Grammar Notes:
■ In the instructions, the phrase ジョンさんが 書いた 日記 is used. It means "the diary John wrote," but the literal order is "John-(subject marker)-wrote-diary." In Japanese, adjectives and verbs can be stacked behind nouns to further describe the noun: 半分 食べた ケーキ a half-eaten cake.
Key Vocabulary:
- 書いた wrote [from 書く (to write)]
- 日記 diary [日 is a N5 kanji, but 記 is N3. 記 means "scribe" or "narrative"]
- 読んで please read [from 読む (to read)]
- 質問 question; problems [while both kanji are N4, the word and the kanji are common]
- としょかん library [the kanji is 図書館. Only 書 is N5 kanji]
- 本 book
- でも but; however
- かりません didn't borrow [from 借りる (to borrow or rent)]
- コンビニ convenience store
- かいました bought [from 買う (to buy)]
- 学校 school [both kanji are N5]
- べんとう lunchbox; bento [the kanji is 弁当]
- ざっし magazine [the kanji is 雑誌]
- とても very
- べんり convenient [kanji: 便利 (both N3 kanji)]
This a great find! Really helps me with my Japanese reading and N5 prep.
Glad you found us and especially glad to hear it is helping 🙂
You might also like “Clay is Lost”:
https://www.thejapanesepage.com/clay-is-lost-a-beginners-hiragana-reader/
And Frank and the Obaasan:
https://www.thejapanesepage.com/frank-and-the-obaasan-japanese-reader-for-beginners/
Both are free above, but if you want more (and want to support us!), our Beri- Beri- Shoshinsha digital bundle has dozens of stories like that here:
https://www.thejapanshop.com/products/beri-beri-shoshinsha-beginners-bundle-digital-download
Thanks
I have just found your site and this is honestly amazing! I’m Russian trying to learn Japanese and I am really glad for this to exist! Thank you for audio version of the text, the test is also helps a lot!
Glad you found us! Enjoy learning Japanese.
Thanks for this! Question: How to read “#1”? (Or #2 etc?) Ichiban, niban, etc?
Excellent question! When written as “#1” it is usually pronounced ナンバーワン (number one), but it could be written as 一番 which would be いちばん. It may depend on the speaker, though.
Sound quality seems better on this web site than in the downloaded reading/sound files. Are they the same recordings? Both are excellent set of resources for N5. Many thanks.
Should be the same. However, the player that opens the downloaded MP3 could have a different playback setting as your browser audio player.
This is very helpful. Thank you 🙂
Glad you like it! We’ll do more like this.