Readers' reviews

I teach Japanese at Lakeview Middle School and High School in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA. I stumbled upon the Let's read Japanese series. I was disappointed to find out the two volumes I bought were the only two published! Please make more books soon! The stories are engaging, and the illustrations are beautiful! I hope you are working on novice-level books next.

Tracy Pollard, Japanese teacher, USA

I really enjoy Japanese traditional short stories and I would like to learn more! [...] I think that the best thing to do while learning a language is also learning about the culture and traditions!

 

Very fun to read and helpful for getting better at reading, especially with kanji.

 

A nice story. It is not too hard but also not too easy. It will be good when it comes to learning grammar as well as plain form […] Overall, I think it is very useful.

 

マドリードで入手した「ブルックス文庫」を学内で何人かの先生紹介したところ、大変な感動、興奮状態でした。内容がおもしろく、またイラストが海外から見た日本だと興味深く見ました。

日頃読解に力を入れている先生が早速使ってみることになりました。私は今そのような授業を持っていないのが残念です。

Professor of Japanese, Japan

牛若丸：歴史小説が基盤になっていて、特に歴史に興味のある学習者は多いに興味を持つことだろう。挿絵も凄みがあって、飽きることがない。鶴の恩返し：日本人ならだれでも知っているお話。

雪の女王：原作はアンデルセン。第１話、第２話、第３話と、はらはらする。第4話に期待。

廃寺の謎：現代の若者が体験したミステリー。文脈、表現、ストーリーの展開もLevel 2 (CEFR A2) の学習者にとっつき易い。日本ではお地蔵さんはあちこちで見かける。

雷門のねこ：日本民話によくあるような独特の未解決のストーリーがミステリー風に展開して、面白い。

自習用にも反転授業 (Flipped Classroom) としても是非活用してみたい。

ソレンセン和子
DWCLA (同志社女子大学)
formerly Royal Holloway, University of London

Prince Ushiwaka: As this story is based on historical events, this story will appeal especially to those with an interest in history. The illustrations are amazing. You'll never get tired of reading this.

The Grateful Crane: This is a very familiar story to all Japanese people.

The Snow Queen: from Andersen's original story - thrilling Stories 1, 2 and 3. Story 4 is impatiently awaited.

The Mystery of an Old Temple: Three young Japanese friends experience a chain of mysterious events. The context, expressions and story line are perfect for Level 2 (CEFR A2.1) learners. We come across jizo (a small stone statue) everywhere in Japan.

The Thunder Gate and a Cat: Something like an unresolved event in a Japanese folk tale develops in a mysterious fashion; enjoyable.

I'm going to use these stories for self-study for my students as well as in Flipped Classroom.

Kazuko Sorensen, DWCLA (Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts)
formely Royal Holloway, University of London

ブルックス文庫の「牛若丸」を使っ て、物語を読み寸劇等を取り入れた授業を試みました。生徒たちは話が長くて、難しかったものの、今までとは違う授業を、おもしろかったと感じていました。生徒が言いたいことが沢山あり、レベル的に、日本語で言える語彙が足りず、実際のレベル以上の語彙や表現を教えなければならなかったので、時間はかかりましたが、生徒は満足していたようです。きれいなイラストも好評で登場人物を妖精のようなものとらえたり、中には牛若丸を女神と思ったりとびっくりするような発想もありました。また計画を立て直して再度挑戦してみようと思っています。（フランス、中等教育教師）

I tried out a lesson using Prince Ushiwaka in Let's Read Japanese that incorporated skits, etc. Although my pupils found the story long and difficult they enjoyed the lesson which was different from normal lessons. They wanted to talk about it a lot but needed more vocabulary and expressions above their level to do so, which took some time but they seemed to be happy. They liked the beautiful illustrations very much.Their imagination was fascinating. Some thought the characters in the story were like fairies and some thought Prince Ushiwaka a goddess. I would like to try it again after re-planning the lesson.

Mrs Sasaki, Secondary School Teacher, France

Note: Mrs Sasaki used a story from Level 2 of ‘Let’s Read Japanese’ which is ideal for intermediate level readers, with 1,500 to 2,00 characters per story. We have now introduced an elementary Japanese Reader, Level 1 Volume 1. Level 1 has 500 – 1,500 characters per story and is ideal for beginners of Japanese who still have a limited vocabulary range.

Our students jumped onto the reading activity when these books were brought to the classroom. They felt that they were able to read and understand Japanese texts, and were motivated to read more materials other than textbooks. It is absolutely worth having them into your school library or teaching resources.

Toshihiko Kitagawa, Senior Lecturer, Regent’s University London