Japanese Short Stories for Beginners: 20 Captivating Short Stories to Learn Japanese & Grow Your Vocabulary the Fun Way! (Easy Japanese Stories)

I feel like this is a very good short stories collection for early learners. This is pretty easy to read, easier than nhk easy for instance, at least from what I’ve seen so far. If you are just starting to read but you have some basic vocabulary under your belt, you can probably work your way through this. A couple things really help with this. You can see the English translation on a paragraph by paragraph basis, or you can try reading it without the translations if your skill level is a bit higher. You can highlight words to get a quick definition from the kindle dictionary and if you are still confused there is a clear list of key terms in order of introduction, defined in the context you are reading them in. Due to the skill level, stories contain a lot of repeated terms and gives the reader a lot of exposure to language used and by the third or fourth paragraph they should be able to read those repeated words naturally. On the flip side, the sentences are a bit longer and more complex than the basic “This is a pen” type sentences in beginner resources. The book finds a nice happy medium that should be challenging but doable for the early learner.

My son is self studying Japanese and finds this a perfect learning tool. He is in his 30s but has an autism scale thing.

I really can't stress how happy I am that I got this book. I am self-teaching Japanese, and this short story book has been soooo helpful. It also gave me self-confidence to keep going because I get really excited when I understand a sentence! There is furigana above most of the kanji, the line spacing is wide to help you keep your place, it is written left-to-right, and certain words are in bold with glossary definitions. I am still at N4/N5 level, and this is the right difficulty for me--really hard but not impossible. I have gotten through about five stories at a snail's pace, picking up lots of vocab and understanding more grammar as I go. The stories seem to purposely make use of words you encountered in previous stories to give you practice with them. The only critique I can make is that occasionally a word is in bold but was left out of the glossary. A little annoying, but nothing a Google search can't remedy. I only wish there were more books like this from Lingo Mastery. Like maybe a whole set of increasingly difficult short story collections.

Decent book, good for vocabulary, nothing super special, though great foot in the door to Japanese literature as it’s not totally impossible for more beginners.

As an intermediate learner, I love this book for doing very light reading during those days where I don't have the time to read more complicated things. I usually prefer playing text-heavy video games (RPJs usually) as a default way to learn, but sometimes work does not let me dedicate at least 2 uninterrupted hours of in-game reading a day. There are 20 chapters in this book. Each chapter takes a maximum of 15 minutes to go through (at my current level) with very simple reading comprehension quizzes at the end of each chapter. As expected, both the vocabulary and grammar are pretty basic...I'd say no more than JLPT N5 level. There are a few kanji, vocabulary, and grammar points that are well above N5, but those are the very minimum and there is always furigana. I understand this book is meant for beginners, but as a very busy intermediate student of the language who understands the importance of practicing reading comprehension every single day no matter how complicated the day is this book has been helpful. Now, granted, for anyone who is intermediate you probably only want to use this book if you really don't think you can get to reading something more on par to your level for that day. This is not an every day book for that kind of situation... I do wish there was no furigana in the complete version of each story though. I understand it's just to make it accessible to readers, but every time I see furigana (not just in this book but everywhere that has it) even if it's kanji and words I'm 100% familiar with my eyes will always gravitate towards the furigana. I also wish there was more kanji being used here instead of just kana for words that are more commonly written in kanji, but I guess that's expected as it's meant for beginners.

This is an awesome book and it doesn't start off with the translation! You DO have to have familiarity with the Hiragana and Katakan characters to take full advantage of this book but the stories are also short enough you can slowly translate as you go. Each Chapter starts off with the Japanese Short story, complete with Furigana above the Kanji, then it breaks each paragraph down for the translation, finishing up with a vocabulary list for the story, and then a short quiz! This is a must have for learning Japanese! Reminder: Memorize the Hiragana and Katakan first. If you can read it in Japanese, even if you don't know what it says at first, it will make it easier.

I love it! Perfect for me. This book is easy for me to read and I recognize most of the kanji on the page, but at the same time I'm learning new phrases, too. (I've been studying Japanese for a little over a year. I'm level 26 in WaniKani.) I just think it's so cool to be able to read in foreign languages.

I'll admit it. I don't enjoy EVERY story. But I do enjoy most of them. The only reason I haven't finished this book yet is because I want to read it in bed, but at bedtime that requires light. I maybe should have purchased the Kindle version. But since the stories are all independent of each other, I'll eventually get to all of them. I logged on tonight to look for a similar book for when it's dark and I want to read on my tablet. For reference, my Japanese level is not completely beginner, rather I'm a re-learner. I was an exchange student in Japan several decades ago. When I returned, I took a couple semesters of Japanese in college. But my school didn't offer a major in it and I really didn't have a way to use it, so whatever I once had known, I forgot. And what I had known was limited anyhow. But I'm trying to go beyond what i used to know in anticipation of a short vacation in Japan (postponed due to the pandemic.) Right now I'm on Wanikani level 13. This book is perfect for me!

Livro vai dificultando vocabulário/texto a cada capítulo. Achei muito bom para treinar o idioma, pois traz textos somente em japonês e depois vai traduzindo para inglês aos poucos. Necessário saber inglês para leitura.

Personally, I like the book very much because it is very practical and enjoyable: every sentence is translated into English right below and important words are in bold, so you can spot them immediately on the text. You have also a summary at the end of each story and a Vocabulary list. You can check your reading comprehension with questions that follow below and then see if your answers are correct. There are a couple of expressions that are interesting even for people with more advanced knowledge, though overall this book is meant for elementary Japanese learners with extremely useful vocabulary that you need in spoken language. In my opinion this book can be used 1) by people who need to refresh their basic Japanese 2) by people who need additional material to extend their vocabulary and are learning Japanese at an elementary level 3) as a valuable teaching resource that can be used in combination with the textbook in classroom, for instance as a starting point for discussions 4) by people who have trouble reading kanji, because the text is written in kanji but provided with furigana (little hiragana on top of the kanji that suggest the way it is read). This last group of learners will take great advantage of this book.

Great book very easy for learning through reading. Vocabulary list for each story really helps learning. Very good for English speakers learning japanese

My daughter is learning Japanese and has found Japanese Short Stories for Beginners incredibly useful. The book has 20 short stories that are easy to follow but still introduce new vocabulary and grammar in a way that feels natural. What she really likes is how the book is organised. Each story is followed by a list of key words, so she doesn’t have to keep flipping back to a dictionary, and there are comprehension questions that help her make sure she understands what she’s read. The stories get a little harder as you go along, which makes it feel like real progress. The stories themselves are varied and interesting, and they give a nice glimpse into Japanese culture while teaching the language. It’s been a great addition to her studies and has made learning a lot more enjoyable. If you’re starting to learn Japanese, or know someone who is, this book is definitely worth considering. It’s practical, fun, and really well thought out.

This book is the one you MUST have in case you want to take a real step forward! One is getting closer to Nihongo through reading, getting answers directly, easy to memorize. Reading this one on my way to work and back 1,5 hours a day. Thanks!