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[quote=Anonymous]You got me curious about reading levels in Asia.  It seems a comparison is not as easy as you suggest.  Interesting.

[quote]"Learning to Read in Japan" (1989)
https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/17512/ctrstreadtechrepv01989i00449_opt.pdf

Since hiragana is a syllabic language  and, with only a few exceptions,  each letter  corresponds  to exactly
one syllable,  while English  is a  phonemic language  and most letters  have multiple  pronunciations,  it  is
no surprise  that Japanese  children  begin learning to read  at  an earlier age  than do  American  children.
A  1969  survey  of  Japanese  preschool  children  (Early  Childhood  Association  of  Japan,  1979)
determined  that  69%  of 4-year-old  children  and  91%  of 5-year-olds  could read  their  own  name  and
32%  of 4-year-olds  and  76%  of 5-year-olds  could write  their  own name  in hiragana. Muraishi  (1972),
testing over  2,000 4-  and 5-year-old  children, found that halfway  through the kindergarten  year  34%  of
4-year-olds  and  63%  of 5-year-olds  could  read  60  or  more  of the  71  letters.  In  a retest, just  before
entrance  into first grade, 88%  of the 5-year-olds  could read 60  or  more letters.  In  a smaller but more
recent study, Muto (1987),  testing 60  3- to  6-year-olds, found  that 20%  of 3-year-olds  could read some
words and there was a rapid increase in reading hiragana by age 4, with  performance  above 90%  by age
5.  Uchida (1987)  found  that Japanese  5-year-olds  could read  a 64-word  poem with natural  intonation
with  only  one  or  two  errors.  Tests  of American  kindergarten  and  first-grade  children,  by  contrast,
indicate  that  while  5-  and  6-year-olds  can  identify  letters, few  are able  to read connected  text  before
receiving instruction in first grade (Durkin, 1966; Mason & Dunning, 1986).[/quote][/quote]

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