5 fun sites with free beginner reading material in Japanese
Hi!
私はふくろうです。
My name is Owlie and I like to learn Japanese. I have spent a few months learning kanji using Anki and Remember the kanji / Nihongo shark method. Then I have read a part of Tae Kim's guide for Japanese grammar. I also have a Japanese neighbor and we have occasional language exchanges.
However, I feel that my vocabulary and grammar knowledge need some interesting input at a beginner level. It was quite difficult to find the correct keywords to find meaningful free websites. Let me share the best five picks I have found so far:
Let me also briefly note what I did not include: NHK Japanese is too tough for me at this level. I also tried "Easy Japanese" by NHK but it has too much English chitchat for my taste.
I bought the "Learn to read in Japenese" book and it is nice as it introduces kanji gradually, but it has no real story. I find it boring and not very effective to read dislocated sentences. Along with https://www.japaneseaudiolessons.com/, unfortunately, it feels like doing another Anki deck. I hoped it would have more context.
Let me know in the comments if you like these reading suggestions and feel free to suggest more!
私はふくろうです。
My name is Owlie and I like to learn Japanese. I have spent a few months learning kanji using Anki and Remember the kanji / Nihongo shark method. Then I have read a part of Tae Kim's guide for Japanese grammar. I also have a Japanese neighbor and we have occasional language exchanges.
However, I feel that my vocabulary and grammar knowledge need some interesting input at a beginner level. It was quite difficult to find the correct keywords to find meaningful free websites. Let me share the best five picks I have found so far:
- 400 pages of a free graded reader, starting from colors and flowers, moving to veggies and other food, on towards Japanese culture and history among other things. I got to page 130 in one day without needing to translate anything:
https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/e4ch4p/ive_compiled_tadokus_free_graded_readers_into_an/ - A comprehensible input site by a teacher of Japanese, full of lovely quirky stories he made with his students. There are 23 free short stories on a beginner level (1 or 2 years of Japanese in school) along with vocabulary that you can download as portable pdfs. There is also a 52-page novel and short story collections available for purchase if you want to support the author.
https://sites.google.com/outlook.com/easyjapanesestories-tprs/level-1-stories
New page of the author has 17 newer free stories, written with another cohort of students.
https://easyjapanesestories.com/ - A playlist by Neko sensei covering 50 lessons of Minna no Nihongo textbook, teaching in Japanese. There is a stray English word here and there but it is as immersive instruction as I can imagine.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-2E0sy7jcm3e4vzIxAi4q8qRWBygfo06 - Asami: a comprehensible input immersion Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIciBLpZ6BP2XNYTFXb6eRQ
- Hukumusume: A website with fairytales in Japanese http://hukumusume.com/douwa/pc/world/04/23.htm
Let me also briefly note what I did not include: NHK Japanese is too tough for me at this level. I also tried "Easy Japanese" by NHK but it has too much English chitchat for my taste.
I bought the "Learn to read in Japenese" book and it is nice as it introduces kanji gradually, but it has no real story. I find it boring and not very effective to read dislocated sentences. Along with https://www.japaneseaudiolessons.com/, unfortunately, it feels like doing another Anki deck. I hoped it would have more context.
Let me know in the comments if you like these reading suggestions and feel free to suggest more!
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