These days it became popular and cool to know more than one language, and on your list of languages, you might have Japanese. Japanese is a language with its own characteristics, undoubtedly different from the English language in all aspects. So you are probably going to face a challenge, but nothing that good tips and specific information won’t solve. If you are learning the Japanese language and choose to practice using reading materials, then this article is for you. We are going to look at the approach you can take for your Japanese learning through reading to be fruitful.
Understanding the challenge involved with the approach
Once you have a grasp of the kanji and the Hiragana, you might feel so prepared to start learning Japanese through written content. Well, to your surprise some materials will just be impossible for you to fully grasp even though you know all or most of the vocabulary. If this happens, it’s normal. You have to understand that there is a reading spectrum. For example, you can easily read a funny story in your native language, but might have a tremendous struggle comprehending a lawyer document in the same language. This is the same for Japanese. When you want to learn Japanese by reading you have to know your spectrum and start where you can handle to get a sense of familiarity and ensure progress.
Use a note system while you are reading
Once you understand your reading spectrum in Japanese, the next best thing is to come up with a note-taking system for all the new stuff you are going to discover in your reading. This can be a simple notebook that you keep in hand while reading or a flashcard app. Make sure to organize the new grammar and vocabulary in a way that is easy for you to go over later. The use of flashcards if possible is best as flashcards are easy to revise once you get familiar with this system. There are popular applications like Anki that you can easily find a tutorial on creating easy flashcards decks. These notes are what you will use in your Japanese learning, if you don’t keep anything then probably you are not learning by reading.
Understand intensive and extensive reading
Another key point is being aware that there is a difference between the type of reading in terms of length and material. Depending on what you read, you have to either use intensive or extensive reading when you try to learn by using written text. Short content or stories are suitable for intensive reading. This means that, when you read these short texts try to know about everything. Make sure you dive into every sentence, explore the grammar structures, look up idioms and vocabulary, take notes and make sure to extract all possible new stuff from your short text. For long texts or novel books, you don’t need to go hard trying to grasp every vocabulary. You can simply get the general context of the passage and build your comprehension in the Japanese language this way. If you try to dive into every vocabulary while reading a long piece, you are probably going to tire out, and this will hinder your progress. So take into account those necessary vocabularies and note them down for revision later.
Use a digital reading tool with a built-in dictionary
There is a variety of digital tools out there for learning Japanese by reading, and whether it’s an online platform or an app, they solve one big problem for learning the Japanese language. When you want to learn Japanese through reading, you are going to face a difficulty of homophones. These are different words that can be written the same way in a written context. Thus, the digital tools that have an integrated dictionary will help you uncover the meaning of the word without having to look it up and allows you to guess the meaning from the writing. Tools such as BliuBliu, or LingQ will save you tremendous time in your learning especially with reading that has no kanji at all. Make sure to use these tools for your advantage if your way of approach to learning Japanese is by reading.
Debutants should begin with graded readers
Whether you are at a beginner, or intermediate level in the Japanese language, you sure can use a lot of help from graded readers. These are tools that take professionally written text and tune it to a certain level according to the JLPT grading. They let you learn what you need at a level you can handle and allow you to upgrade tactfully. There are different graded readers to choose from depending on whether you are in Japan or elsewhere in the world. White readers are books that can be found in Japanese university libraries, they are written to meet the JLPT requirements. So they start from N5 to N1 teaching you Japanese by reading. You should note that, they are comparatively expensive. The 10 minutes read series are Japanese written books for kids used in japan to teach kids to learn. They are easily affordable and will take your learning through stepping stones until you become pretty much comfortable in the Japanese language.
If you are out of japan then you can access graded readers online. Recommendations would be the NHH News, Wasabi and ChocoChoco and the satori reader. The NHH news offer real news and interviews written in simple Japanese and on the platform you can find simple explanations on the passages. The Satori reader offers a variety of articles with varying difficulty levels, Wasabi and ChocoChoco is the cheapest option among the above offering quality content.
Conclusion
The approach to learning Japanese by reading methods can be very beneficial if used with tact. We have offered some quick tips and you can look for more about acquiring the Japanese language through reading. Make sure to use methods that keep you progressing and have fun learning the Japanese language.