I`ve been studying Japanese off and on for a while now and I feel like I`ve plateaued and I`m in need of something to keep pushing me forward. Now that I no longer live in Japan, reading is much more rare for me. I know that reading is key to learning any language and that I require repetition of vocabulary and real life examples of grammar. That being said, what do you all use for reading resources online? I`m looking for anything from N5-N3 that I can use to maintain and improve. I`m willing to pay for this service as well. I have some graded readers from Japan for N5/4 but not a lot of them. Anything is appreciated.
I've trained reading on manga, and that's what I would recommend to you at your level. Start with something that has furigana (i.e. shounen or shoujo demographic, depending on your preferences). Pick the most popular titles. In order for reading practice to be effective, it needs to be enjoyable. Once the novelty of reading in Japanese wears off, the only thing that'll keep you going will be your interest in the story. That's why you should go for popular stuff first.
Anyway, there are plenty of sites where you can read manga online or on your phone/tablet. I can't really recommend any specific ones since I don't use them, but that seems to be the main method of reading these days. Google for something like 電子漫画 and you'll find a ton of sites.
Thanks a lot! I appreciate all the input. As for manga, are there any specific series you recommend? I own a few Doraemon and One Piece books from when I lived in Japan. I`m interested in almost anything.
I can't recommend anything specific since I only read manga as I translate, and none of those are popular series. But like I said, get the list of the most popular manga and go from there. The only thing to pay attention to is if it's classified as shounen or seinen (i.e. with furigana or without). One Piece sounds like an ideal fit for you. For example, here's a best manga of all time ranking: http://www9.plala.or.jp/bui/rank100.htm (One Piece is #3). Here's a weekly sales ranking by volume: http://shosekiranking.blog.fc2.com/
Or you could just pick a site where you're going to get the manga and choose their bestsellers. Another consideration for you that it should be available electronically from the first volume, which might not be the case for older series.
Anyway, as a test, try this out. The first hit I get for "electronic manga" is this site: http://www.ebookjapan.jp/ebj/ From the menu on top, under 男性マンガ choose 少年マンガ. You'll see a bunch of categories, among them 無料の本 (i.e. free books). Pick from there, see if you like anything. http://www.ebookjapan.jp/ebj/freebooks/genre11/ For example, they have the first volume of Koe no Katachi for free, and it seems to be an extremely popular manga these days (I only read the one shot back in the day, not sure which direction the series takes the story, but the one shot was brilliant). http://www.ebookjapan.jp/ebj/206029/volume1/ (says you can read for free until 9/30). A couple of other series I recognize from the list are Bakuman and Fairy Tail, both should be pretty entertaining. Also Psychometrer Eiji, but that one was a bit boring for me.
So, in your place, I'd try it out at no cost, see if it works. But bear in mind that as far as the big picture goes, manga should only be the start of your reading practice, not the end. You want to get your vocab and kanji level to where you can start reading novels, and eventually even newspaper editorials and wikipedia level text (I still can't read the latter without rikaichan, and I'm allegedly N1 certified).
