(2016-02-28, 7:06 pm)Bokusenou Wrote: (2016-02-25, 9:26 am)RandomQuotes Wrote: Recently, I've been reading this high school textbook supplement, 理解しやすい古文. If anyone is interested in kobun, and is at a decent level, this book lives up to it's title.
Hmm, seems like it might be useful for me. Could you give a few more details about the book, if possible? I can't seem to find images of the pages. From the description it looks like it's not for complete beginners. I've been going through the grammar overviews on this site lately, and I have a kobun dictionary. When I finish do you think I'll be able to go through that book without being overwhelmed? If not, do you know any good beginner-level kobun books, by any chance?
Sure. So, being that this book is aimed at native speakers, it's obviously not for beginners of Japanese, however, I'm completely new to kobun, and I picked this up on a whim, and I'm following it. Looking at the inside cover, it says this book goes from the building blocks up to expanding on a standard level of knowledge.
The book has 2 main sections each divided into a number of subsections as well as a preface and a grammar reference.
The preface goes over things like pronunciation rules, some simple grammar, and reasons to study kobun done in a Question-and-Answer style format.
The first section is titled「古文に親しむ」, and it contains subsections devoted to different works. Each subsection is divided into a few smaller parts. The first is the work is the 宇治拾遺物語. Running along the left side the original text is a translation into modern Japanese, and on the right are pronuctions for unusual words and the modern kana for words that are using historical kana. On the bottom of the page are notes. So, an example of one of the notes is "(3) 児子[ちご]⇒貴族や武士の子弟で、学問や行儀作法を習うために寺に預けられた少年" The next page has a summary of what happened in the passage, useful words to know, how to approach this passage, and some practice exam questions.
The second section, which is the bulk of the book is titled 「古文に味わう」. There are roughly 15 different works or categories, and there are 40 passages from these works. Each of the works starts with a short description of the work and then is followed by the aforementioned passage. In this section the original passage is at the top, with the modern Japanese translation sitting at the bottom. The next page has word caution section. This is then followed by import words and phrases. Then there are some cultural notes or approaches to take, and then a number of practice questions.
The last part is just 15 page grammar summary and an answer booklet.
The book assumes you are a high school student, and thus have a teacher to whom you can ask questions, but I, myself, am completely new to kobun, but aside from the need for an occasional dictionary look up, I'm not having any issues.
