What JLPT level is ストーブの前で?

ストーブの前で is suitable for JLPT N5 level readers (estimated JLPT N5).

Who wrote ストーブの前で?

ストーブの前で is an original short story written by Yomimaru for JLPT N5 learners.

How long does ストーブの前で take to read?

ストーブの前で takes about 12 minutes (around 419 words) to read at a learner's pace.

作品さくひんFree Graded Reading

ストーブの前でOne Line of Boot Prints

by Yomimaru

JLPT N5Original storyShort StoryQuiz ready

Snow shuts the buses and every parent calls in. One seven year old walks to school anyway.

About this story

Heavy snow stops the buses, and one parent after another phones the school to keep their child home. A seven-year-old walks in through the drifts anyway, and the new teacher holds class for one beside the stove.

An original story written by Yomimaru for JLPT N5 readers.

Read a sample in Japanese

森もり先生せんせいが学校がっこうに来くると、外そとはゆうべの雪ゆきで白しろかった。バスは来こなかった。先生せんせいは教室きょうしつのストーブに火ひを入いれた。電話でんわが鳴なった。「うちの子こは今日きょう、休やすみます。バスが来きませんから」また鳴なった。休やすむ子この名前なまえを紙かみに書かいた。十じゅう二に人にん、クラスぜんぶだった。雪ゆきの上うえに、小ちいさい長靴ながぐつのあとが一いち本ほん、門もんからドアまでつづいていた。ドアのところに、男おとこの子こがいた。教室きょうしつの中なかを見みて、言いった。「おはようございます」ハルトだ。先生せんせいが聞きいても、いつもまどを見みている子こだ。長靴ながぐつの中なかまで雪ゆきだった。くつしたはぬれて、てぶくろはなかった。「ぬいで。ストーブの上うえにね」ハルトはくつしたをストーブにかけた。ストーブの前まえで、先生せんせいは紙かみを一いちまい出だした。「今日きょうは二に人にんだけだから、何なにがしたい？」ハルトは下したを見みて言いった。「数学すうがくのもんだいは、ありますか」先生せんせいは今日きょうの問題もんだいを四よっつ書かいた。ハルトはすぐに書かいて、丸まるがついた。「はやいね」ハルトは、つぎをまっている。

Read the full text with furigana + instant lookups in Yomimaru →

What you'll learn

Overnight snow stops the buses, and by the time Mori-sensei has lit the classroom stove the phone has rung twelve times: the whole class is staying home. One set of small boot prints leads to the door. The boy who made them dries his socks on the stove, and the two of them spend the morning over a sheet of paper.

Language difficultyBeginner · 20/100

Key vocabulary

雪ゆき	snow
ストーブ	heater, stove (the oil heater that warms a classroom)
長靴ながぐつ	rubber boots — the tall waterproof boots worn in snow or rain
くつした	socks
まど	window
数学すうがく	mathematics
問題もんだい	problem, question (on a test or worksheet)
丸まる	circle — the mark a teacher writes for a correct answer

Grammar points you'll meet

Dictionary form+と N4Verb + と links two things that always go together: when the first happens, the second is simply there. Here the teacher arrives and the snow is already outside.
森もり先生せんせいが学校がっこうに来くると、外そとはゆうべの雪ゆきで白しろかった。
～から N5から after a verb or adjective gives the reason. In speech it often comes last, tacked on after the main point, as the parent does on the phone.
「うちの子こは今日きょう、休やすみます。バスが来きませんから」
～ている N5The て form plus いる describes what is going on now, or a habit that keeps repeating. Here it is what this boy always does.
先生せんせいが聞きいても、いつもまどを見みている子こだ。
を N5を marks the thing the verb acts on. The word right before it is what is being hung, written, taken or looked at.
ハルトはくつしたをストーブにかけた。
で N5で marks where an action happens, or what something is done with. Read the noun in front of it to tell the two apart.
ストーブの前まえで、先生せんせいは紙かみを一いちまい出だした。
～ていた N4The past of ～ている: something was going on for a while, rather than happening once. It is how this story holds a long, quiet moment.
ハルトは長ながい間ま、紙かみを見みていた。

Cultural notes

The classroom stoveIn snowy parts of Japan a classroom is heated by a single oil stove that the teacher lights in the morning. It doubles as a dryer: wet gloves, hats and socks go on top of it or on the rail around it, and the smell of warm wool is part of winter at school.
A circle means correctJapanese teachers mark a right answer with a circle, 丸, and a wrong one with a slanted line or a cross. A checkmark, which means "correct" in many countries, is not used. So 丸がついた means the answer was right.
Boots and the walk to schoolMost Japanese children walk to school rather than being driven, usually in a small group from the same neighbourhood; buses run only in rural areas. On a snowy morning that means 長靴, rubber boots, and a change of socks in the bag.

Sensei's reading tip

森先生 is a name plus a title: 森 is the family name, 先生 is what you call a teacher. Later sentences drop the 森 and use 先生 alone — it is still the same person.