This is the English version of an article I wrote last year that is now published in a Japanese book!Japanese reading -up -up to the multiple deep growth leader (Nihon Gon G Dokusho: Hiroshin)It is an introduction to the extensive Japanese reading that includes new practices, research and knowledge.
How I discovered Tadoku
I was obsessed with the Japanese language for a short trip to Japan at the age of 19.After the university, I moved to Japan, where I worked in the city of Nagoya for four years.When I returned to Britain in 2014, I started Japan in Brighton at my school teaches.
Teaching Group Courses, from beginners to intermediate level in Japanese Step Up.
My students are all adults who usually come once a week for a 90 -minute class.They often learn Japanese to travel to Japan or as a hobby.alphabet.
It is not easy to learn and write Japanese.And since my students have only one class a week, it's hard for some to remember Hiragana and Katakana (the two basic "alphabets" of the Japanese writing system).That my students wanted to read books and manga in Japanese, but I noticed that they often had difficulty finding an ebents reading material.
I could see that students would benefit from more reading practices at all levels. In 2018, I decided to start reading a new course.
To this point, I had read mainly as a homework - "conventional" reading understanding - tasks attributed to my students often that this type of homework was difficult.I used workbook materials that accompanied the books used in the classroom, but the exercises were often more difficult than the textbook material studied in the classroom.Students could only read these texts if they used a dictionary.And even where they could understand the exercises, they didn't seem to find it particularly interesting.
In the upper classes, we try other things like readingto marryManga (four -panel comics), but students usually find it difficult.Students liked the studentsto marryManga class, but in the end I would translate to English so they could understand.
Ihad began to wonder if there could be another way.There were so many interesting books and manga that my students would like, but they were and read the unbeaten understanding.I was looking for on -line and then discovered Tadoku's study method.
Tadoku, sometimes called extensive reading, is the practice of learning a language reading many books.In Tadoku, read materials that are slightly below your current level of study.They are encouraged to skip words and phrases that do not understand, and the focus is on reading.
I thought it could be great to try my students, so I ordered some readers of NPO Tadoku with classification.
I was a little nervous when starting a Tadoku course.What would I do as a teacher while students read - will only sit there?If students wanted to practice solo reading, you could do it at home, wouldn't you?Who would register for a reading course in which you read it in silence ...?
When I calmed down, I bought the book of NPO Tadoku.Introduction to multiple leaders' lessons for Japanese teachers("An introduction to Tadoku for Japanese teachers"), who had many useful case studies and practical advice.I was particularly encouraged to read that everything they need to find a Tadoku group are some basic components: books, a place to read and a teacher (or "supporter").
Tadoku's books arrived from Japan and seemed to be a good level for my students.But I was still worried - did my adult students really want to read "The Three Little Pigs" in Japanese?
I turned the book and was surprised - it was a lot of fun!The writings flowed beautiful and the photos were cute too.I knew, I read the book in front of me.
2018: Tendan
My tadoku courses are short sessions of 55 minutes each.In each session, the first 45 minutes of solo reading are dedicated and the last 10 minutes are for the "book discussion" if students talk in small groups about what you read (especially in English, but sometimes in Japanese).
All I had prepared for this first course was the phrase of NPO Tadoku and some free tadoku books that I had printed on -line, but in the first session I realized that I would need more books!In fact, I didn't think my students in the Japanese could read so quickly.In a long time, I ordered more classified readers in Japan.
An evolution of reading ...?
I started learning Japanese in 2007, but it was in 2012 before reading an entire book in the language.
When I started studying Japanese, I dreamed of reading Haruki Murakami's "Wood Wood" in the original Japanese for a day.I tried to read manga and novels early, but they were very difficult and I gave up soon.These were so many words that I didn't know and would look for all the words in the dictionary, so the process was slow and a little painful.
(Now I love to read Japanese novels. But it frustrated that it took so long that it came to this point and it was not always a rewarding process ...)
This summer of 2018, in the middle of the Tadoku course, I went to Lisbon on vacation.I drank beer on the beach and read "convenience store Woman" in the original Japanese.
This time, I didn't use a dictionary.I just tried to read about Tadoku's principles and jumping unknown words and phrases - and it was a lot of fun.I finished the book much faster than expected and because I didn't use a dictionary, I could really lose myself in history.
I had never experienced this with a Japanese book.I realized that my concept had changed completely, which means "reading Japanese."
So Tadoku was revolutionary to my students - but also had a great influence on me.
If I only knew about Tadoku in 2007 - I could have read a lot of funny books in these first five years!
2019: Add manga and photo books to the mixture
Student feedback was great and in 2019 I conducted another 6 -week summer course, and about half of the students were returned who had participated from the previous year.
In addition to graduated readers, I added a loose manga and some photo books.Children's books with simple Japanese like Tarō Gomi'sSomeone is there("Someone is there") and Katsu Kiuchi'sVegetable Makeup -UP("Within vegetables") were popular among my students, especially beginners.
2020: Tente Tabadocu online
Due to Covid 19 pandemic, I changed all my learning on -line in March 2020 and therefore the Tadoku 2020 course was also moving on -line.As before, there were six sessions with a maximum of 12 students, and this was exhausted quickly.
(As this course was online for the first time and all the materials we used were free on -line resources, I offered this course at half price.)
At the beginning of each zoom session, I showed students new books and resources and put them in their individual rooms for the reading session.He read and, if necessary, gave suggestions.
The last 10 minutes of "Talk Book" were still dedicated, in which students speak in pairs or three.This year I also suggested that students perform a reading protocol about what they read and what they thought.
My impression is that more students heard the audio files that accompany classified readers, probably because these materials were easier to access on an on -line course.They were read, which also proved to be popular.
S -Suplementary TS 'LE S
Tadoku is probably the most popular course that I run at Japanese Step Up.
Sara has been a student for several years.I interviewed her about Tadoku in the summer of 2019, when she was at the level of the superior beginners and level 0 and 1 Tadoku -Bücher is what she had to say:
"It's really the simplest books that exist in my case, but they are really small cute stories. And it's great to get back from work and just sit there and you get your practice doesn't seem to practice because they focus on the story."
We asked Sara what she had read that day and we say what was happening in the story:
"The country's mouse went to the city's mouse house and found out how scary it was because there were humans and cats and the rest of them."I recognized, and then I discovered what the two words were in front of "mouse."
From this comment, we can see that Sara managed to follow the story, a Japanese translation of "The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse".Machi("City") disse.
David participated in Tadoku courses in Step Up Japanese Three Summer consecutive and, when I interviewed him in 2019, he read around level 2:
"I like Tadoku because it gives me the opportunity to read Japanese without understanding the pressure, every word."
Obviously, feedback is not always positive!Some students believe it is simply impossible without reading a dictionary, and others are not interested in reading children's books.
As we are in Britain, some students do not contact Japanese outside our classes.For some of these beginners who still learn Hiragana and Katakana, there are also some tadoku books at level 0 that can be very difficult.I recommend photos of children or simpler books at level 0.
After our first session of the Taboku 2020 on -line course, I received this and email from another student.He had read the bookTamago("Eggs") Once at Tadoku's meeting and read it again after the session, because he liked it a lot: