I started Japanese rather recently and I'm currently looking for some beginner level reading materials, both to strengthen my kana-game (I haven't started with kanji yet) as well as to work on vocabulary outside of renshuu and my lessons.
I know it would probably be best to first master what I've already been taught but at the same time I want to find more varied sources, as I'll end up understanding more out of memory than because I understand what I read.
Very simple manga like よつばと! or Tadoku (graded readers). The first few levels of Tadoku can be quite boring, but that's because they are made for beginners.
Honestly, if you have close to zero experience, graded readers might be the best to kinda get started. There's also some channels on YouTube that do read alongs (a good amount of beginner content).
Maybe NHK's easy news? Satori reader gets recommended a lot (I haven't used it though).
Online Tadoku free graded readers are probably an unbeatable resource. Also any small children's books all in hiragana will be good. Try your library? Find second hand?
Fwiw I love this particular book, and the cute lady reading it too!
„Satori reader“ is indeed fantastic, but probably a bit early… If you still want to give it a try, check the kanji settings in Satori reader, since you can adjust that perfectly to your own level of Kanji.
I have exported my known kanji from renshuu and imported them in Satori reader, so I get Furigana (Hiragana on top of Kanji) only for Kanji I don‘t know.
If you're looking for simple begginer friendly reading, I'd reccomend reading japanese childrens book!
I find them really cute and enjoyable! But if your looking for something a bit less childish, you could try reading regular manga! If you'd like I give a few suggestions!
For slightly more challenging material that's still geared towards learners, Satori Reader, yomu yomu, YomuJP, and NHK Easy.
When you're ready to make the jump to content that's made by and for native speakers, Learn Natively is a fantastic resource. Many of the top picks there have links to useful supplemental material - vocab lists, book club discussions, etc.
If you're looking for simple begginer friendly reading, I'd reccomend reading japanese childrens book!
I find them really cute and enjoyable! But if your looking for something a bit less childish, you could try reading regular manga! If you'd like I give a few suggestions!hope this helps!
That "Crystal Hunters" manga is a decent, fun read and pitched at adult beginner language learners. Renshuu's own manga is good too. I don't know about recommending regular manga to a beginner though. They might be tempted to skip straight to the English translation.
I'll check my local library to see if they have anything to offer, but I doubt I'll find anything outside of books to teach Japanese. I'll look into tadoku for now and check out the other options when I feel a bit more at ease. I hope I'll be able to read my usual manga in Japanese one day!
I forget how to find it, but I know it can be found. It's that adventures of Kao. I've been using Renshuu for about two years and at the beginning, getting a new episode of the Kao manga seemed to be an incentive to keep studying. AFAIK you would be way beyond that reading level now.
Short stories for japanese language learners by japanese language park.
there's 5 books in the series so far, with the first 2 aimed at beginners. You do need a good grasp of hiragana and katakana tho. No romaji, but all the kanji has furigana.
