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You know some kanji, but not all of them. You want something more interesting to read than kids stories and fairy tales.
You need to learn to think in Japanese instead of translating to and from English in your head all the time.
Some websites have furigana on the kanji, so at least you can read it, and look up the occasional word here and there to find the meaning. But the big problem with furigana is that it steals the focus of your eye, and it’s almost impossible to ignore it and read the kanji that you do know.
And, while it’s great to know the old Japanese folk tales like “Momo Taro”, and “The Monkey and the Crab” - stories that Japanese people grow up with - what you need now is articles about things you’re actually interested in. Like the space station, politics, earthquakes, tsunamis, daily life in Japan. Stories that are interesting and will make you want to read them over and over until you’re fluent.
You need Smart Kanji Reader. It has literally hundreds of interesting articles written for your level. And every kanji in every article has furigana. But if you tell the app that you know the reading for a particular kanji, then it will remove the furigana and let you practise reading at your exact level.
If you forget the reading, just hold the screen with two fingers for a second or so and peek at the furigana.
You can also have male or female “Siri” voices read them to you to force you to follow along at speed to improve your ability.
The idea behind this app is not just to improve your kanji knowledge, but to train your mind to think in Japanese. Most of the articles have a Japanese-Japanese dictionary for words which might be unfamiliar. But it’s important at your level now to start learning new words without using English. To train your mind to stop translating into English as you read Japanese.
So whether you’re a foreigner at intermediate level and wanting to one day become outstanding. Or you’re a Japanese upper-elementary or middle schooler who just wants to practise your Japanese reading with interesting articles. This is the app you need.
Read interesting things. Learn the kanji. Think in Japanese.
