The Magic of Tadoku: “Extensive reading” in Japanese

The Magic of Tadoku: “Extensive reading” in Japanese

This is the English version of an article I wrote last year which is now published in a Japanese book! 日本語多読 上 ~広がり深化する多読 (Nihongo Tadoku Jou: Hirogaru Shinka Suru Tadoku) is an introduction to Japanese extensive reading that incorporates new practices, research, and knowledge.

How I discovered Tadoku
Ever since a short trip to Japan when I was 19, I’ve been obsessed with the Japanese language. After university I moved to Japan, where I worked in Nagoya city for four years. On returning to the UK in 2014, I started teaching Japanese in Brighton at my school, Step Up Japanese…

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Tadoku - Let's Read! Course Introduction Video (and transcript)

Tadoku - Let's Read! Course Introduction Video (and transcript)

Tadoku (多読), also called Extensive Reading, is the practice of learning a foreign language by reading lots of easy books. It's a really fun way to explore the Japanese language, without feeling pressure to understand every word.

This footage is from the 2019 Tadoku Summer Course at Step Up Japanese in Brighton, UK. In summer 2020, we also held our first Online Tadoku course.

Thanks to Daniel Sheen for making this video!

Watch the video, or scroll down to read a transcript. Click "CC" to turn on the subtitles 👍

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A Year of Monthly Japanese Learning Challenges

A Year of Monthly Japanese Learning Challenges

How do you keep practising Japanese, even when it doesn’t seem relevant? How do you stay motivated, when your life and your motivations change?

At the beginning of 2019, I decided to set myself a series of monthly Japanese study challenges. I’d do one every other month, and blog about it.

In January, I tried to speak Japanese every day for a month. This was probably the hardest challenge, from a logistical perspective. I don’t live in Japan, and we don’t speak Japanese at home (much). At the time, I was also working another job three days a week, where I wasn’t using Japanese at all. So speaking Japanese every day was, quite literally, a challenge.

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日本語教室で多読のコースを開いてみたイギリス人日本語教師の感想

日本語教室で多読のコースを開いてみたイギリス人日本語教師の感想

私はどっちかといえばもの静かなほうだと思いますが、日本語を教える時はうるさい時もあります。授業では歌を歌ったり、盆踊りを踊ったり、にぎやかなゲームをしたりしています。隣の部屋で会議を行おうとしていた人たちに「少し静かにしてくれませんか」と注意されたこともあります。 

でも、2018年に私はとても静かな日本語の授業を開きました。この授業では、生徒は主に一人で黙って勉強していました。 

私はその授業の「先生」だったけれど、私も一人で手作りの絵本を読んでいて、時々生徒が大丈夫かを確かめるために目を上げただけ。

これは「多読」です。普通の日本語の授業と全然違う読解の学習法です。

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'Tadoku': Here's What I Learned From Running a Japanese Silent Reading Course

'Tadoku': Here's What I Learned From Running a Japanese Silent Reading Course

I’m not a particularly loud person, but some parts of my Japanese classes are quite loud. We sing and dance, talk and play games. We’ve even been asked to keep the noise down before by a group in the next room who were having a meeting (sorry about that!)

But in summer 2018, I ran a very quiet course. Students worked alone, in a comfortable silence.

And I was the teacher, but I mostly sat reading a hand-stapled book, looking up only to check that students were happily entertaining themselves.

This was Tadoku - a reading class with a difference.

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