Japanese Stories For Language Learners

A great story can lead a reader on a journey of discovery--especially if it's presented in two languages! Beautifully illustrated in a traditional style, Japanese Stories for Language Learners offers five compelling stories with English and Japanese language versions appearing on facing pages. Taking learners on an exciting cultural and linguistic journey, each story is followed by detailed translator's notes, Japanese vocabulary lists, and grammar points along with a set of discussion questions and exercises. The first two stories are very famous traditional Japanese folktales: Urashima Taro (Tale of a Fisherman) and Yuki Onna (The Snow Woman). These are followed by three short stories by notable 20th century authors: Kumo no Ito (The Spider's Thread) by Akutagawa Ryunosuke (1892-1927) Oborekaketa Kyodai (The Siblings Who Almost Drowned) by Arishima Takeo (1878-1923) Serohiki no Goshu (Gauche the Cellist) by Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933) Reading these stories in the original Japanese script--and hearing native-speakers read them aloud in the accompanying free audio recording--helps students at every level deepen their comprehension of the beauty and subtlety of the Japanese language. Learn Japanese the fun way--through the country's rich literary history.

Do you know what the hardest thing for a Japanese learner is? Finding PROPER reading material that they can handle...which is precisely the reason we've written this book! You may have found the best teacher in town or the most incredible learning app around, but if you don't put all of that knowledge to practice, you'll soon forget everything you've obtained. This is why being engaged with interesting reading material can be so essential for somebody wishing to learn a new language. Therefore, in this book we have compiled 20 easy-to-read, compelling and fun stories that will allow you to expand your vocabulary and give you the tools to improve your grasp of the wonderful Japanese language. How Japanese Short Stories for Beginners works: - Each chapter possesses a funny, interesting and/or thought-provoking story based on real-life situations, allowing you to learn a bit more about the Japanese culture. - Having trouble understanding Japanese characters? No problem - we provide you with the English translation below each paragraph, allowing you to fully grasp what you're reading! - The summaries follow a synopsis in Japanese and in English of what you just read, both to review the lesson and for you to see if you understood what the tale was about. Use them if you're having trouble. - At the end of those summaries, you will be provided with a list of the most relevant vocabulary from that chapter, as well as slang and sayings that you may not have understood at first glance! Do not get lost trying to understand or pronounce it all, either, as all of the vocabulary words are Romanized for your ease of learning! - Finally, you'll be provided with a set of tricky questions in Japanese, allowing you the chance to prove that you learned something in the story. Whether it's true or false, or if you're doing the single answer questions, don't worry if you don't know the answer to any - we will provide them immediately after, but no cheating! We want you to feel comfortable while learning Japanese; after all, no language should be a barrier for you to travel around the world and expand your social circles! So look no further! Pick up your copy of Japanese Short Stories for Beginners and level up your Japanese language skills right now!

Are you on your way towards learning Japanese and need a new challenge? We're constantly trying to improve and master new skills, and the Japanese language is no exception. We have created the next level of Japanese stories for the students who have already surpassed the beginner level: Intermediate Japanese Short Stories! In this book we have compiled 10 challenging, compelling and fun stories that will allow you to expand your vocabulary and give you the tools to boost your grasp of the wonderful Japanese tongue.How Intermediate Japanese Short Stories works:?Each chapter possesses a funny, interesting and/or thought-provoking story based on real-life situations, allowing you to learn about the Japanese culture.?Having trouble understanding Japanese characters? No problem - despite being Intermediate Japanese, we have still included a romanization to help guide you through your learning process, just like in the beginner stories!?The summaries follow the story: a synopsis in Japanese and in English of what you just read, both to review the lesson and for you to see if you understood what the tale was about. Use them if you're having trouble.?At the end of those summaries, you'll be provided with a list of the most relevant vocabulary involved in the lesson, as well as slang and sayings that you may not have understood at first glance! Don't get lost trying to understand or pronounce it all, either, as all of the vocabulary words are Romanized for your ease of learning!?Finally, you'll be provided with a set of tricky questions in Japanese, allowing you the chance to prove that you learned something in the story. Don't worry if you don't know the answer to any - we will provide them immediately after, but no cheating!We want you to feel comfortable while mastering the Japanese tongue; after all, no language should be a barrier for you to travel around the world and expand your social circles!So look no further! Pick up your copy of Intermediate Japanese Short Stories and level up your Japanese language learning right now!

An unmissable collection of eight unconventional and captivating short stories for young and adult learners of Japanese. "Olly's top-notch language-learning insights are right in line with the best of what we know from neuroscience and cognitive psychology about how to learn effectively. I love his work - and you will too!" - Barbara Oakley, PhD, Author of New York Times bestseller A Mind for Numbers Short Stories in Japanese for Beginners has been written especially for students from high-beginner to low-intermediate level, designed to give a sense of achievement, a feeling of progress and most importantly - enjoyment! Mapped to A1-B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages, these eight captivating stories are designed to give you a sense of achievement and a feeling of progress when reading. What does this book give you? - Eight stories in a variety of exciting genres, from science fiction and crime to history and thriller - making reading fun, while you learn a wide range of new vocabulary - Controlled language at your level to help you progress confidently - Realistic spoken dialogues to help you learn conversational expressions and improve your speaking ability - Accessible grammar so you learn new structures naturally, in a stress-free way - Pleasure! Research shows that if you're enjoying reading in a foreign language, you won't experience the usual feelings of frustration - 'It's too hard!' 'I don't understand!' Carefully curated to make learning a new language easy, these stories include key features that will support and consolidate your progress, including: - A glossary for bolded words in each chapter - Full plot summary - A bilingual word list - Comprehension questions after each chapter. As a result, you will be able to focus on enjoyingreading, delighting in your improved range of vocabulary and grasp of the language, without ever feeling overwhelmed. From science fiction to fantasy, to crime and thrillers, Short Stories in Japanese for Beginners will make learning Japanese easy and enjoyable.

