じてんしゃ自転車のえ絵 A Drawing of a Bike by Natalie Rees
The present tense is adopted throughout this entire text to support this reading level. It is valuable to note however, that unlike the use of the present tense in English writing, to describe events as they unfold, this approach is not commonly adopted in Japanese stories. As you further your Japanese reading experience, you may notice the writing weaves in and out of present and past tense in a way that is not observed in English texts. There is a myriad of situations and contexts that determine the reasons writers use this technique and an understanding of this is best developed through ongoing reading of various texts.
In this text you will notice that the expression 'いいなぁ' is used twice. This expression is very common, and although a literal translation would be something like 'it's good isn't it', the appropriate meaning is specific to the context, as indicated by the two different translations used.
This text has been selected to suit reading level: Beginner.
However, it includes some vocabulary and phrases that you would not necessarily be expected to know at that level.
We believe knowledge of such vocabulary and phrases is beneficial at any stage of Japanese language learning,
as they are commonly used in everyday language.
Many of the readings in the Reading Corner, such as this one, have additional notes in the introduction.
The notes often provide extra information that will help you get more out of the text, including links to articles in the Grammar library.
Additional notes are included with some of the individual sentences in a reading directly below the text.
