Short Stories in Japanese: New Penguin Parallel Text

Good price tag, top notch writers. You cant go wrong with Pinguin.

I really like this book and the way it is structured. I like that the japanese text is written from right to left and from up and down. I also like that the text in japanese is on the right page and on the left is the english translation. It looks really great; not only that but it is also very useful having eight short stories, starting from the easiest one and the more you go further the harder it gets.

Great book, easy to read and follow stories. The furigana is very helpful, it is used for every new kanji but if it appears again it is not used, unlike most other books that use furigana. I find it very good because it challenges you to remember the word. I'm currently preparing for the JLPT N2 and this book is an amazing reading practice for it. I highly recommend it.

Others have described well the layout for this book, which features it has and which it lacks. The stories are pitched comfortably at the higher intermediate reader and you will occasionally have to use your dictionaries - the inclusion of furigana alongside new kanji compounds is helpful for digital dictionaries. The paper quality is similar to a typical English paperback novel and the text size is a little bigger than you would find in a typical small Japanese paperback - whilst I often struggle with Japanese paperbacks without the help of reading glasses I am able to read this without aid. This book is very much cheaper than most Kodansha Bilingual Books and Penguin are to be commended on producing such an affordable and readable book.

Bought it for my boyfriend for Christmas, and he absolutely loves it! It is challenging, so I wouldn't recommend it to beginners. It teaches a great deal when you're at the point when reading regular books in Japanese is a bit too much but you can follow a TV-show without subs just fine, and with a little bit of help, read lots of kanjis, and all the katakana and hiragana. I would recommend to have a kanji-dictionary handy when reading this book.

great for someone that wants to advance their japanese level but hasnt the oppertnuity to be able to afford lessons or even a trip to japan! not recomended for the beginer as their are many kanji and grammar structures that may not be understood. well worth a read to increase vocab and great stories too!!

I used this book as extra study material for my Level 2 (beginner/intermediate) Japanese final exam and it markedly helped improve my reading speed. Strongly recommend to any other students or casual learners trying to improve their language skills as reading these stories is a really fantastic way to learn.

Perfect. Only Started the first few pages. There is enough stories here to last me a while. The only thing is there is no audio which would help me with Japanese pronunciation, but still seems like a good book because the translations are superb

This book is quite good for someone wanting to start breaking into Japanese literature. The stories are written in natural Japanese rather than the more academic kind often found in textbooks and the authors are well known in the literary world. However, a warning for intermediate students - for most, it will require extensive use of a dictionary and many new words, at least initially. However, the material, though hard is accessible and will do wonders for your language acquisition efforts. I recommend reading this text with a tutor such as one you might find on Wizant. Ganbatte ne!

Very good book. The only complaint is that the kanji and furigana are small. You will need to provide a magnifying glass to be comfortable. Très bon bouquin. Le seul reproche qu'on peut faire est que les kanji et furigana sont assez petits. Il vous faudra utiliser une loupe pour être confortable.

Das buch gibt mir genau das was ich brauche :) Ich möchge gerne in der lage sein auf japanisch zu lesen und mit dem englischen text direkt daneben wird es einem zumindest so leicht wie möglich gemacht. Immer noch wirklich schwierig voranzukommen aber das buch macht es einem zumindest so leicht wie es geht

The book was in perfect condition. The book itself is ideal for Japanese learners who can refer to the parallel English text and build on their vocabulary—a 10/10 recommendation from an N4 candidate!

Me encantó, muy buen libro para seguir aprendiendo el Japonés