I've always loved to read much more than listen. That was may portal into Dutch, and later back into English. Children's stories, Fairy Tales, the Narnian Chronicles, Science Fiction . . .
I firmly agree with Stephen Krashen's ideas on compulsive reading.
That said, I find myself not enjoying reading as much as I used to. No doubt tastes change. Naturaly I'm not as interested in children's stories. Diminishing eyesight pays a role. It's a nuisance to have to use reading glasses. You get out of the habit too.
So what are the considerations as regards reading Japanese material?
At present, I like the idea of completing a book, so it needs to be quite short. I quickly get frustrated when I don't understand enough (not everything) or when the font is too small.
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I'm Going Camping by Akiko Hayashi, 1984 |
Other books can work too, but it requires more care and attention. Books at a higher level need to be tackled appropriately. You need to have a doable task in mind for each one, depending on the book itself. You need scanning and skimming tasks, i+1word and sentence extraction, underlining of known content etc.
Tackle each book on a case by case basis, it seems to me. Take a look at it and decide: How can I use this to improve my language knowledge most quickly and most enjoyably by using this?
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