Does anyone know any Japanese reading material for beginner?

[seasurfer]

Does anyone know any Japanese reading material for beginner?

I would like to improve my reading skill, does anyone here know any reading material for beginner/intermediate level? I tried to read Japanese wikipedia, but find it very tough... there are still numbers of grammar rules I haven't learn yet plus my vocabulary is not enough, I have to keep looking at dictionary and that is a bit of frustrating, so I am look for something simple.

[chickie]

Hello seasurfer
Have you ever looked the website called Aozora-bunko?
http://www.aozora.gr.jp/
If you find some stories too difficult, just try to look at the section of children's literature.
http://yozora.kazumi386.org/9/1/ndck913.html

In this website, hiraganas always follow kanjis, so it makes it easy for you to read
Hope it helps!
And hope my English is not too bad (I'm Japanese).

[seasurfer]

Hello seasurfer
Have you ever looked the website called Aozora-bunko?
http://www.aozora.gr.jp/
If you find some stories too difficult, just try to look at the section of children's literature.
http://yozora.kazumi386.org/9/1/ndck913.html

In this website, hiraganas always follow kanjis, so it makes it easy for you to read
Hope it helps!
And hope my English is not too bad (I'm Japanese).

chickieさん、ありがとううございます。このリンクは良いですよ。文法はちょうどですけど、漢字はちょっと難しいですね。沢山の漢字はわかりません。

あなたの英語は良いですよ。間違いは有りません。希望、私の日本語の文法は正しいです？？？

[chickie]

seasurfer-san
すみません、青空文庫は、すでに下記でしょうかいされていましたね。
http://www.japanesepod101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=440

seasurferさんの日本語は、とてもお上手だと思います！

希望、私の日本語の文法は正しいです？？？

ただ、こちらは｢私の日本語の文法が合っているといいのですが｣のほうが自然かもしれません。
I can understand perfectly what you said in the previous post

[seasurfer]

seasurfer-san
すみません、青空文庫は、すでに下記でしょうかいされていましたね。
http://www.japanesepod101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=440

seasurferさんの日本語は、とてもお上手だと思います！

希望、私の日本語の文法は正しいです？？？

ただ、こちらは｢私の日本語の文法が合っているといいのですが｣のほうが自然かもしれません。
I can understand perfectly what you said in the previous post

chickieさん、ありがとうございます。

I have to apologize for my poor Japanese. I don't really understand the last sentence of your reply. Would you mind to explain to me?

"ただ、こちらは｢私の日本語の文法が合っているといいのですが｣のほうが自然かもしれません。"

What does といいのですが means?

What doese ほうが means?

Sorry, I couldn't find it in the dictionary.

[ANDS!]

Are you interested in a Text Book?

If so, the GENKI series is PERFECT for someone who wants a structured introduction to Japanese. It published by The Japan Times, and the book is so ubiqutous in classrooms that finding a used copy shouldnt be too difficult.

[chickie]

seasurfer-san, sorry, I might have confused you
I meant "「私の日本語の文法が合っているといいのですが」 would sound more natural." by that sentence.
I guess other people on this forum could explain better, but, anyway, I'll try to explain.

・　"といいのですが"
I think "といいのですが" is more like a phrase.
"～といいのですが" means "I hope" in this sentence.
It produces a bit of ambiguity.
(When you talk to your friends, you will more likely to say 「私の日本語の文法が合っているといいな」.)

・　"ほうが"
We often use "ほうが" when we compare things.
I found some examples on the online dictionary(http://www.alc.co.jp/).
There are many difficult kanjis in the examples below, so I'll write kana in the branckets.

ピザを注文(ちゅうもん)して料理(りょうり)の手間(てま)を省(はぶ)くほうが楽(らく)だ
It's easier to order pizza and save the effort of cooking.

私は、いなかの暮(く)らしよりも都会(とかい)の暮らしのほうが好(す)きだ
I prefer an urban lifestyle to a rural one.

年配者(ねんぱいしゃ)には、走(はし)るよりも歩(ある)くほうが健康(けんこう)に良(よ)い
For older people, walking is healthier than running.

FYI
[search result of "といいのですが"]
http://www2.alc.co.jp/ejr/index.php?wor ... 2JXCKoa0Je

[search result of "ほうが"]
http://www2.alc.co.jp/ejr/index.php?wor ... 2JXCKoa0Je

[search result of "I hope"]
http://www2.alc.co.jp/ejr/index.php?wor ... 2JXCKoa0Je

ながくなってしまって、すみません！
I hope the explanation I provided is comprehensible enough

[seasurfer]

chickieさん、どうもありがとうございます。X（百万倍）

あなたの説明は役に立つ。

Thanks for introducing me alc.co.jp, this is a very useful website, I didn't know about this site before. It really helped me so much.

