Shin Kanzen Master N4 Reading works through reading skills in two parts before moving into exam-format practice. Part 1 has 8 lessons that build foundational reading techniques: breaking down grammar combinations, identifying sentence breaks, understanding noun modification, working out who the subject is, reading the writer's feelings, figuring out meaning from context, tracking demonstratives, and following connectives. Part 2 has 9 lessons organised by text type: memos, emails, notices, explanations, essays, and information search. Part 3 has 42 practice questions in exam format. There is a mock test at the end. Comes with English and Vietnamese translations and a 26-page answer and explanation booklet.
What stands out for this book is Part 1. Most reading prep books give you passages and questions. This one actually teaches you how to read Japanese sentences: how conjugations stack on top of each other, where to break long sentences apart, how to identify what's modifying what. These are skills that textbooks like Genki don't explicitly teach, and they're often the reason learners who know the grammar still struggle with reading. You do need to have N4 grammar down before starting this. It's not a book you can work through if you're still learning the basics. If you can handle the grammar but find yourself stuck when reading actual passages, this is the book to get.
