[Japanese] Let’s Master Explanatory Texts (Expository and Argumentative Texts)!

Hello! Now that you’ve started middle school, you’ll have more opportunities to read "long texts" in your Japanese textbooks. You might feel a bit anxious, thinking, "I don't really understand what this is about," but don't worry! There are "set rules" for reading and understanding explanatory texts.

In these notes, I’ve broken down the "tips for reading explanatory texts" taught in the first year of middle school in an easy-to-understand way. Once you learn these, you'll be able to read texts just like solving a puzzle!

1. Grasp the Overall Structure (Three-Part Composition)

Most explanatory texts are divided into three main parts: "Introduction," "Body," and "Conclusion." This is called the "Three-Part Composition."

① Introduction (Joron): The Beginning

This is the starting point of the text. It states the "Topic" the author will talk about or poses a "Question" to the reader.
Example: A question like, "Why is the sky blue?"

② Body (Honron): The Middle

This is the longest part of the text. It answers the "question" posed in the introduction by providing detailed explanations using "Specific Examples," "Data," or "Results of Experiments."
Example: Detailed explanations like, "Light has properties that..." or "When we actually investigated..."

③ Conclusion (Ketsuron): The End

This is the summary of the text. Based on the explanations in the body, it provides the "Answer" to the question from the introduction or states the author's main "Argument (opinion)."
Pro-tip: Important points are often found after signal words like "In short" or "Thus"!

【Key Point】 If you get lost, try reading the beginning (Introduction) and the end (Conclusion) first. Just by doing that, you'll understand "what the topic is" and "what the answer is!"

2. Pay Attention to Transition Words (Conjunctions)!

Conjunctions are like "signposts" that make the flow of a text smoother. Paying attention to these will make it much easier to understand the content.

● Causal/Sequential: Therefore, So
The previous content acts as a cause, and the result follows. It flows like, "A, therefore B."

● Contrastive: However, But, Yet
Content that is opposite to the previous part follows. This is super important because what the author really wants to say often comes after a contrastive conjunction!

● Exemplification: For example
A signal that the author is providing a specific example to make a difficult topic easier to understand.

● Paraphrasing: In other words, That is to say
A signal that the author is summarizing the previous content. This is another key spot where the author's argument is often hidden!

【Trivia】 When reading, try to get in the habit of circling or boxing the conjunctions. You'll be able to see the structure of the text at a glance.

3. Distinguish Between "Fact" and "Opinion"

Explanatory texts mix two types of information. Distinguishing between them is where middle schoolers can really show off their reading comprehension skills!

(1) Fact

Something that remains the same regardless of who observes it. This includes data, historical events, and experimental results.
Example: "The temperature yesterday was 30 degrees."

(2) Opinion

The author's thoughts or feelings.
Example: "It was very hot yesterday." (Some people might think it was "just right!")

【Common Mistake】 Sometimes we mistakenly take an author's "opinion" as a "fact." Pay attention to sentence endings like "I think..." or "Isn't it...?" to determine how much the author is presenting as fact versus where their own personal thoughts begin.

4. Find the "Keywords"

Words that repeatedly appear in the text are the keywords. Keywords are the main characters of the text!

How to find keywords:
1. Look for words that are used multiple times.
2. Pay attention to words highlighted with quotation marks (" ").
3. Check for words that are being defined, like "A is defined as..."

【Point】 Just by finding a few keywords and linking them together, you can easily create a "summary" of the text.

5. Steps for Reading (Summary)

It might feel difficult at first, but try practicing with these steps:

Step 1: Look at the title and guess what the text is about.
Step 2: Draw lines where the "Introduction, Body, and Conclusion" shift.
Step 3: Check for transition words like "However" or "In other words."
Step 4: Try to find the author's main "conclusion" in just one sentence.

★Final Advice★ Explanatory texts in Japanese are like letters filled with messages from the author. Try reading them while feeling like a detective, asking yourself, "What is the author talking about, and what answer are they trying to give?" If you practice, you’ll definitely get better at it!