Back in August / September 2021, I went on some crazy study journey to read my first book 天気の子, and since then I have read 3 more books, and currently on my 5th book now. It’s crazy now because I legit despised reading anything in Japanese before this.
I’m not an expert by any means, but I wanted to share some of the overall benefits I’ve noticed from reading books specifically (not manga, news articles, 読解). A lot of this is self-explanatory and you probably know already, so I just want to highlight on it.
*Reading is actually a lot more fun through books
I know this sounds like “duh”, but before I had only read short stories and 読解, so I had no idea how much reading a full-length story with different characters and plots can bring out so much more emotions (similar to reading in your native language). You can get invested into the story more. The key is to choose a book you actually like. Don’t force yourself to complete something you don’t like.
*Intensive reading can really help with introducing new words and vocabulary retention
This is pretty self-explanatory, but lots of words will repeat in a book, so noticing those repeating words and writing them down helps you memorize them better compared to vocabulary lists. It feels kind of like magic how you can remember so much easier. The key to this is to not have long breaks in between reading sessions bc otherwise you will have forgotten what words repeated.
*You will be able to read faster and guess words based on the context overall
This is also obvious, but at first you will be painstakingly slowly and it stinks. But after a while, you become more accustomed to the writing style and you can read faster. Same goes for guessing meanings of words because you can start to use “context clues” (English Lit reminders) to guess unknown kanji and words. All of this also will translate back to standard textbook essays and test prep.
*There are hundreds of books to chose from
I think this is more for reading motivation, but once I started reading, I realized there’s so many books out there (even for language learners). You are not limited at all. I’m not usually into buying books, but Book Off has been hard to resist. Buying more books has also motivated me to keep going and study more to be able to eventually read the more difficult books.
*Reading books motivates you to keep reading
Once you start reading, you can’t stop (for me at least). It’s like an obsession (the good kind). These days I like to try to have a book that I’m currently reading, even if I’m not reading consistently everyday.
*You can compare reading experiences with fellow Japanese studiers
This goes more into the community aspect, but there’s like an unofficial Japanese book club on IG studygram. You can compare or share novels you have read, which helps boost motivation to keep going when it gets tough.
I hope some of these tips are helpful or motivational.
framed in beige 