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Japanese Studies: Language & Literature (Japanese)

A guide to library resources for the study of Japanese language, literature, and culture.

Extensive Reading (Japanese)

Extensive reading differs from intensive reading. There are no vocabulary lists, one is not supposed to look up words in a dictionary, and grammatical points are not to be covered. 

Extensive readings follows the philosophy that readers should choose simple books and read lots of them. The act of "extensive" reading will build up fluency and a rich vocabulary without causing one to get bogged down in minutia. There are 4 golden rules to follow

  1. Start with simple stories
  2. Read without using a dictionary
  3. Skip over words you don't understand
  4. Stop reading if it is boring or difficult and choose another book 

In Japanese: 

  1. やさしいレベルから読む
  2. 辞書を引かないで読む
  3. わからないところは、とばして読む
  4. 進まなくなったら、他の本を読む