じこもっていたこころの目の前で、ある日突然部屋の鏡が光り始めた。輝く鏡をくぐり抜けた先にあったのは、城のような不思議な建物。そこにはちょうどこころと似た境遇の7人が集められていた―― なぜこの7人が、なぜこの場所に。すべてが明らかになるとき、驚きとともに大きな感動に包まれる。 生きづらさを感じているすべての人に贈る物語。一気読み必至の著者最高傑作。
Upon enrolling in the local middle school, Kokoro loses the courage to actually attend. While isolating herself in her room, her bedroom mirror begins to glow, allowing her access to the mirror castle, where she meets six other children who are supposed to be in school and a younger girl in a wolf mask.
Early on, the novel places the pieces that will be set into motion later on. As a result, the actual story builds very slowly in the first half, but once all the pieces slowly fall into place, it becomes clear that this is really the only way this story could have been told. Over the last 200 pages I couldn't put it down at all!
Since you should be able to anticipate future developments fairly well for this novel and it is also a challenge due to its length, I recommend it for early N1. In …
Upon enrolling in the local middle school, Kokoro loses the courage to actually attend. While isolating herself in her room, her bedroom mirror begins to glow, allowing her access to the mirror castle, where she meets six other children who are supposed to be in school and a younger girl in a wolf mask.
Early on, the novel places the pieces that will be set into motion later on. As a result, the actual story builds very slowly in the first half, but once all the pieces slowly fall into place, it becomes clear that this is really the only way this story could have been told. Over the last 200 pages I couldn't put it down at all!
Since you should be able to anticipate future developments fairly well for this novel and it is also a challenge due to its length, I recommend it for early N1. In terms of language alone, however, it is actually also quite doable with a N2 level of Japanese.
A friendless young girl encounters a high schooler who cuts her wrists, a woman insultingly …
Nanoka is a very bright child, so she feels it’s only natural that the other stupid kids in her class don’t include her. After all, who needs friends their own age, when she has far superior friends outside of school! With that very group of unusual friends she goes on to discuss what it means to find happiness.
This was a novel that really surprised me with how simply it was written. Although it doesn't have furigana, the language is easy and the book only uses a limited vocabulary.
Full review: dokushoclub.com/2022/09/05/n3-mataonajiyume/
Nanoka is a very bright child, so she feels it’s only natural that the other stupid kids in her class don’t include her. After all, who needs friends their own age, when she has far superior friends outside of school! With that very group of unusual friends she goes on to discuss what it means to find happiness.
This was a novel that really surprised me with how simply it was written. Although it doesn't have furigana, the language is easy and the book only uses a limited vocabulary.
Full review: dokushoclub.com/2022/09/05/n3-mataonajiyume/
Those stories sure were jolly! I kept imagining a bunch of old men drinking and telling each other crazier and crazier stories as the night went on, haha. I was glad to have parralel text for this, because it was written in a bit outdated Japanese, which I am not familiar with (e.g. おっかさん instead of お母さん and なってしもうた instead of なってしまった). Maybe it's also in dialect?
Those stories sure were jolly! I kept imagining a bunch of old men drinking and telling each other crazier and crazier stories as the night went on, haha. I was glad to have parralel text for this, because it was written in a bit outdated Japanese, which I am not familiar with (e.g. おっかさん instead of お母さん and なってしもうた instead of なってしまった). Maybe it's also in dialect?
Toshishun's story starts out like a fairy tale and ends with a life lesson. I wasn't a fan of some of the graphic discriptions but the ending pulled it up again. It's an easy read for those inbetween N3 and N2 with illustrations giving context for unknown words.
Toshishun's story starts out like a fairy tale and ends with a life lesson. I wasn't a fan of some of the graphic discriptions but the ending pulled it up again. It's an easy read for those inbetween N3 and N2 with illustrations giving context for unknown words.
What a cute book! I love the idea of focusing on reading a short story and then recounting it to a peer. From a language learning perspective, there are difficult words and grammar in this book, but illustrations and repetition help with understanding what's happening.
What a cute book! I love the idea of focusing on reading a short story and then recounting it to a peer. From a language learning perspective, there are difficult words and grammar in this book, but illustrations and repetition help with understanding what's happening.
Was looking forward to reading this as soon as I finished the first book. There's more to learn about Japanese language and I especially enjoyed the backgrounds of some kanji.
While with the first book, I mostly enjoyed the manga parts and skipped through the essays, I found myself really enjoying the essays with this book!
Was looking forward to reading this as soon as I finished the first book. There's more to learn about Japanese language and I especially enjoyed the backgrounds of some kanji.
While with the first book, I mostly enjoyed the manga parts and skipped through the essays, I found myself really enjoying the essays with this book!
This was so much fun to read! I really liked the drawings and way of explaining language origins. While some things explained were not really necessary for my language journey, they sure were many things that were 'good to know'.
Getting to know the characters in this language school was another aspect I enjoyed. They may have been exaggerated for humor, but many times I laughed because I knew people like that as well!
This was so much fun to read! I really liked the drawings and way of explaining language origins. While some things explained were not really necessary for my language journey, they sure were many things that were 'good to know'.
Getting to know the characters in this language school was another aspect I enjoyed. They may have been exaggerated for humor, but many times I laughed because I knew people like that as well!
