Japanese Tadoku Books by Students
Smith College Tadoku Project
面白い書ですね！木村家はとても親切ですね〜お母さんは料理するのが上手だと思います。てんぷらはおいしいですよ。
Yes, I recommend this book to all first year students! It is a story about one meal of a warm Japanese family. It is not too hard. We can see how they use short form in daily life and see some everyday Japanese that we did not learn in class.
夏休みだったから、ジョンさんは東京から仙台に行ってホームステイをしました。仙台でたくさんしました。ジョンさんはいろいろな人に会いました。ジョンさんもはなびを見て七夕祭りの日をいわいました。ジョンさんの夏休みはとてもおもしろくて楽しかったと思います。
I would definitely recommend this book to classmates who are interested in learning about home stays in Japan and Japanese cultural holidays like the Tanabata Festival and its customs. It is also very funny too, like when John mistakes Mori-san for a woman, or when John mixes up “to” and “from” on his address label! Overall, it was very nice to read about the welcoming environment John encounters through his home stay with Mori-san’s family during his summer break.
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!
「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.
寿司 talks about the history of sushi. It explores how sushi became a national dish for Japan. Not only that, it also touches upon how there is a variety of sushi and how one can make sushi conveniently at home.
女の子 starts out a little sad actually. The story is about a lonely girl who is trying to adjust to her new life in the city. She doesn’t talk much throughout the story, but you can tell that she is a character with many insights to the world.
I would recommend both of these books. Starting out in level 0, I never expected myself to be able to transition so smoothly when I started reading these two books. The kanji were not so difficult at all although you may have to look up some of the characters. The pictures made it easier for me to understand the stories. Both books are children friendly and have happy endings. If you’re thinking about making a jump from level 0 on the Japanese Graded Reader series, I would recommend you to consider these choices since the length of both stories are neither overwhelming or underwhelming.
These two stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa are really philosophical.
鼻 is about an old monk with a very long nose. He worries about his nose all the time but doesn’t want others to know about his worries, so he pretends not to care. The story ends up to be funny and satirical, as the old monk manages to shorten his nose but then decides that he wants the long nose back. Every one of us in real life is similar to the old monk, because we all care too much about other people’s opinions sometimes. If we let go such burden, our life will be much more easier.
蜘蛛の糸 is about a sinner who has done only one good thing when he was alive: he once chose not to step on a spider. The sinner is then given a chance to leave the hell by climbing up the thread of a spider’s web. When he almost gets to heaven, he saw other sinners climbing up as well and got very angry. As a result, the thread breaks and he sends himself back to hell again. The sinner is selfish, he hates to see other people leaving the hell even though that doesn’t affect his own chance to get out. Such selfishness is not uncommon in daily life, and this story should serve to give us some warnings.
The language is not hard and the stories are very intriguing. I would recommend this book to first and second year Japanese students.
ふるいはなしのがだいすきだから、この本を見て読みたかったです。この本は一休さんの話を三つです。一休さんはとても有名なおぼうさんでした。この本は一休さんの子供の時の話です。子供の時、一休さんはとてもあたまがいい子供でした。一休さんは寺に住んでいました。お坊さんになりますから。さいしょうの話はみずあめにすいてでした。二番の話はとらとしょうぐんにすいてでした。そして、さいごの話は一番上のおぼうさんの友だちにすいてでした。とてもたのしくて、おもしろかったです。日本のれきしの人はとてもおもしろいと思います。レベル二の本ですが、あまりむずかしくないと思います。さいしょうのページはちょっとむずかしかったですが、話はやさしかったです。とてもいい本です。
「クリスマス·キャロル」は英語から翻訳された本だ。主人公のスクルージはとても無慈悲でお金が大好きな人だった。クリスマス·イブの日で、人々がクリスマスのために色々準備しながら明日のことを楽しんでいたが、スクルージはクリスマスが嫌いだから全然嬉しくなかった。その夜、彼のところで三人の幽霊が次々訪ねた。その奇妙な経歴がスクルージの人生を変えた。
I would recommend this book to people who love Christmas. There are many kanji in this book but they are not very difficult, so I think a 2nd year Japanese student can understand it.
This book is about the certain types of dishes and flavorings that you can make out of soybeans. In だいず, we learn about how each dish is created from soy step by step. During Setsubun, the Japanese throwing festival that usually occurs either every February 3rd or 4th, there is a custom that involves throwing roasted soybeans in order to prevent evil spirits from coming into the house.
I would recommend this story to students who have taken at least one semester of Japanese in college. It is for readers who want to know more about what is part of the Japanese diet. Honestly, reading this book made me a bit hungry!
「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.