I would really like to us the voacbulary I learn. I was wondering if end of level 1 what can I read? I think if there could be books attached to each level that we should be able to read after completing each level it would be great.
And would really love to know, after what level I can attempt to read Harry Potter in Japanese ?
Iâd recommend trying the Japanese Graded Readers. They can be bought on White Rabbit. But they have an app as well.
If you use a program like WKstats, it will use your WK API to determine what percentage of kanji and vocab you have for each JLPT level.
These Graded Readers are levelled by JLPT level, so itâs pretty easy to determine what one should be able to read.
As for Harry Potter, I havenât read it in Japanese personally, but Iâve heard people say N3 level at least.
According to WKstats, at level 51, a user will have learnt 100% of the Kanji for N3.
I should also add, in addition to WK, if you want to read, you should probably work on Grammar too, if youâre not already. I havenât used it yet, but a similar program to WK but for grammar is called âBunproâ. Alternatively, The Japanese Time released a series of really useful grammar dictionaries that can be used while you are reading.
Also, there are a few bookclubs on the WK forums, thereâs an Absolute Beginner one as well and weâre starting a new book next week. If youâre up to that level.
Good luck!
I havenât picked it up to re-try recently, but that seems quite accurate. At the time pretty much only N5 knowledge - barely got into chapter two after quite some effort before giving up.
I guess my version is without furigana, so that got in the way also, but I would not call it a very straightforward read in JP.
And the JP audiobook version is also read out very rapidly. 
Could not keep up with Mcgonagallâs dialogue at all when listening. >>
If youâre on more of a budget, you can also get some free graded readers here, and more if you follow the links at the bottom of the page. The writing/art quality of them is all over the place, but itâs reading practice regardless.
By level 30 you can probably read Harry Potter. Youâll still need a dictionary, but you should have enough to work with that you arenât looking up 10 new words in every sentence. You should also probably be familiar with up to N2 grammar as well. N3 might be sufficient, but N2 is definitely better.
Excellent resource! I wish I had known about this a long time ago!
Do you know any grammar? Thatâs likely going to be more important initially to bootstrap reading.
Wow thatâs a great resource! Thank you! Iâve not heard of that site before. Super helpful!
Also look at this dog! He wants to wear a Kimono too!
Maybe we could create a thread for short stories that incorporate a variety of the vocabulary and kanji from each level - as a community?
I often hear people talk about how the Japanese version of Harry Potter has lots of strange translation choices, so Iâve always hesitated to try reading it. I would be interested in hearing examples of them though, if anyone can find anything concrete.
Unrelated, but I find it really cute and funny how Japanese draw dogs eyebrows. It makes them look a bit fierce, but itâs super cute especially when the owner is drawn that way also
It depends how good your grammar is as well. Iâm roughly at JLPT N2 level, and I started trying to read Harry Potter last year. I would have been about level 35 in Wanikani at that point. I can struggle through it, but itâs still not easy for me. (Although, thatâs probably in large part because I havenât done enough reading generally!)
Isnât that just what their eyebrows look like?
Itâd be hard to give specific reading recommendations for each level for a few reasons (but pretty much all of them are centered around the fact that WK is a kanji-reading site and not a general Japanese-learning site):
We donât know how much youâve been learning or practicing grammar outside of WK, which is a large factor in determining how readable a text will be. (Possibly moreso than kanji, since you canât just look grammar constructions up on the flyâeven though obviously too many unknown kanji are also a deterrent.)
WK isnât structured around the frequency of its vocabulary, but the difficulty of its kanji, unlike, say, a specifically vocab-focused SRS app (like iKnow and others) might be. This means that thereâs a mix of obscure and foundational vocab spread out over all its levels. Itâs not a simple step up in complexity each part of the way. (It is for its kanji, but not necessarily the vocab tied to them.)
That said, Iâd totally suggest perusing reading material on your ownâwhether that means graded learners, easy news apps, light novels, or diving in on an even deeper end. Iâll say that in the 30s, kanji should no longer be the biggest hurdle for you in reading. That isnât to say youâll be able to comfortably read all adult-level prose in the 30sâitâs just to say that kanji should no longer be the most significant hurdle. (There will be unknown ones, but even most adult-oriented books will still be delivering them at a comfortable n+1 level where the unknowns are less common than the knowns, so you can start to remember them on your own.) So if your grammar and general vocab are sufficient, you can start making your way through. (You can also start making your way through even earlier.)
Also though, just, like, go ahead and try stuff thatâs too hard for you. Worst-case scenario, you decide itâs taking too long because you donât know enough vocab/kanji/gramamar yet (so itâs âtoo hardâ for your current level), and ⊠no loss, you know? You probably learned something and can better gauge your next attempt. Thereâs no science to this, so get reading.
Edit â But also, after level 1? Yeah; probably graded readers, though you should also just be learning foundational grammar in some way, I guess. For every level under 10, if youâre also just starting with Japanese, most native material is going to provide too big a hurdle in terms of both kanji and vocab to really be useful. I think the most I could say is that I feel like prose without a lot of furigana attached will first start to feel really accessible somewhere around the 20s. And by the 30sâagain, if youâve also been steadily learning grammar and outside vocabâbasically anything but extremely complex native prose should feel accessible even if you have to grind through a lot of unknown vocab and lack of comfort with reading native prose in the beginning. But even before that, you can probably tackle younger-skewing light novels that are gentler with all three of word count, kanji and vocab.
Edit edit â Iâm actually kind of a bad person to ask about this, now that I think about it, since I read manga in Japanese while below N3 level, and then around N3 level just jumped straight into adult literary prose and ground through it until it started feeling easier. So I skipped graded readers, light novels, etc. But Iâm here to say you can do that. All of this was painfully slow at first, full of look-ups and settling for half-understandings, and then slowly that gave way to quicker reading times, fewer look-ups, and full understandings. Language knowledge is one thing, but reading is also just its own skill you have to practice (ideally while taking notes on vocab and phrases to whittle down the number of unknown elements as you continue).
Not really, the drawing looks more angry to me haha. But in saying that, because some shibas do have eyebrow type markings, thatâs probably why Japanese draw dogs having eyebrows.
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