Comprehension and Apprehension

My problem, I guess, is that I have to do things sideways. My maturity demands that I have some fundamental understanding of it but the only Japanese language materials I come in contact with are far too difficult for this particular student. Is anyone aware of any graded (graduated) readers for students of Japanese?

Japanese readers (kokugo dokuhon) are extremely rare and difficult to come by unfortunately. The below is probably way too advanced, but more information always helps. There are suggestions for beginner practice texts in several other threads.


Amazon product ASIN 4770028997

Thank you most kindly for the tip. I have looked at that book in my local bookstore but have put off buying it because it still looks too complicated for me.

Yeah, that book's really advanced, I would say. All of the stories are by Natsume Soseki and Akutagawa Ryunosuke, who wrote at the beginning of last century and used a different version of Japanese than what we're used to.

I think the "Reading Real Japanese" that's suggested in the "buy these together" section would be good for you. I remember hearing good things about it, but you may want to check on it further. I'm also not sure exactly what level it starts at.

"Read Real Japanese" is a collection of upper immediate/advanced essays by various contemporary writers and while it isn't graded in the sense of a traditional reader there are pages of highly detailed notes on vocabulary, grammar forms and usage. I suggested Breaking In anticipating a full English translation and complete kanji explanations would make it more accessible, but obviously never having personally tried it I'm sorry if that was totally out of the requester's range.

Hmm, well... it certainly does offer full parallel English translation, which is nice, but the grammar can be a bit foreign at times. I just remember having trouble with a few sentences and not realizing how they meant what the translation said they meant.

I didn't realize that "Read Real Japanese" was so high-level, either. Oh well, apologies to the OP, and I hope you can find something like what you're after.

Although this might not with the answer the OP wants, I'll just chip in my 2 yen for anybody who finds them useful:

A search on the Web showed no graded readers in Japanese (maybe they're found only when you sweep through all the bookstores in Jimbo-cho). So, the second-best alternative I can think of is going for Japanese version of classical works from around the world:
少年少女世界文学全集 (shounen-shoujo sekai bungaku zenshu)

They can be bought separately. You can pick a book you've already read as a kid and read it in Japanese. (These versions usually are simplified and have furigana for the relatively difficult, if not all, kanji.) These collections also include works by Japanese authors.

If you feel comfortable with these, there are Japanese digital libraries, offering access to some books (not in text but in graphics):
International Library of Children's Literature:
http://kodomo4.kodomo.go.jp/web/ippangz/html/TOP.html
National Diet Library archives:
PORTA統合のお知らせ

Hope it helps even a little!

PS: I forgot to add that this current bestseller is being recommended for Japanese language learners (intermediate or better) who want to read something that doesn't insult their intelligence! (Written in plain Japanese about economics at work in everyday living):
さおだけ屋はなぜ潰れないのか? 身近な疑問からはじめる会計学 (光文社新書) | 山田 真哉 |本 | 通販 | Amazon

I'd like to revive this thread as I am reading now "Read Real Japanese"by Michael Emmerich. The text is tough, despite all the help. The recording is even tougher. Perhaps, it seems so difficult because of the abundance of words I haven't mastered yet and because it's quite fast.

I have gone through 3 stories so far. I can't boast I can listen and understand the recording without looking at the text still.