Summer Japanese Reading Club

Summer club. The WTMA Summer Japanese Reading Club is designed to keep students practicing their language skills and engaging in reading and discussion over the summer break. Students will come together with their instructor once a week to talk about that week’s reading.

The same reading list is used year by year so that students get the benefit of repeating the “Level 1” stories they read the previous year while also encountering new “Level 2” or “Level 3” stories. When reading, students are asked to follow the rules of tadoku, Japanese-style reading practice: (1) Begin with material that’s below your level; (2) Never use a dictionary; (3) Skip over any individual words you don’t understand; and (4) If you go multiple pages without understanding, try a different text. For this reading club, there is an additional rule: (5) No competing with your fellow club members. Students should seek to improve in comparison to their own previous status, not against anyone else.