As far as graded readers go, this series is very high quality. The stories are neither too long nor too short (too short is a common problem with graded readers). They work in a wide range of level-appropriate vocabulary and grammar. They cover a variety of topics.
At this level, you actually have a lot of accessible manga to choose from. So, are there still benefits to graded readers like these?
I believe there are.
First, most manga at this level have fairly short sentences. Parsing longer sentences is a skill in itself, and I felt myself improve significantly over the course of reading this collection.
Second, there's a particular advantage to reading texts with limited vocabulary. The ideal environment for learning to read longer sentences, is one where you already know most of the words.
Third, graded readers are written especially with language learners in mind, and as such the function like little vocabulary drills. For example, I've gone days reading manga at this level without coming across a たり or ながら, but graded readers will insert the at every possible opportunity. So, if you're still a bit shaky with your N5/N4 grammar, this can help you polish those skills.
As always, the big disadvantage of graded readers is that they're pretty boring and some people will struggle to stay focused because of that. However, for those that do want to read graded readers, this series is a good option.
As far as graded readers go, this series is very high quality. The stories are neither too long nor too short (too short is a common problem with graded readers). They work in a wide range of level-appropriate vocabulary and grammar. They cover a variety of topics.
At this level, you actually have a lot of accessible manga to choose from. So, are there still benefits to graded readers like these?
I believe there are.
First, most manga at this level have fairly short sentences. Parsing longer sentences is a skill in itself, and I felt myself improve significantly over the course of reading this collection.
Second, there's a particular advantage to reading texts with limited vocabulary. The ideal environment for learning to read longer sentences, is one where you already know most of the words.
Third, graded readers are written especially with language learners in mind, and as such the function like little vocabulary drills. For example, I've gone days reading manga at this level without coming across a たり or ながら, but graded readers will insert the at every possible opportunity. So, if you're still a bit shaky with your N5/N4 grammar, this can help you polish those skills.
As always, the big disadvantage of graded readers is that they're pretty boring and some people will struggle to stay focused because of that. However, for those that do want to read graded readers, this series is a good option.