Book Review, N4, Non-Fiction

[N4] コスプレが趣味(しゅみ)です

Here you can read a short interview with a Japanese cosplayer on the learning site Hirogaru Nihongo. She remains unnamed unfortunately. All her answers are transcribed into simple Japanese and you can watch a video of the interview with her original answers afterwards. In the end, there is also a little reading comprehension quiz. The… Continue reading [N4] コスプレが趣味(しゅみ)です

Book Review, graded reader, N2, Non-Fiction

[N2] 広島・宮島(ひろしま・みやじま)

This short non-fiction book is a graded reader by Nagazaki Atsuko and it introduces you to important points of interest for the city of Hiroshima and the island of Miyajima. I found all the information here well summarised in a comprehensible way. Level 4 in the reading level overview by the NPO Tagengo Tadoku is… Continue reading [N2] 広島・宮島(ひろしま・みやじま)

Book Review, Fiction, graded reader, N5

[N5] デカりんご

A huge apple grows in a field in northern Japan. It is too big to harvest, too big to sell and too big to eat… This story was written by Nakano Mayuko for the NPO Tagengo Tadoku. The entire story is written from the point of view of the apple itself, which was interesting. I… Continue reading [N5] デカりんご

Book Review, fairy tale, Fiction, N3

[N3] 赤ずきんちゃん

This post is part of the #letsreadakazukinchan reading challenge. I've read the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood in fairy tale database hukumusume's version. This retelling was the longest of all versions I've put together for the challenge. This was mostly because there was a lot of dialog added while also keeping the descriptions.… Continue reading [N3] 赤ずきんちゃん

Blog, Challenge

Let’s read 「赤ずきんちゃん」

Little Red Riding Hood is one of the most well known fairy tales collected by Brothers Grimm. While not a Japanese story in origin, because of its popularity it of course has many versions and retellings in Japanese as well. Since many of you are probably already very familiar with the story's plot, 赤(あか)ずきんちゃん is… Continue reading Let’s read 「赤ずきんちゃん」

Book Review, fairy tale, graded reader, N4

[N4] ヘンゼルとグレーテル

The fairy tale "Hänsel und Gretel" is a famous German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm: Siblings Hansel and Gretel are left in the woods by their parents and encounter a wicked witch. This version is a retelling in simple Japanese by the NPO Tagengo Tadoku. I grew up with Grimm's fairy tales as… Continue reading [N4] ヘンゼルとグレーテル

Book Review, Manga, N2

[N2] ミステリと言う勿れ(なかれ) #1

Kunō Totonō is making curry on a calm winter's day when the police suddenly appear at his door. He is a suspect in a murder case and is taken in for interrogation. At the police station he meets the investigating detectives and instead of answering their questions, begins to share his wisdom with them. As… Continue reading [N2] ミステリと言う勿れ(なかれ) #1

Book Review, children's literature, Fiction, graded reader, N5

[N5] ピーターラビットのお話(はなし)

The Tale of Peter Rabbit is an old English picture book by Beatrix Potter, that you might be familiar with. It was rewritten by Io Aoi in simple Japanese and illustrated with the original pictures for the NPO Tagengo Tadoku. In this story, Peter Rabbit sneaks into McGregor's field to eat his carrots, against his… Continue reading [N5] ピーターラビットのお話(はなし)

Advice, Blog

Reading with オノマトペ

Expressions that depict sounds in an imitative way are called onomatopoeia and exist in many languages. They stand out most in media like comic and manga when words like boom or ぼーん are written on top of an explosion for example. So if you read a lot of manga, you will already be familiar with… Continue reading Reading with オノマトペ

Book Review, graded reader, N3, Non-Fiction

[N3] しいたけ

This text explains, from the perspective of an exchange student from Kenya, how a mushroom farm works and why there are so many of them in Ōita Prefecture. It was written by 渡辺わたなべ若菜わかな for the 「大分おおいた発はつわくわく読よみものをつくる会かい」and published as a level 3 story on the NPO Tagengo Tadoku's free graded reader site. I liked how this… Continue reading [N3] しいたけ