50 Japanese Short Stories for Beginners E-Book

Yokahama English Japanese Language & Teachers Club

• Herausgeber: Yokahama English Japanese Language & Teachers Club
• Kategorie: Fremdsprachen
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Seitenzahl: 13

Beschreibung

Learning Japanese is hard and everyone says so. But not with this Japanese book.
Whether you're just starting out or are already familiar with the Japanese language, this book will help you with expanding your Japanese vocabulary and improve your reading skills while having fun.

Here you have 50 entertaining and culturally interesting Japanese short stories for beginners and intermediate Japanese learners. The Japanese stories are written in Hiragana, Katakana, and about 250 basic Kanji characters which correspond to the advanced beginner and low intermediate levels. All the stories include the Japanese reading aid Furigana.

Each story is followed by a paragraph-by-paragraph English translation, which will certainly speed up the learning process quite a bit.
This book also includes a reading guide that explains the basics of the Japanese language and its characters. You get many practical examples on how to read the characters and you can also use this book as a language learning tool or Japanese text book to advance with your Japanese skills at your own pace.
Reading Guide
1. The Tokyo Fish Market
2. Buddhism in Japan
3. Lost in Tokyo
4. Teaching in Japan
5. Karaoke Japanese Style
6. Saving Face
7. Faux Pas in the Restaurant
8. Just a Couple of Drinks
9. Humour Is if You Still Laugh
10. A Special Geisha
11. A Happy Marriage
12. Under the Lamp Post
13. Group Learning
14. I Marry My Office
15. Dialogue - Today We Have Rabbit
16. Dialogue - Dining European Style
17. The Tourist Guide
18. Inexpensive Shopping in Japan
19. Born in Michigan
20. Easter
21. Foreigners in Britain
22. Kindness
23. My Hobbies
24. Studying Abroad
25. A New Recipe
26. Social Media
27. Vegan Food
28. Bad Luck
29. Our Hotel
30. In the Theatre
31. Dialogue - Where is Our Cat?
32. A Special Public Swimming Pool
33. On Fridays We Go Swimming
35. Best Friends
36. The Order
37. Food Poisoning
38. New Year's Eve in Europe
39. The Circus
40. The Car Accident
41. A Japanese in Munich
Japanese Short Stories for Intermediate Learners
42. The Polish Maid
43. Americans in Germany
44. The Treasure in the Forest
45. The Barbecue Evening
46. How to Find a Billionaire on a Cruise Trip
47. Crowdfunding for a New Kitchen
48. A very Catholic Irish Family
49. I Meet You in the Sauna
50. Classic Story: The Legend of Princess Kaguya

Leseprobe

50 JAPANESE SHORT STORIES FOR BEGINNERS

Read Entertaining Japanese Stories to Improve your Vocabulary and Learn Japanese While Having Fun

Japanese Edition III

Including Hiragana, Kanji, and Furigana

© Copyright 2020 by Yokahama English Japanese Language & Teachers Club

License Notice: This document is geared towards providing exact and reliable information in regards to the topic and issue covered. In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher.

All rights reserved: The information provided herein is stated to be truthful and consistent, in that any liability, in terms of inattention or otherwise, by any usage or abuse of any policies, processes, or directions contained within is the solitary and utter responsibility of the recipient reader. Under no circumstances will any legal responsibility or blame be held against the publisher for any reparation, damages, or monetary loss due to the information herein, either directly or indirectly. The information herein is offered for informational purposes solely, and is universal as so. The presentation of the information is without contract or any type of guarantee assurance.

Disclaimer: The author of this book is not liable for the actions of any reader of this book; all the information is of the author's personal opinion.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction and A Short History of The Language

Discover One of The Most Fascinating Languages and Its Culture

Explaining the Language

Modern Japanese Culture and Language

Follow This Easy Reading Guide

Beware of Styles And Expressions

Before You Get Started

Part 1: Japanese Stories for Beginners Including Hiragana, Kanji And Furigana

Part 2 Japanese Short Stories for intermediate students including Hiragana, Kanji and Furigana

