Why Can't You Read Even When You Know the Words? ── Release of 'How to Think About English Reading Comprehension: Grasping from Junior High English Grammar'
NHK Publishing released a new book on April 10th by Kazuma Kitamura, designed to help English beginners overcome reading hurdles by focusing on sentence structure and junior high-level grammar.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 10, 2026 at 19:30
- 🔍 Collected: April 11, 2026 at 00:27 (4h 57m after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 20, 2026 at 02:03 (217h 36m after Collected)
The definitive edition, carefully explained from the ground up starting with junior high school English grammar by an author who has produced numerous advanced English reading comprehension books and gained solid acclaim! The NHK Publishing Shinsho 'How to Think About English Reading Comprehension: Grasping from Junior High English Grammar' was released on April 10th. It is a book adaptation with significant additions to a popular series that ran for three years in the NHK text "Basic English for Junior High School Students Level 2". With a substantial 320-page structure, as you thoroughly savor the dense explanations, the way you "see English sentences will surely change."
What this book aims for is to help beginners overcome the wall of "lack of understanding of sentence formation." It guides readers step-by-step from phrases to clauses, and from simple sentences to complex sentences, forging grammar anew into an unwavering weapon for English reading comprehension. Each chapter carefully explains how to grasp structures while clearing up ambiguous grammatical points. It demonstrates the knack for grasping the "flow" of English sentences in an easy-to-understand manner. This is the definitive edition that transforms "I know the words but can't read" into "I can read," and further leads to "usable English skills."
When you hear that someone is poor at English and struggles to read, let alone speak, you might first think of a lack of vocabulary as the cause. Certainly, in intermediate and advanced learning, vocabulary often becomes the decisive factor. However, what is actually more serious for beginners is a stage prior to vocabulary: a lack of understanding regarding how English sentences are formed.
(From the book's "Introduction")
## Table of Contents
- Chapter 1: The "Way to Move Your Head" Suitable for English
- Chapter 2: Understanding Sentences in Chunks ── Verb Phrases Turning into Nouns and Adjectives
- Chapter 3: Grasping Diverse Meanings ── Verb Phrases Turning into Adverbs
- Chapter 4: Identifying the Chunks of Subjects, Objects, and Complements ── Reading Noun Clauses
- Chapter 5: Seeing Through Complex Post-modification ── Reading Adjective Clauses
- Chapter 6: Grasping the Background and Flow of Sentences ── Reading Adverb Clauses
- Chapter 7: Capturing the Depth of Expression ── Reading Comparisons and the Subjunctive Mood
- Final Chapter: Challenging Practical English Reading Comprehension
## Author
Kazuma Kitamura
Associate Professor, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Kyorin University. Born in 1982. Withdrew from the doctoral program at Keio University Graduate School after acquiring the required credits. During his undergraduate and graduate years, he taught English courses for competitive university entrance exams at Ryusei Seminar, a prep school in the Kansai region. After working as a part-time lecturer at Shiga University and Juntendo University, he became an assistant professor at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Kyorin University in 2009. He has been an associate professor at the same university since 2015. His books include 'Mastering English Reading Comprehension' (NHK Publishing Shinsho), 'New Anatomy of English Parsing' (Kenkyusha), 'How to Read English' (Chuko Shinsho), and 'Deepening with Knowledge and Context: Advanced English Vocabulary LOGOPHILIA' (Co-author, Ask Publishing), among others.
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What this book aims for is to help beginners overcome the wall of "lack of understanding of sentence formation." It guides readers step-by-step from phrases to clauses, and from simple sentences to complex sentences, forging grammar anew into an unwavering weapon for English reading comprehension. Each chapter carefully explains how to grasp structures while clearing up ambiguous grammatical points. It demonstrates the knack for grasping the "flow" of English sentences in an easy-to-understand manner. This is the definitive edition that transforms "I know the words but can't read" into "I can read," and further leads to "usable English skills."
When you hear that someone is poor at English and struggles to read, let alone speak, you might first think of a lack of vocabulary as the cause. Certainly, in intermediate and advanced learning, vocabulary often becomes the decisive factor. However, what is actually more serious for beginners is a stage prior to vocabulary: a lack of understanding regarding how English sentences are formed.
(From the book's "Introduction")
## Table of Contents
- Chapter 1: The "Way to Move Your Head" Suitable for English
- Chapter 2: Understanding Sentences in Chunks ── Verb Phrases Turning into Nouns and Adjectives
- Chapter 3: Grasping Diverse Meanings ── Verb Phrases Turning into Adverbs
- Chapter 4: Identifying the Chunks of Subjects, Objects, and Complements ── Reading Noun Clauses
- Chapter 5: Seeing Through Complex Post-modification ── Reading Adjective Clauses
- Chapter 6: Grasping the Background and Flow of Sentences ── Reading Adverb Clauses
- Chapter 7: Capturing the Depth of Expression ── Reading Comparisons and the Subjunctive Mood
- Final Chapter: Challenging Practical English Reading Comprehension
## Author
Kazuma Kitamura
Associate Professor, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Kyorin University. Born in 1982. Withdrew from the doctoral program at Keio University Graduate School after acquiring the required credits. During his undergraduate and graduate years, he taught English courses for competitive university entrance exams at Ryusei Seminar, a prep school in the Kansai region. After working as a part-time lecturer at Shiga University and Juntendo University, he became an assistant professor at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Kyorin University in 2009. He has been an associate professor at the same university since 2015. His books include 'Mastering English Reading Comprehension' (NHK Publishing Shinsho), 'New Anatomy of English Parsing' (Kenkyusha), 'How to Read English' (Chuko Shinsho), and 'Deepening with Knowledge and Context: Advanced English Vocabulary LOGOPHILIA' (Co-author, Ask Publishing), among others.
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