Skip to Main Content
Research Guides

Tadoku (多読): Home

Resources for using the tadoku (extensive reading) method to learn Japanese.

Welcome

Welcome to UW Tadoku (extensive reading) page!

Start with stories that are below your fluent reading level (easy books with no more than two or three  unknown words per page), and while reading follow these principles:

1. Don’t look up words in the dictionary.
2. Skip over parts you don’t understand.
3. If you aren’t enjoying one book, toss it aside and get another.

(from tadoku.org)

Tadoku Levels

Tadoku Level JLPT Level Vocabulary Length Grammar Points
0 N5 350 ~400 Present tense, past tense, question words, polite ~ます form, ~たい-form, and so forth.
1 N5 350 400-1,500 Present tense, past tense, question words, polite ~ます form, ~たい-form, and so forth.
2 N4 500 1,500-3,000 Dictionary form, て-form, ない-form, ~た-form, attributive, ~と (conditional), ~から (reason), ~のだ, and so forth.
3 N3 800 2,500-6,000

Potential form, imperative form, passive form, volitional form, compound verbs, ~とき, から, たら・ば・なら, ~そう (conditional), ~よう, and so forth.

4 N3 1,300 5,000-15,000

Causative form, causative passive form,, ~そう (I heard...), ~らしい, ~はず, ~もの, ~ようにする/なる, ことにする/なる, and so forth.

5 N2 2,000 8,000-25,000 Function words, compound words, idioms, and honorifics such as ~わけにはいかない, ~につれて, 切り開く, 召し上がる, 伺う, and so forth.

(from tadoku.org)

Books by Levels

Special Thanks

Tadoku Club meets every Friday. Ask the librarian for more info!

Graduate Student Reference Specialist

Profile Photo
Kiwa Tashiro
she/her/hers

Other Japan Related Research Guides