Ha, sorry again for my poor Japanese, what does "ながくなってしまって" means? I couldn't find it in the dictionary. Would you mind to explain to me again. It is so wonderful to learn from a Japanese native speaker. この経験は素晴らしいですね。

[chickie]

seasurfer-san, I don't mind at all
I meant "Excuse me for this post's getting so long." by that (Is this English sentence correct? ).
I'm not sure about the grammar because I'm not good at it at all.
Perhaps, "長(なが)くなる" consists of "長い", adjective, + "なる", verb...
According to alc, "長くなる" means "get longer // increase in length // lie at full length"
"しまって" is a variation of "しまう".
In this sentence, it indicates that something (bad) has been done.
When you use "しまう", the sentence strusture often will be verb + "て" + "しまう"(subsidiary verb).

Phew, that's all I can explain!
I'm not sure if I can be of any help, but feel free to PM me.

[seasurfer]

seasurfer-san, I don't mind at all
I meant "Excuse me for this post's getting so long." by that (Is this English sentence correct? ).
I'm not sure about the grammar because I'm not good at it at all.
Perhaps, "長(なが)くなる" consists of "長い", adjective, + "なる", verb...
According to alc, "長くなる" means "get longer // increase in length // lie at full length"
"しまって" is a variation of "しまう".
In this sentence, it indicates that something (bad) has been done.
When you use "しまう", the sentence strusture often will be verb + "て" + "しまう"(subsidiary verb).

Phew, that's all I can explain!
I'm not sure if I can be of any help, but feel free to PM me.

Thanks so much again. I really appreciate that you took the time and effort to explain to me. Your English is grammatically correct, just that sometime it doesn't sound like a native speaker, but this is not a big deal, you just need to use it more often and you will be better. Your English is anytime much better than my Japanese.

An explanation from a native speaker is really a great help to a foreigner who is learning Japanese, especially this kind of interaction.

By the way, what does しまう means in your sentence. I checked Jim Breen's dictionary, it says 仕舞う(P); 終う; 了う 【しまう】 (v5u,vt) (uk) to finish; to close. If these are the meanings, than I don't know how to fit these meanings into your sentence, and I am confused?

[tiroth2]

"て" + "しまう" expresses that something has come to completion in a way that is final. It's often used in situations where the final state is regrettable, and that has caused it to often have this connotation. People usually learn this meaning as a set phrase without analyzing the grammar.

Note that it doesn't ALWAYS have this connotation though.

I suggest reading bamboo1-san's post below, as it is one of the clearest explanations I've ever read:
http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese ... YZ2qJ.html

[seasurfer]

"て" + "しまう" expresses that something has come to completion in a way that is final. It's often used in situations where the final state is regrettable, and that has caused it to often have this connotation. People usually learn this meaning as a set phrase without analyzing the grammar.

Note that it doesn't ALWAYS have this connotation though.

I suggest reading bamboo1-san's post below, as it is one of the clearest explanations I've ever read:
http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese ... YZ2qJ.html

Thanks a lot for your explanation and link.

[chickie]

seasurfer-san, sorry I've been away for a while.
I think tiroth2-san is right and tiroth2-san can explain much better than I can!
Good luck on your Japanese

[selinangela]

hello, I'm a native Japanese, and have been living in Japan for nearly 20 years.
Currently, I work as a Japanese translator and also teaching Japanese online, with other Japanese teachers.

I'll Show You Exactly How to Get through the Traps That Stop Most People from Finally Speaking Japanese.

http://www.siniceram.com/product-review ... panese.php

[Taurus]

Back on the original topic, there is a great resource for beginners who want to read that's been mentioned several times on the forum, which is the Japanese Graded Readers (you can see some of them here).

They're great because they're geared towards second language learners; as has also been mentioned on the forum several times, Japanese kids' books seem useful in theory but in practice it's actually difficult to look up vocab without kanji. These graded readers use furigana and grammatical structures that second language learners should know, rather than the complicated stuff that native speaking kids already know.

Also, the content is interesting - folk tales like Momotaro, or stories from history.

Definitely recommended anyway, even though they're expensive (and like I say, they've already been recommended several times on here - but since this thread's been resurrected, I thought I'd add them here too).