Level 4 volume 2 of the popular Japanese Graded Readers series is a boxed-set of 5 booklets (each containing about 38 pages) featuring various articles and stories on Japanese culture and daily life. The CD audio companion includes the full-text read by Japanese native speakers.

Designed for students with a proficiency level equivalent to Japanese Langauge Proficiency Test Level N2 and N3 (see chart below). The set of stories utilizes a vocabulary of about 1,300 words. The stories range in length from about 5,000 to 10,000 words. The grammar points include: causative form, causative/passive form, ~sou, ~rashii, ~koto ni suru/naru, etc.

As you can see from the images below, the stories are beautifully illustrated, and furigana (small kana written above kanji to show the pronunciation) are included on all the kanji.

Two of the booklets in this set include content suggested by White Rabbit Press: "Tokyo wo Arukou!" and "Sanoku Yen Jiken".

When reading Japanese Graded Readers we suggest:

• Start at an easy level
• Read without using a dictionary
• Skip any parts you don't understand
• If you hit too many roadblocks, stop and try a lower level book.

The stories are beautifully illustrated, and furigana (small kana written above kanji to show the pronunciation) is included on all the kanji.

Japanese Graded Readers (JGR's) are written in an easy and controlled language for foreign or second language learners of Japanese. They are graded according to the size of vocabulary, the complexity of grammar structures, and the total number of words used in each book. They are designed to cater to all levels from beginners to advanced students.

For most language learners, reading Japanese books has been a daunting task. There are many unknown words, kanji, and expressions beyond their level of understanding. JGR's have changed all that so now students can enjoy reading without having to constantly stop and look up unknown kanji, words, or phrases in the dictionary. Research has also shown that students who read in Japanese improve their Japanese in other areas of the language at a faster rate than students who don't read.

We encourage you not to reach for a dictionary while reading Japanese Graded Readers. Try to skip words and phrases that you don't understand and simply keep on reading. Their meanings will become apparent eventually from the context and illustrations. Finally, if the going gets tough, simply stop reading and try a different one. Don't try too hard to finish! If you do, you might begin to hate reading in Japanese.

There is one audio track that did not fit on the included CD. You can download it from Ask Publishings website.

Sample Audio


This audio sample is taken from Level 4 Volume 1