Advice, Blog

Short Story Collections for Learning Japanese

Because of their self-contained plot and, of course, their brevity, short stories are very popular with language learners โ€“ and rightly so. There are several approaches that aim at introducing intermediate and advanced learners to Japanese short stories of which I will highlight three and recommend matching short story collections for each.

Book Review, Fiction, graded reader, N3

[N3] Intermediate Short Stories in Japanese

In Olly Richard's Intermediate Short Stories in Japanese you will be introduced to 11 stories from different genres, all written to match an intermediate readers vocabulary and grammar knowledge. I addition to these stories, it also includes vocab lists and reading comprehension quizzes after each chapter.

Book Review, Fiction, graded reader, N4

[N4] Japanese Short Stories for Beginners

Short stories in Japanese seem to be very popular with language students, given the number of short story collections published for this target group. This collection features 20 original stories written for language students and all they could ask for to study them.

Book Review, Fiction, graded reader, N4

[N4] ่€ไบบ๏ผˆใ‚ใ†ใ˜ใ‚“๏ผ‰ใฎ็”บ๏ผˆใพใก๏ผ‰

A man falls asleep on the train and wakes up in the mysterious town of Shin-Izumino, where everyone is much older than him. While he is still trying to figure out how to get back home, he runs into more and more situations that leave him thoroughly bewildered.

Advice, Blog

Graded readers for Japanese – where to start

Graded readers are a helpful tool for language learners, providing shorter books specifically tailored to their current level of reading comprehension. The vocabulary, grammar, and length of the books are carefully selected to match the reader's proficiency and to make sure that they can follow the story without too much difficulty - sometimes even without… Continue reading Graded readers for Japanese – where to start

Book Review, Fiction, N2

[N2]ใƒใƒƒใƒ—ใ‚นๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใ“ใ‚“ใซใกใฏ

This is a short story by Jun, published as part of the ใ‚ทใƒงใƒผใƒˆใ‚ทใƒงใƒผใƒˆ texts on bookwalker. It consists of a dialog between teacher and student, discussing the subjects of happiness, money and parental love. I really liked the philosophical approach of this short story. By asking questions, the teacher lets his student work out the… Continue reading [N2]ใƒใƒƒใƒ—ใ‚นๅ…ˆ็”Ÿใ“ใ‚“ใซใกใฏ