Stories

Easy Japanese stories you write yourself

Very simple Japanese stories you write yourself, one word at a time. Read the translation, handwrite each word in hiragana, katakana or first-grade kanji, then tap any word or particle to learn what it means.

How it works

Each chapter is a handful of short sentences. You see a sentence in your own language and write it in Japanese, word by word, on the drawing pad: kana free-hand, kanji traced over a faint guide. Turn on “Show each character” while you are starting out, or “Hint only” to write from memory. When a sentence is finished, every word and particle can be tapped for its meaning, its dictionary form, its sound and a grammar note.

One story in one hundred chapters

“Ema and Kinako” follows Ema, ten years old, through her first year in Japan with a mysterious family friend, Yuki-san, and a Shiba dog who might be able to talk. Ema learns Japanese at the same pace as you: the first chapter is just “I am Ema”, and by the last she speaks casually with her family. Every chapter has its own picture strip, and every word comes from the first twenty lessons of Minna no Nihongo, plus a few that children need.

Grammar as you go

The chapters follow the grammar lessons in order — the state of being, particles, adjectives, verbs, the past tense — and then the Minna no Nihongo grammar: the て-form, 〜たい, 〜てもいい, the dictionary form and, at the end, plain speech. Each chapter lists the rules it practised, with links back to the lesson.

Keep learning

Learn the letters first on the hiragana chart, and keep every word from the stories in your vocabulary decks for spaced-repetition review.