Extensive Reading of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages: Introduction to Extensive Reading

Extensive Reading is different from the kind of reading done in the classroom, which is called Intensive Reading. Rather than trying to read difficult texts under guidance, Extensive Reading focuses on reading easier texts independently. While in the classroom students may ready short passages with difficult vocabulary and grammatical  structures, the goal of Extensive Reading is to read widely at a level that is comfortable for students. This means that Extensive Reading is done without the use of dictionaries or stopping to look things up. There are four general 'rules' for Extensive Reading:

1) Read slightly below your ability level, read 'easy' books.

2) Do not use dictionaries.

3) If you do not know a word or cannot understand a small section, skip it.

4) If a book is boring or if it is difficult to understand, put it down and pick another book.

The Extensive Reading Collection for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean is located on the 5th floor of Watson Library next to the International Collections offices and the East Asian Collection. Please note that each language program may have different expectations of students participating in Extensive Reading.

If you are interested in Extensive Reading in the Chinese, Japanese, or Korean language, please look through the tabs on this page to see what books are available in your reading level, or you can come to the Extensive Reading shelf on the 5th floor of Watson near the International Collections offices. All Extensive Reading books are 'reference' books, meaning they cannot be checked out of the library.

These are the levels for Chinese Extensive Reading.

These are the levels for Japanese Extensive Reading.

These are the levels for Korean Extensive Reading.