Short Stories in Japanese: New Penguin Parallel Text Paperback – May 31, 2011

This book is really great for me. It's more difficult than the Read Real Japanese series that I got a little while ago and have been reading every day since. It doesn't have a dictionary nor does it have great grammar explanations like the RRJ series does, but I love the stories and I find this a very exciting book to read. I'm very happy that I chose to get this.

This book is quite good for someone wanting to start breaking into Japanese literature. The stories are written in natural Japanese rather than the more academic kind often found in textbooks and the authors are well known in the literary world. However, a warning for intermediate students - for most, it will require extensive use of a dictionary and many new words, at least initially. However, the material, though hard is accessible and will do wonders for your language acquisition efforts. I recommend reading this text with a tutor such as one you might find on Wizant. Ganbatte ne!

For students with an advanced knowledge of Japanese, this provides very interesting and entertaining stories to read. The English translation is generally helpful, but the author could be a little more thoughtful about the explanations he gives in his notes. While most are good, some seem overly simplistic or irrelevant. More importantly, he could have been a little more generous in explaining the origins of Japanese adopted foreign words (gairaigo).

I got this as a gift for a co-worker who is teaching himself Japanese. he mostly had the comic like books and he was really excited about learning from this one. It offered some unique styles that he was looking forward to working on.

The book is quite nice. As far as a learning tool, I appreciate only having the kana once when each kanji appears for the first time. It forces me to learn new words/pronunciations. I am only a little of the way in (as of this review), but what I have read so far is quite enjoyable.

Wonderful stories; Has really helped me in teaching myself the language!

on time.... just as described

This is a super nice collection of short stories. Level is upper intermediate stage to advanced stage, I would estimate B2 to C1 level. Good first read after finishing the Tobira text book. The Furigana help, but are given only on first occurrence, which is OK.The Kindle version unfortunately is fatally flawed. The Japanese pages are not text but simply single images. Font size cannot be enlarged. Furigana are hardly readable, if at all. What''s worse, since it is an image, the inbuilt dictionary cannot be used. This makes the Kindle version completely useless and I had to return the purchase.

Product received in good condition. Good learning material for advanced learners. Excellent one if you want to brush up your kanji skills.

Das buch gibt mir genau das was ich brauche :)Ich möchge gerne in der lage sein auf japanisch zu lesen und mit dem englischen text direkt daneben wird es einem zumindest so leicht wie möglich gemacht. Immer noch wirklich schwierig voranzukommen aber das buch macht es einem zumindest so leicht wie es geht

Very good book. The only complaint is that the kanji and furigana are small. You will need to provide a magnifying glass to be comfortable.Très bon bouquin. Le seul reproche qu'on peut faire est que les kanji et furigana sont assez petits. Il vous faudra utiliser une loupe pour être confortable.

The book was in perfect condition. The book itself is ideal for Japanese learners who can refer to the parallel English text and build on their vocabulary—a 10/10 recommendation from an N4 candidate!

Me encantó, muy buen libro para seguir aprendiendo el Japonés