★★★☆☆ Learn Japanese with Stories Volume 9, by Clay Boutwell, Yumi Boutwell
A story and two things that are barely stories, but still interesting
Learn Japanese with Stories Volume 9
Clay Boutwell, Yumi Boutwell
I use these books as a way of slowly learning Japanese vocabulary. Every morning I open Anki for a flash card drill. If there are less than five new vocabulary items, I read a page of Boutwell and add the new terms to my decks. Since every new term generates two cards, that means, at five new cards a day, I am averaging 2.5 new terms a day. It's slow going, but it's an easily sustainable rate.
This, installment number 9 of the Learn Japanese with Stories collection contains three items.
The Fountain of Youth
The Hundred Tales Game
The Wise Child
"Fountain of Youth" is an actual story about an old woodcutter and his wife. The woodcutter discovers a fountain of youth. As usual in such stories, the woodcutter's wife gets greedy.
"Hundred Tales Game" is barely a story. It consists mostly of a description of a traditional Japanese game called 「百物語」 (One Hundred Tales). That's all fun. This description ends with a small confrontation, which means that is the last page or two we actually get a tiny little plot.
"The Wise Child" just recounts a conversation between a child and his/her father about whether Edo or the sun is closer.
If you're familiar with the Learn Japanese with Stories collection, this will be what you've learned to expect.