Just wanted to let you know: we are listening! We aren’t staying “'no” to the “turn on/off furigana” feature, we just want to think it through carefully. It’s helpful to hear your reasons. Also I’d like to try and correct some misunderstandings which seems to have emerged:
Sorry if I’ve not explained things well. It’s not correct that we don’t want readers to “learn”. Graded Readers are absolutely designed with Japanese language learning in mind. Along with improving reading speed, reading fluency, and reinforcing already known vocabulary, Graded Readers introduce new vocabulary and grammar as well.
It’s just that we recommend a certain approach and mindset in order to best reap these many benefits.
This isn’t what we are recommending either. There is a third alternative between 1) reaching for a dictionary as you come across new words; and, 2) delaying your reading until you “have the needed vocab to get all the details”.
What we recommend is that instead of reaching for a dictionary while reading Japanese Graded Readers, just keep reading! Try to skip words and phrases that you don’t understand and simply keep on reading. Their meanings will become apparent eventually from the context and illustrations.
Consider it like working on a crossword puzzle.
Maybe you’re struggling with 17 ACROSS “Prized taste in ramen”. Sure, you could flip to the solution and copy the answer. But we’re just saying, “Try to keep going! Because as you make progress with the surrounding puzzle, useful clues may start to fall in place.” Eventually, you should have enough clues to complete the puzzle.
Finally, if the story is hopelessly difficult, then you may be reading too high above your level. While readers could certainly break open a dictionary, we recommend simply stepping down a level. We believe readers will learn more by working things out for themselves rather than falling back on a dictionary whenever the going gets tough.
Reading in a foreign language involves a lot of uncertainty and confusion as learners try to process ambiguous vocabulary, grammar, and cultural inputs. While too much ambiguity can result in counter-productive anxiety, success may often depend on the tolerance of ambiguity that learners exhibit during reading. Some studies show that ambiguity tolerance is correlated with achievement in language learning. Findings also indicate that the higher the proficiency level, the more tolerant learners become in foreign language learning. Perhaps it’s a two-way street: leaners excel in proficiency as they develop better skills for dealing with such ambiguity, which in turn enables them to tackle more challenging material . . .
Reaching for a dictionary too quickly may undermine the development of subtle but important language acquisition skills, such as the ability to hold what-if scenarios in one’s head, create and test hypotheses, and to adjust one’s interpretations as new information comes in. But these skills may never have a chance to develop if a low tolerance for ambiguity compels readers to dig the answer out of a dictionary every time they get stuck instead of plowing ahead into the mist.
Of course graded readers may not be for everyone, and that’s fine too!