I agree that this online library alone will probably be sufficient for all your (hopefully short-lived) graded-reader needs. The abundance of free beginner-level content here might make it totally unnecessary to look elsewhere, unless you really want to hold a physical graded reader in your hands. I find that these metrics help gamify the learning experience and increase my motivation and consistency (two of the essential ingredients in language learning). These books are like training wheels for reading in Japanese. They expose you to all the most critical concepts you need to know to transition into reading real books and explains them in a straightforward way. Not only is this an enjoyable, confidence-building activity, but it'll make your Japanese a lot better too!

Thankfully, this is where graded readers come in! Graded readers are book series that feature a variety of stories sorted into different levels of difficulty, or "grades." For Japanese, this usually is determined by the vocabulary and grammar used, often corresponding to the 5 levels of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), but different publishers and organizations have different levels and definitions. Graded readers offer everyone, even Japanese beginners, fun stories to read. Not only is this an enjoyable, confidence-building activity, but it'll make your Japanese a lot better too! Because of the level of literature offered in the parallel texts, this collection is ideal for N3 learners. That means that learners should be at the intermediate level of their Japanese learning journey.This makes them great for beginner language learners who want to practice and improve their reading. They can practice the basic materials they’ve learned in natural contexts, as well as push themselves to read gradually more difficult materials. Proper nouns are color-coded to reduce ambiguity: green for people names, orange for place names, and blue for company names.

I’ve selected stories by Isaka Kotaro and Haruki Murakami since we read their short stories and are now familiar with their style. So if you’re learning for the JLPT and want to improve your reading speed and comprehension with the Japanese Graded Readers series I’d advise you to “size up”. There are no pictures, h owever the clear grammar and vocabulary explanations help with that. If you’re the kind of reader who struggles to learn by context and need explanations, then this might be a better choice. The three graded readers are designed for beginners to practice and learn new vocabulary. So these might be good if you’re just starting out. I’d like to be the first to congratulate you: You’ve now read your first full-length story and that’s a huge achievement. Frankly, if you’ve read one book, you can read a second.Note: I will be talking exclusively about physical and purchasable graded readers today. If you are looking for free graded readers, please have a look at my collection of free reading resources instead.