Foreword

Thank you for buying this book! It indicates that you are prepared to engage with Japanese in brand-new and different ways. You possibly might also have a taste for good short stories. Reading Japanese short stories is an excellent method of studying the language, it's far more convenient and interesting compared to the conventional path of drilling vocabulary, and struggling with grammar workouts at an out-of-date school. Instead, you will get a new approach that does not rely upon outdated learning strategies and endless repetitions. The technique of learning through reading stories will produce results in a short time and will give you cultural understanding along with language skills. If you are striving for more in terms of enhancing your language skills with this method you are on the right path! Reading a prepared short story book is a fun and easy way to learn a new language, however, there are a few other activities you can start to improve your language skills. Many students are searching for a native speaking educator or signing up in standard language courses. Of course, the best way to learn Japanese would be to spend extended time in Japan. However, there are cheaper options; some students like audio-learning or listening to Japanese radio programs, others are checking out interesting publications as well as traditional workbooks. This book contains entertaining stories written in Japanese, with a corresponding translation of each paragraph to the English language. We have included a variety of genres: travel, suspense and mystery, using true storytelling and fascinating aspects of daily life in Japan

Introduction and A Short History of The Language

Japanese is a sophisticated language and is different from European as well as American languages, so allow us to offer you a brief background and introduction of the Japanese language.

The earliest remaining Japanese texts date back to the eighth century AD. Its origins depend on the Altaic language family. The Japanese of this duration is referred to as Old Japanese. A distinct function of Old Japanese was that it had 8 vowels and did not differentiate between long and short vowels. Japanese has actually been affected by several languages. Perhaps the most substantial borrowing in Japanese has actually been done from Chinese. In the third or fourth century AD, most of Japan had adopted the Chinese writing. Therefore large parts of ancient Japanese can be traced back to the Chinese language system. Modern Japanese culture, as well as the Japanese language, is a mixture of various foreign and traditional influences.

There are three kinds of character types used in writing: Hiragana (a phonetic system); Katakana (a phonetic system used mostly for foreign words); and Kanji (unique symbols with their own meaning and adopted from the Chinese).

Discover One of The Most Fascinating Languages and Its Culture

The stories in this book are written in Hiragana, Katakana, and about 250 basic Kanji characters which correspond to the beginner and low intermediate levels. As mentioned before, we have also included paragraph-by-paragraph English translation, which will accelerate the learning process quite a bit.

A word about the so-called Kanji characters. Japanese consists of three different character sets. Some people say, "the Japanese language is difficult". One of the reasons might be the Kanji, however, the Kanji can be written in Kana characters.

In this book Kanji characters have Furigana. Furigana (振り仮名 ) is a Japanese reading aid and their translation to English is listed in vocabulary section after each story. As you can see, Japanese is indeed a challenging language, but while you advance with your skills you might be surprised to find out how many English words have been adopted and used as Katakana words. Sometimes they don’t even sound like English anymore. For example (アップル) Apple, (テーブル)Table, (ウォーター)Water.

This book covers both the formal and the casual style used in the Japanese language, dialogues in both styles of masculine and feminine, abbreviations, and well-known Japanese onomatopoeia. In addition to expanding your Japanese vocabulary, by reading this book you will find that Japanese language and customs differ depending on gender, time, background, generations, social environment, and individual circumstances.

As you go through the dialogues, you may notice that spoken Japanese sometimes differs from what you have studied in ordinary textbooks. Spoken language often varies from the written language, and at first glance it can seem grammatically incorrect. For example, particles, subjects, objects, or even predicates can be omitted. Generally speaking, Japanese sentences tend to be vague. The actual words establish a conversation, but you often need to read between the lines.

Explaining the Language

In Japanese a word-for-word translation is not always possible. Many kinds of abbreviations and omission happen in English as well, however, it is more frequent in Japanese.

There are expressions such as 「阿吽( あうん) の呼吸 ( こきゅう)」or「つうと言( い) えばかあ」which mean “understanding silence”.

In Japan, certain people, especially from traditional backgrounds don’t even need speech to communicate.

"Silent conversations" and "mental connections" are another form of how Japanese are communicating.

Japanese language in general is a mixture of old and historical idioms and various foreign and traditional influences, especially Chinese. However, as mentioned earlier there are three kinds of character types used in writing: Hiragana, Katakana (a phonetic system used mostly for foreign words); and Kanji. Sometimes the cultural mixture can be noticed by observing the combination of the characters. For example:

(ごめんなさい) I’m sorry (アメリカ) America(世界) World (日本に住むアメリカ人)Americans who live in Japan.