The Reajer Method
Reading Japanese often seems like an intimidating and arduous task for learners. But developing your reading skills to a high level can actually be enjoyable—as long as you have the right resources. Reajer is all about creating the ideal combination of such resources in order to give you access to real, authentic Japanese literature and putting the fun back into reading this difficult but fascinating language.
Each Reajer bilingual text is a standalone unit featuring a short story, an essay, or selected poems, which can be used independently from any other unit in the series. The original Japanese texts are all in the public domain (all the other materials on the website are copyrighted by Dan Bornstein). The Japanese texts are presented as they were originally printed, without simplifications or changes other than occasional spelling adjustments for readability. This gives you the opportunity to get to know the actual, living language, as used by native Japanese authors who write for a native Japanese audience.
Reajer study texts, including the book you are reading now, are arranged as follows:
Regular exposure to such texts is the surest way to develop your reading skills in Japanese. If you are still at the early stages of your studies, I recommend reading the English translation first and then working with the original Japanese: by doing so you will make more rapid progress.
Each Reajer bilingual text is a standalone unit featuring a short story, an essay, or selected poems, which can be used independently from any other unit in the series. The original Japanese texts are all in the public domain (all the other materials on the website are copyrighted by Dan Bornstein). The Japanese texts are presented as they were originally printed, without simplifications or changes other than occasional spelling adjustments for readability. This gives you the opportunity to get to know the actual, living language, as used by native Japanese authors who write for a native Japanese audience.
Reajer study texts, including the book you are reading now, are arranged as follows:
- The text is broken down into sentences.
- Each new sentence is marked with a triangle (▼) for easy orientation.
- Each sentence appears twice, with the second version showing the kanji readings. In order to achieve optimal visibility and compatibility with a wide range of viewing environments, the readings follow the characters instead of being placed above them.
- An English translation follows right below the second version of the Japanese sentence. The translation is as literal as possible, but may add information for clarity.
- Where necessary, language notes appear below the translation, marked with bullet points.
- The original text of the selection appears again at the end of the text, this time without translation or annotation. Kanji readings that were originally indicated in the text are included here as well.
Regular exposure to such texts is the surest way to develop your reading skills in Japanese. If you are still at the early stages of your studies, I recommend reading the English translation first and then working with the original Japanese: by doing so you will make more rapid progress.