Readings

Help: What is this?

Learning a foreign language doesn't simply encompass memorizing the words and the writing system. Reading text in Japanese is essential to obtain a good feeling of how the language really works.

The difficulty when you are in an intermediary stage of learning is to find texts that are both:

  • not too difficult for your current level of understanding;
  • not too easy so that you still learn something;
  • interesting to read!

A solution is to find good books containing Japanese texts graded by difficulty, but good books are often too expensive. It also takes time to understand which books are good for you, and which are too hard, too easy, or just bad books.

Sakura Dict's idea is that there is a resource with plenty of free japanese reading material: the Internet! According to w3techs.com, 5% of the Web is in Japanese. The Japanese Wikipedia itself contains more than half a milion articles.

Sakura Dict uses a sophisticated algorithm to grade texts found on the Internet according to their difficulty, along three scales: kanji difficulty, vocabulary difficulty and grammar difficulty. It also compiles lists of kanji and words to help memorize what you need in order to understand the text.

Source: Wikipedia

  1. アンパサンド

    English title: Ampersand
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1--, grammar (coming soon)
    536 words

  2. 言語

    English title: Language
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    5299 words

  3. 地理学

    English title: Geography
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1--, grammar (coming soon)
    3655 words

  4. EU

    English title: EU (disambiguation)
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    183 words

  5. パリ

    English title: Paris
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    9531 words

  6. ヨーロッパ

    English title: Europe
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    6957 words

  7. 生物

    English title: Organism
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    2537 words

  8. コケ植物

    English title: Bryophyte
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    3657 words

  9. 社会学

    English title: Sociology
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    4315 words

  10. 古代エジプト

    English title: Ancient Egypt
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    2426 words

  11. エジプト

    English title: Egypt
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    7524 words

  12. 著作権の保護期間

    English title: Copyright term
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    11042 words

  13. 台東区

    English title: Taitō, Tokyo
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    6845 words

  14. 地理

    English title: (Unknown)
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    1468 words

  15. 生物学

    English title: Biology
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    6563 words

  16. 社会

    English title: Society
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    2885 words

  17. こどもの文化

    English title: Children\'s culture
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0+, grammar (coming soon)
    1117 words

  18. 特撮

    English title: Tokusatsu
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    953 words

  19. 情報工学

    English title: Information engineering
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 3++, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    827 words

  20. 形式言語

    English title: Formal language
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1--, grammar (coming soon)
    1816 words

  21. 文脈自由言語

    English title: Context-free language
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1--, grammar (coming soon)
    960 words

  22. 正規言語

    English title: Regular language
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 3++, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    728 words

  23. 自然言語処理

    English title: Natural language processing
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    1795 words

  24. 自然言語

    English title: Natural language
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 3++, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    212 words

  25. プログラミング言語

    English title: Programming language
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    6625 words

  26. 人工知能

    English title: Artificial intelligence
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    2821 words

  27. オーストリア

    English title: Austria
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    9921 words

  28. GNU

    English title: GNU Free Documentation License
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1--, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    2049 words

  29. ゴーダチーズ

    English title: Gouda cheese
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 1--, grammar (coming soon)
    327 words

  30. バールーフ・デ・スピノザ

    English title: Baruch Spinoza
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    4190 words

  31. 文脈自由文法

    English title: Context-free grammar
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1--, grammar (coming soon)
    3098 words

  32. フランス語

    English title: French language
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    2592 words

  33. スペイン語

    English title: Spanish language
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    7800 words

  34. 宗教学

    English title: Religious studies
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 1--, grammar (coming soon)
    538 words

  35. 音楽

    English title: Music
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    3839 words

  36. インドネシア

    English title: Indonesia
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    11328 words

  37. イラク

    English title: Iraq
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    14214 words

  38. イラン

    English title: Iran
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    11298 words

  39. タイ

    English title: Tai
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    317 words

  40. チュニジア

    English title: Tunisia
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    6880 words

  41. トルコ

    English title: Turkey
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    9685 words

  42. ロシア

    English title: Russia
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    13152 words

  43. 哲学

    English title: Philosophy
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    13769 words

  44. ブラックミュージック

    English title: African-American music
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 1, grammar (coming soon)
    127 words

  45. 物理学

    English title: Physics
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1--, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    4401 words

  46. 新聞学

    English title: (Unknown)
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    535 words

  47. ソクラテス

    English title: Socrates
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    7860 words

  48. スポーツ

    English title: Sport
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    1566 words

  49. 薬学

    English title: Pharmacy
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    724 words

  50. 身体装飾

    English title: (Unknown)
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    607 words

  51. 宝石

    English title: Gemstone
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    3073 words

  52. ネマティック液晶

    English title: Liquid crystal#Nematic phase
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    504 words

  53. 文学

    English title: Literature
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    2062 words

  54. 音楽家

    English title: Musician
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    1154 words

  55. アイシャ・ラドワーン

    English title: (Unknown)
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 3-, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    65 words

  56. 言語学

    English title: Linguistics
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1--, grammar (coming soon)
    3025 words

  57. 著作権

    English title: Copyright
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    7829 words

  58. 映画

    English title: Film
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    2293 words

  59. メーリングリスト

    English title: Electronic mailing list
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    1298 words

  60. 画像

    English title: Image
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    969 words

  61. ピアノ

    English title: Piano
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    10496 words

  62. 医学

    English title: Medicine
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    3428 words

  63. FAQ

    English title: FAQ
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    344 words

  64. パブリックドメイン

    English title: Public domain
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    3810 words

  65. 記録

    English title: Recording
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1--, grammar (coming soon)
    714 words

  66. 合理主義哲学

    English title: Rationalism
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    324 words

  67. イエスタデイ

    English title: Yesterday
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    1755 words

  68. Peer

    English title: Peer-to-peer
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    5282 words

  69. LimeWire

    English title: LimeWire
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    862 words

  70. 日本の漫画作品一覧

    English title: (Unknown)
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    131 words

  71. うる星やつら

    English title: Urusei Yatsura
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    4490 words

  72. 士郎正宗

    English title: Masamune Shirow
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    1755 words

  73. 高橋留美子

    English title: Rumiko Takahashi
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1--, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    5483 words

  74. ゲーム

    English title: Game
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1--, vocabulary 1--, grammar (coming soon)
    6664 words

  75. コンピュータゲーム

    English title: Electronic game
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    3388 words

  76. ゲームのタイトル一覧

    English title: (Unknown)
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1+, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    573 words

  77. 民族音楽

    English title: (Unknown)
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    1403 words

  78. 村上もとか

    English title: Motoka Murakami
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    2435 words

  79. うすた京介

    English title: Kyosuke Usuta
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    2552 words

  80. 浦沢直樹

    English title: Naoki Urasawa
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    3048 words

  81. 車田正美

    English title: Masami Kurumada
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    2104 words

  82. 高橋しん

    English title: Shin Takahashi
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    1586 words

  83. 高屋奈月

    English title: Natsuki Takaya
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    813 words

  84. 寺沢武一

    English title: Buichi Terasawa
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    910 words

  85. 鳥山明

    English title: Akira Toriyama
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    7703 words

  86. 永野のりこ

    English title: (Unknown)
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    1243 words

  87. 聖悠紀

    English title: (Unknown)
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    431 words

  88. 日渡早紀

    English title: Saki Hiwatari
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    463 words

  89. 藤島康介

    English title: Kōsuke Fujishima
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    1015 words

  90. 山下和美

    English title: Kazumi Yamashita (artist)
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    837 words

  91. 和田慎二

    English title: Shinji Wada
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    1756 words

  92. タンゴ

    English title: Tango
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 1--, grammar (coming soon)
    4360 words

  93. サンバ

    English title: Samba (disambiguation)
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    121 words

  94. スカ

    English title: Ska
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    1430 words

  95. 六道神士

    English title: Rikdo Koshi
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1-, vocabulary 0, grammar (coming soon)
    558 words

  96. フォスター

    English title: Foster
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2-, vocabulary 0-, grammar (coming soon)
    256 words

  97. エルヴィス・プレスリー

    English title: Elvis Presley
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    12315 words

  98. カーペンターズ

    English title: The Carpenters
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 2--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    12646 words

  99. スティーヴ・ライヒ

    English title: Steve Reich
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    2413 words

  100. ミニマル・ミュージック

    English title: Minimal music
    Difficulty rankings: kanji 1--, vocabulary 1-, grammar (coming soon)
    1110 words
BETA VERSION