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Reading Japanese with a Smile: Nine Stories from a Japanese Weekly Magazine for Intermediate Learnersx$9.89
 (4 reviews)
Best Price: $9.89
Learning to read Japanese is a little like running a marathon: it is a long, drawn out process, and it can get a little boring along the way. What we learners of Japanese need is a little fun now and then, something that brings a smile to our faces. As luck would have it, this book does just that. This magic trick is accomplished by the book's nine curious stories. Taken from the weekly magazine "Shukan Asahi," these stories, while true to life, verge on the hard to believe, and that's what evokes the magic element of fun.
But that's not all. Each story is accompanied by a translation, faithfully done and easy to follow. Then, sentence by sentence, follows a short gloss of each word and phrase, a reverse derivation of each declined verb and adjective, detailed notes on vocabulary and grammar, and information and commentary on the cultural background. All of these aids can be accessed easily when needed.
"Reading Japanese with a Smile: Nine Stories from a Japanese Weekly Magazine for Intermediate Learners" represents the best of two worlds -- stories that are both fully annotated and enjoyable to read.
Eight of the nine stories were first published under the title "Strange but True" in 1997.
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Customer Reviews
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Excellent!
By A3BWS0WE2ESH1A on 2007-12-19
I just purchased this book and am already hooked on it. Not only does it give a translation of the text, but it goes beyond that by giving vocabulary, grammar and all the little details of how Japanese sentences work that you'd have to go through volumes of grammar books (as I have in the past) to understand. Not only are the stories interesting, but they are authentic articles taken from a Japanese "weekly" magazine (sometimes described as "tabloid" magazines). This volume presents nine of these stories, but I found that more of these were collected in Japan in several volumes called "Dekigotology." After reading through this book, I will go out and look for more.
Be brave
By A13HCYVD623Z9M on 2007-10-22
This is an excellent book worthy and rewarding of study by students at any level of Japanese, though the more you know the easier it is...surprise. The author has worked hard to achieve this result which eases and encourages comprehension for any student in an effective, thorough but light-hearted manner. Strongly recommended.
Short stories, but great amount of learning. 
By A1FF1J951YEMNK on 2008-08-25
This book is wonderful. The stories are short, so you don't feel like you are reading one story for weeks on end. Each sentence is deconstructed for you, so you don't have to look up every word in a dictionary. There's lots of furigana so you have all the pronunciations of the kanji. Also, the deconstructions are after the story, so you can try to read on your own before reading the deconstructions of the sentences.
This book really is for intermediates though : If you don't know a decent amount of kanji yet I wouldn't bother.
A little advanced, but an overall awesome book!
By A3JZD1TW15O37J on 2008-11-14
I just got this book a few days ago and I'm already in love with it! I will admit that it's a little above my level, but I'm really looking forward to using it to improve my Japanese. It gives very detailed explanations for every sentence/phrase. It also breaks down many idioms and even cultural phrases that you would never be able to figure out on your own.
While the stories themselves don't have much furigana, the analysis does provide furigana for all the kanji. This is, (in my opinion,) more of an advanced-intermediate book, so you really should have a good grasp of Japanese grammar and even several kanji before you dive into it.
But I think that this is a really good book for any intermediate or advanced student of Japanese. And it's an especially great choice for the price Amazon is offering it. I would recommend it to anyone.
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