Novels For Light Reading

[Kandy Swartzel]

Atwhich level am I able to read light novels and visual novels on WaniKani?

I have been using GENKI and also Tae Kim to get a feel of the grammar and have been using WaniKani as Kanji/vocabulary learning.

Was wondering which level is it the most appropriate to start reading Japanese novels if I have already started to build a foundation on Japanese grammar through GENKI and Tae Kim?

and if I have finished both of these two grammar resources what resources should I use afterwards to go N4 and higher?

Right now, at level 41, I am able to read intermediate books like manga and even simple articles on newspapers with struggle but it is still not about the content of what I am reading. And grammar is a major blocker, especially because they use 敬語(polite grammar) which no one really uses in their daily life.

There are technical tools that can help you tackle VNs (extracting the dialogue, so you can use digital dictionaries to look up kanji for example), that makes playing VNs viable pretty early on. If you only have the patience to do it.

Light novels are much harder. Then you really need to have enough kanji under your belt to make it feasible. Not impossible, but too time-consuming to make sense to me. So make light novels a long-distance goal for yourself, perhaps, and try out VNs earlier than that with the proper tools to help you!

In my opinion at Wanikani level 30 and knowing at least all N5 grammar points will make reading visual novels possible. Of course you will still need to look up unknown words, grammar and kanji. Reading will be very slow in the beginning but it will get easier over time.

For a longer answer to the first, I would say that it depends on your standards for reading, but I would guess no less than N3 grammar and kanji up to level 30 on the low end, to (on the high end) level 60, N1 grammar plus a decent amount of grammar not on the JLPT, plus a few hundred kanji, plus the part of the core 10k not on WK, plus a few manga under your belt. Both are rather extreme, and I would guess level 50ish kanji plus N2 grammar plus maybe a thousand of the most common words not on WK (kana only and kanji words just not chosen to be covered) along with having read at least one manga or other comparitively simple work.

For a longer answer to the second, I believe that reading is most beneficial for upper intermediate to lower advanced learners. And even then, there is still room for studying for a variety of topics. That being said, that is just an opinion, and others would disagree.

This is similar to another post I made but I wanted to know when would be a good time to start reading light novels and manga. I just finished N5 today (woohoo) and I would like to have N4 tackled by July. I am also level 9 on wanikani and am slowly ranking up. I want to read mid-level light novels and manga. Would N4 be sufficient for this? (maybe something like quints or dr. stone is what I would want to read).

For light novels, I would recommend holding off until you have a bit more grammar and vocab. Maybe try an easy light novel once you finish N4 stuff. You can do it whenever, but it might be harder to follow along and you will be looking up a lot more per page.

I think Manga is more easier than light novel for N4 and N5 level. If you want to read something that still makes you enjoy the book/manga and without looking at dictionary every sentences, here is my path, might be helpful for you as a reference :

The way how I prepared myself for manga reading is to go thru the Memrise Yotsubato Vocabulary list (yes, someone made a course on that) , and only start to read a book after I finished all the vocab listed in the Memrise course for that particular book.

As other recommended, bookmeter (in Japanese only) and learnatively are great tools. Learnatively is good for finding something that might be your level, while bookmeter is better at finding something based on what you have read that might interest you.

Books written in the first person perspective are a lot easier to read and if you want to brush up your listening skills, look for books with an audio book available. I bought the one for Kiki and it was great to hear it spoken by a native speaker and getting the rythm instead of stumbeling through the chapter.

There is never an easy time to start reading, you just gotta bite the bullet and start with whatever you are comfortable with. I read 5 volumes of Yotsuba& and then started Nisekoi (I am on the fourth volume and read pretty often)

I agree that sometimes reading the hiragana and not seeing the Kanji makes it super confusing to figure out what they are talking about, as you have to rely on the context a lot. The beauty of the light novel labels I linked earlier is that all the Kanji is there, but it has furigana in case you need it.

You will notice a lot of people started with Yotsubato. There is a really good reason for this. It has pictures to help context, yes, the content is funny even for adults, but the most important aspect is that it uses a lot of everyday Japanese. The language is really useful. You will encounter it elsewhere, and there are dedicated vocab decks with audo (memrise) just for Yotsubato.

Comb through this thread for supplementary reading, apps, and apps to bolster your reading. People have mentioned wanikani, free samples on Amazon JP, bookmeter, Book Walker, Satori Reader, learnnatively, and more. Just brilliant, thanks everyone!

My #1 answer? Heating and Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly, a funny, wonderful book of 52 mini memoirs. Some are a few sentences; some a few pages. I devoured the entire thing in one night, cuddled up in bed. Fennelly talks about marriage, motherhood, writing, loss, friendship, whatever is on her mind and in her heart. Although some themes are serious, you leave the book feeling seen and soaring.

I just finished The Rose Code and it is so. so. good. It follows three young women as they are recruited to break German enigma codes during WWII and tells the fairly true stories behind their lives, friendships, and romances. I laughed out loud, I sobbed, I clutched my heart, I covered my eyes. All the feelings!

The Wreckage of My Presence by actor/comedian Casey Wilson. She is such a gifted and hilarious storyteller with so much heart. This collection of essays was hands down my favorite book of last year. It had me in tears from laughter and surprisingly touching and honest moments.

I love that book so much. I just finished Under the Whispering Door by the same author (TJ Klune) and it was just as lovely. If anyone has book recommendations that feel like similar hugs, I would love to hear them (mine are Goodbye Vitamin and Nothing to See Here)

Anxious people is so great! I heard the audiobook and the narrator was amazing, making the book even better. It was also made into a Netflix short serie but sadly, in my opinion, the humor did not pass on to the screen. Anyway, great book! Highly recommend.

Depending on my mood, for light reading I usually go to a David Sedaris essay, or a John Cheever short story (the latter is my go-to summer reading when I need a quick fix). I also loved Roald Dahl short stories for adults, very unexpected at times, but some of them are completely enjoyable reads.

I love comment threads like these. Thank you everyone for all the recs!! For audiobooks, I really like the James Herriot books about his vet practice in Yorkshire back in the day. They are old fashioned but so funny!

My favorites:

28 summers by Elin Hilderbrand

The undomestic goddess by Sophie Kinsella

A man called Ove by Frederick Backman

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

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