Learning Japanese is hard and everyone says so. But not with this Japanese book. Whether you're a just starting out or are already familiar with the Japanese language, this book will help you with expanding your Japanese vocabulary and improve your reading skills while having fun. Here you have 50 entertaining and culturally interesting Japanese short stories for beginners and intermediate Japanese learners. The Japanese stories are written in Hiragana, Katakana, and about 250 basic Kanji characters which correspond to the advanced beginner and low intermediate levels. The stories are followed by line-by-line English translation, which will certainly speed up the the learning process quite a bit. This book also includes a reading guide that explains the basics of the Japanese language and its characters. You get many practical examples on how to read the characters and you can also use this book as a language learning tool or Japanese text book to advance with your Japanese skills at your own pace. 1. The Tokyo Fish Market 2. Buddhism in Japan 3. Lost in Tokyo 4. Teaching in Japan 5. Karaoke Japanese Style 6. Saving Face 7. Faux Pas in the Restaurant 8. Just a Couple of Drinks 9. Humour Is if You Still Laugh 10. A Special Geisha 11. A Happy Marriage 12. Under the Lamp Post 13. Group Learning 14. I Marry My Office 15. Dialogue - Today We Have Rabbit 16. Dialogue - Dining European Style 17. The Tourist Guide 18. Inexpensive Shopping in Japan 19. Born in Michigan 20. Easter 21. Foreigners in Britain 22. Kindness 23. My Hobbies 24. Studying Abroad 25. A New Recipe 26. Social Media 27. Vegan Food 28. Bad Luck 29. Our Hotel 30. In the Theatre 31. Dialogue - Where is Our Cat? 32. A Special Public Swimming Pool 33. On Fridays We Go Swimming 35. Best Friends 36. The Order 37. Food Poisoning 38. New Year's Eve in Europe 39. The Circus 40. The Car Accident 41. A Japanese in Munich Japanese Short Stories for Intermediate Learners 42. The Polish Maid 43. Americans in Germany 44. The Treasure in the Forest 45. The Barbecue Evening 46. How to Find a Billionaire on a Cruise Trip 47. Crowdfunding for a New Kitchen 48. A very Catholic Irish Family 49. I Meet You in the Sauna 50. Classic Story: The Legend of Princess Kaguya There are many Japanese books out there, but this book will entertain and help you in many ways. Start your journey of active Japanese learning TODAY!

Essential Japanese Grammar is an indispensable study guide for students of the Japanese language at all levels. Long the standard in Japanese language education, it provides clear, jargon-free explanations of how Japanese grammar works and offers hundreds of example sentences. It is an essential handbook for self-study or for the classroom and should be a valued resource for years to come. A strong foundation in grammar is vital to those wishing to learn Japanese as a whole. Essential Japanese Grammar presents a number of unique features. First, grammatical terminology has been kept to a minimum so that extensive prior knowledge of grammar is not required. Second, abundant example sentences written in Japanese characters (kana and kanji) followed by romanji and English translations. Third, the authors have tried to reveal aspects of grammar that may not be found in comparable grammar books such as rare Japanese verbs, adjectival nouns, clauses adverbs, etc. This Japanese grammar book contains: parts of speech. sentence constructions. conjugations forms. speech styles and tones. accentuation rules. essential words and functional elements. an appendix for referencing and cross-referencing Japanese words.

A quick easy reference to pick up and reinforce key Japanese phrases Japanese is the fifth most studied language in the U.S., with over 40,000 college students enrolled in Japanese courses every year, and Japan ranks as the eighth most popular international destination for American travelers. Focusing on real-world language skills that people can put to use right away-from asking directions to talking numbers-this phrasebook is a must for travelers and students. Eriko Sato, PhD, is a native Japanese speaker and Professor of Japanese at SUNY Stony Brook.

This is a book about the structure, history and evolution of the Japanese language. The Japanese Language is a classic study of one of the world's most widely used but least understood languages. Emphasizing the richness and complexity of Japanese as well as its limitations, this fine book provides a lively discussion about the uniqueness of the Japanese language. The relationship of Japanese to other languages is not well understood even by native speakers, and Professor Kindaichi sets out to define it. He concludes that Japanese is indeed only remotely related to other world languages although it shares many features in common with the languages of mainland Asia. Japanese shares with those languages a rich and detailed vocabulary for natural phenomena and an unusually complex and accurate way of expressing social relationships. Moreover, its capability to absorb innovations from abroad easily matches or exceeds that of English or German. The author, after briefly discussing the unique isolation of the Japanese language, moves on to consider the varieties of ordinary speech—dialects, jargon, sex—and role-based distinctions, and the difference between informal, formal, and literary language. He then examines the structure of Japanese pronunciations, its rhythm, and accent. The longest section of the book is devoted to the variety of the vocabulary, what can and cannot be said in Japanese. Readers who are just beginning their own study of Japanese will find this section especially fascinating, for each point is backed by examples from literature and everyday speech. Kindaichi also investigates the so-called vagueness of Japanese and traces it to its source–the unusual sentence order. This book includes: The highly debated origins of the Japanese language. Dialects, jargon, sex and role-based distinctions. Differences between informal, formal, and literary language. Structure, rhythm, and accent of pronunciation. What can and cannot be said in Japanese.