Experiencing Excellent Easy Japanese Reading Website!
This article on “Best Websites For Easy Japanese Reading” is one of Guidable’s series of guideline articles on “Tips For Studying Japanese” Learning a new language may be challenging at first, but persevere, and the results of all your hard work will be worth it!
Check out the best Japanese language learning App!
Or, you prefer to have enjoyable time after work with Youtube? Check out best youtube channels which could help you improve your Japanese!
Reading is Essential for Learning Japanese
Reading is an essential part of the educational process of any language. It doesn’t have to be considered as a homework task to practice reading Japanese. In fact, there are various contents to choose from, no matter what your tastes are. Besides, reading routine can also minimize tension and expand the vocabulary as well as kanji in context.
Reading is an essential part of the educational process of any language!
And best of all, they’re FREE!
Here’s a selection of best websites for free Japanese reading that you can practice online, depending on your level: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advance!
Support the Guidable team by sharing in the comment section other good sources for free Japanese reading practice online!
Beginner Level of Japanese Reading skill
However, finding Japanese articles to read at your level is a pain if you are a beginner. You probably prefer to stick to the options in hiragana, katakana and basic kanji. Children’s books are excellent Japanese reading materials for starters! All Japanese children grow up with these stories. Thus, you can get a better understand of the Japanese culture! Check out the following websites to start with:
Traditional Japanese Children’s Stories
This excellent site has a variety of traditional Japanese fairy tales. The stories are written in very basic Japanese and have an English translation line-by-line underneath.
Hukumusume is another place that is full of traditional Japanese children’s tales. This vast site is for Japanese children (unlike the site above, which is c for Japanese language students), so it can be a little challenging to navigate.
It’s rare for starters to find reading resources which aren’t children’s books, but check out this one now! This website provides concise news posts. You can also switch between romaji, hiragana, and full Japanese (with kanji) easily by the press in the buttons at the top.
Intermediate of Japanese Reading skill
NHK is the national news service of Japan. You can read NHK’s top updated news every day on this site in basic Japanese which is designed for Japanese elementary students, as well as for foreigners studying Japanese. The site has furigana (spelling guide) definitions of kanji and Japanese dictionary definitions that pop up when you click on the phrase. If you like reading about current affairs, NHK is definitely the place you are finding!
This is an article written by basic Japanese of NHK about the next typhoon!
Matcha is an excellent Japanese travel and culture publication. It’s available in 8 different languages, including a basic Japanese version! Like NHK News Web Simple, kanji are used, but always with furigana (spelling guide) above. Most of the posts are also available in English.
This is a blog covering many different aspects of Japan’s daily life. Each paragraph is written in Japanese with an English translation below. You can choose to turn the kanji (spelling guide) on or off. Sadly, the site is no longer up-to-date, but there are still several years of posts to enjoy.
Advanced Level of Japanese Reading skill
If you are an experienced Japanese learner, the Guidable Team’s recommendation would be: try to “real-life” Japanese materials on any style (news, books, social debates, mangas, etc.) as much as possible if your ultimate objective is to speak fluent Japanese as native speakers. You will learn the most natural language from real-life sources. You will learn the most natural language from real-life sources.
Fortunately! It’s easy to find real Japanese material online and on any topic!
News
NHK: Japanese national broadcaster.
Asahi Shimbun: National newspaper.
Mainichi Shimbun: National newspaper.
Books Platform
University of Virginia Japanese Text Initiative: Library of Japanese texts online.
Aozora Bunko: Free digital copies of books (expired copyright).
Project Gutenberg: Platform for online books (out-of-copyright and free).
Social Platform
Yahoo Questions: An ask and answer site.
Girls Channel: “Japanese Reddit for girls”. Absolutely helpful in learning Japanese internet slang.
Kotonaha: A fascinating and entertaining site where members can vote O or X (for/against) on different issues, debate and comment.
Lifestyle & Culture
Drama Note: This blog provides detailed synopsis and reviews of Japanese and international dramas.
Kinarino: A lifestyle blog for women. The site content contains food, fashion, travel, interiors and more.
Lifehacker: Just like the name of it, the site provides interesting tips and tricks.
Magazine Lib: There are pdf versions of many different Japanese magazines online on this site.
Manga
Sai Zen Sen: Free Japanese manga online site.
Comico: Free Japanese manga online site.
Comicwalker: Free Japanese manga online site. There’s an app too.
Other sites
Toyo Keizai: A well-known magazine about business and finance.
The Rising Wasabi: A satirical news site.
Experiencing Excellent Easy Japanese Reading Website!
Since reading is considered as an essential part of the educational process of any language, many learners have found that easy Japanese reading websites are so supportive! It doesn’t have to be considered as a homework task to practice reading Japanese. In fact, there are various contents to choose from, no matter what your tastes are. Let’s start to learn Japanese together!
Thus, the Guidable team does hope that you found this article as a helpful piece of information! After all, all of our activities are aiming for a better life for foreigners in Japan! So, stay tuned and follow us!
