Reading Material

[paste]

Hello again!

So, I'd like to start practicing reading Japanese, but, as many of you who have read my posts know, I'm not the most advanced student; I'm just about done with my first college semester of Japanese. Can anyone recommend stuff to start reading? Keep in mind that I'm not just talking about books; Video games and websites would also be great, preferably with furigana or large print kanji, especially if they have a high stroke count. どうもありがとうございます。

[clay]

Have you tried the Audio Ebooks at TJP?

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Have you tried the Audio Ebooks at TJP?

Yes! These fit my purposes perfectly, thank you. Who wrote them (aside from Van Houten's)? Also, is there something wrong with the beginning of 一寸法師 ? It seems as if it starts again halfway through the second sentence...

[clay]

Thanks, I'll check on the Issun story. I may have uploaded the wrong MP3. I'll do that when I get home.

Yumi and I put everything else together (I believe) outside of Rich's work.

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Ah. I meant the written part of the Issun story.

[richvh]

It's a traditional folktale, I believe.

[Sairana]

It's a traditional folktale, I believe.

Dunno, looks strange to me, too.

むかし、むかしあるところ におじいさんとおばあさんがいました。おじいさんは、とてもこころの優しい人でしたが、おばあ むかし、むかし、あるところにおじいさんとおばあさんが住んでいました。

The red bit marks the last word that fits the sentence, and the first mukashi that interrupts it.

[distantsmoke]

I bought manga I wanted to read in Japanese (the japanese language version, not the english version). I then bought a japanese - english dictionary and a kanji dictionary. Then I started working my way through the manga. I got a lot wrong at first. And figuring out how to use the kanji dictionary was a challenge. And I also ended up buying some grammar books as well.

But the manga was a book I was interested in so I kept at it. I learned a lot along the way. I don't consider myself "proficient" yet, but I can go shopping in downtown Fussa-shi without too much embarrassment. For me it was important to have something I wanted to be able to read. That made it less like studying.

I'm also taking classes with a Japanese teacher. And I have to say having a teacher has made a tremendous difference. The stuff I figured out on my own with the manga and the dictionaries was very useful. But having a teacher who can explain the meaning of a phrase that might not be obvious from it's component parts is also a big help.

Good luck!

[clay]

It's a traditional folktale, I believe.

Dunno, looks strange to me, too.

むかし、むかしあるところ におじいさんとおばあさんがいました。おじいさんは、とてもこころの優しい人でしたが、おばあ むかし、むかし、あるところにおじいさんとおばあさんが住んでいました。

The red bit marks the last word that fits the sentence, and the first mukashi that interrupts it.

Sorry! I meant to fix that last night, but got busy with the fam. I just fixed it. Darn copy-paste errors! Sorry about that.

Please let me know if you spot any other problems.