For 3rd-year Japanese – Page 4 – Japanese Tadoku Books by Students

February 6, 2017

鶴の恩返し

私は「鶴の恩返し」と言う本を読みました。読み物シリーズのレベル三な本です。この話は昔話なので、そして私は昔話が大好きだから、この話が好きでした。話の中で、ある町に住んでいる男の人は鶴を助けて、そしてきれいな女の人に会いました。終わりはちょっと悲しくても、好きでした。この本は昔話だけでなく、レッスンもありました。実は、昔話はよく大切なレッスンを教えるから、今も皆さんは昔話を聞きたり、読んだりかもしれません。だから、この話はちょっと変ですが、面白くて、大切な昔話です。

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Japanese folktales, because this is a very famous one. Sometimes I did not understand some vocabulary or grammar, but it was usually pretty easy to read. I think reading folktales is really important when studying a language because they give cultural and historical background which can help the reader become more familiar with the culture. Please read this book!

October 9, 2016

雪女

「雪女」はちょっと怖くて切ない話だ。主人公の巳之吉は普通の人で、真面目に働いて穏やかな日々を送っている。しかし、雪女にあって仕事仲間の死を目撃した途端に話の雰囲気が変わる。巳之吉は普通に生き続けようとする。普通に結婚して、普通に子供をもって年を取っていく。それでも、雪女のことを思い出したら、彼の人生がまた異常な方向に…。このサスペンスに満ちた話は以外に悲しくて興味深かった。

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wanted to read an eerie, gripping story that goes beyond the usual “happily-ever-after.” I am not that good with scary stories, but this book had just enough scary elements to keep me on the edge of my seat without making me want to put it down. There are a decent number of kanji, but the illustrations and dialogue make the plot pretty easy to follow, so I think an advanced second-year Japanese student could read and enjoy it.

April 19, 2016

ちびまる子ちゃんの敬語教室

As a second year Japanese student, I find the honorific language particularly difficult to remember. I usually confuse honorific words with humble expression and vice versa. It is always easy to remember that in Japanese, you should upgrade your partner (the person you are speaking to) while lowering yourself. However, the verbs are all irregular and thus easy to be mixed together, at least for me.

Therefore, I recommend this book because of three reasons

It is a manga, so it will be interesting to read. Besides, as a manga, it has a lot of pictures. If you find it difficult to understand the text, the pictures will help you a lot to guess the content. You, therefore, don’t need to have a dictionary on hand immediately to assist with the book. I have more motivation to open the book as it is not a boring textbook, full of long sentences or difficult kanji.
The characters are very cute and story lines are very funny! You will laugh a lot with Maruko-chan! Honorific language will become easier if you can learn it the way Maruko does!
There are not many difficult kanji as it is a book aimed at children. There is also furigana along with kanji to help you.

While I am still reading the book as I have just recently discovered it, I recommend it to anyone who learnt honorific languages before as it will make more sense. Yet, if you are a first-year student eager to prepare for next year, I guess you can also try it out of curiosity. It is a great book to check out as it is way too cute and helful!

P/S: If you love Maruko-chan, you can meet her in anime series too!

April 17, 2016

聖☆おにいさん

「聖☆おにいさん」はブッダとイエスの以外に日常的な話だ。漫画を舞台にすることで、この聖人たちの変顔を見せたり、時には伝説的な光景を描いたりできるから、すごく興味を持った。私にとって一番面白いのは、ブッダとイエスの友情だ。普通は二人のことを同時に想像しないだろうけど、見ているうちに二人の仲の良さはなかなか納得した。必ず、読んでいる人は誰でもそうだと思う。

This manga is so good that I would like to recommend it to everyone I meet, but it can be a bit tricky to understand at times because of the lack of furigana. I think 3rd and 4th year students would be able to understand it enough to really enjoy it. It’s not your typical manga, but that’s what makes it enjoyable: you only start to predict what will happen after you really get to know the characters Buddha and Jesus and how they relate to each other and the world at large. Everyone who can read it should definitely give it a try.

February 29, 2016

夢十夜

私は夏目漱石の『夢十夜』の漫画を読みました。でも、この本はとても難しいだから、『第一夜』と『第三夜』だけ読みました。夏目漱石は日本の有名な作家です。そして、この漫画は面白いと思います。

『第一夜』は愛のstoryです。奥さんはもう死にました。だから『墓のそばに百年待ってください』と言っていました。ご主人はそうしました。もう百年が来ました、そして墓ではなが咲いて、空で星がありました。ご主人は空を見ました。

『第三夜』は難いです。fateのstoryと思います。お父さんは子供をおぶっていました。目の見えない子でした。でも、あの子はoutsideに分りました。そして、声は子供のでしたか、言葉つきは大人のでした。空に雨が降りました。お父さんは大きい杉の根に行って、百年前これで一人の盲目お殺してと覚えました。子供はとても重くなりました。このstoryはちょっと怖いです。

I would recommend this book for third year and forth year readers. Kanji readings are always provided, but the language is quite native and hard to understand.

February 28, 2016

走れメロス

「走れメロス」は信頼についての熱い話だ。主人公のメロスは悪魔のような王様に怯えずに立ち向かって、絶対に約束を守ると誓う。王様は人を信じないので、約束通りに戻ってこなかったら、代わりにメロスの大親友のセリヌンティウスを殺すという条件を付ける。メロスはセリヌンティウスだけじゃなく、妹にも信頼されて、重圧を受ける。完璧な人ではないけれど、何回も相手の気持ちを考えて、立ち上がって、走り続ける。人を信じるのはいいことだと教えてくれる。とても感動的な話で、読んでいると自分も何とか頑張れる気がする。

I would definitely recommend this story to my third and fourth year classmates. It’s really a wonderful tale that draws you into this ancient world and makes you care about even secondary characters like Melos’ best friend and sister. Although it includes a clear moral at the end, it avoids being overly moralistic and Melos even exhibits some character flaws instead of being the perfect hero. Overall, it is an interesting and enjoyable read.