The day after tomorrow 
[EDIT: Sorry wrong time zone]
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tomorrow. One page per day
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In about 22 hours and 40 minutes!
(It might feel slow, but there are stacks of people reading the book and reading this thread and feeling overwhelmed already. Any faster and it just gets too tough).
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ok thanks 
Ah thank you for your explanation! I was too overwhelmed by all the posts, I couldn’t read them T__T but now I understand, thank you!!
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Page 11
も and ほど do not form one construction, も just adds a little emphasis (“even abroad”)
ほど links the subordinate clause (what’s in between the commas) to the main sentence, i.e. the verb at the end. We have:
- 今 […] 日本のおすしは、とても人気があります。Nowadays Japanese sushi is very popular. [main clause]
- 外国でも『sushi』といえば通じる。If you said “sushi” even abroad, you’d be understood. [subordinate clause]
Put it all together using ほど to link the phrases and we have:
Nowadays (今)
Japanese sushi is (very) popular (日本のおすしは、とても人気があります)
to such an extent that (ほど)
if you said “sushi” even abroad, you would be understood (外国でも『sushi』といえば通じる).
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Can I ask for a reference link on this? I would like to better understand the structure as I also assumed the と here meant “with”, as in “mixing vinegar with rice”, and am confused about this since the と comes in the middle of the “condition” part of the sentence, not the end… Thanks!
EDIT: sorry, missed the posts where this was addressed… I found the link and will look it up, though it still seems weird to me for some reason
Thanks! ^^ Now that you’ve said it, it seems obviously correct.
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Page 11
That is brilliant! Thank you! Can I just ask about the “if” in “if you said “sushi” even abroad” - is that written or implied? Thank you so much zuzu!
“If” is already contained within the conditional form いえば as far as I understand.
From Tae Kim:
友達に会えれば 、買い物に行きます。
If I can meet with my friend, we will go shopping.
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I see! I thought と言えば was “speaking of” - I was wrong! Thank you so much for putting me right! Much appreciated!
Edit:
Okay, got it…
と言えば
と - quotation particle
言う - to say
drop う and add えば
= if you say
[sushi]と言えば = if you say [sushi]
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Page 11:
Next “and last” phrase!
せかいの いろいろな 国に おすしの おめせんが あります。
“せかいの various/all sorts of countries sushi in stores there are.”
“There are sushi stores in various countries せかいの”
I am still not sure about this
It’s still important to note that と言えば often is best translated as “speaking of [which]” But the Japanese set phrase for “speaking of …” happens to literally translate to “if (you) say …”. (The と being a quotation thingy here.) Which isn’t all that different from “speaking of…”.
At least that’s how I currently understand things.
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せかいの “of the world”
Therefore countries of the world. I think!
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I see! Thank you!
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I would just add an “also” to your translation
Are we able to pin an agreed translation for each sentence as the pages are finished so we can have a single reference point to check our own understanding?
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Yeah I just realised this also and now I’m thinking I might have to do 2 pages a day to keep up 
Is there any way we can change the time zone of this group so that it’s more of a middle ground for everyone? As it is, it’s evening of the 1st here and half the group is already two pages ahead… Or do you think it will be taken care of by the “sliding” effect? In any case, it will be hard for me (and I can’t imagine for US people) to keep up with the actual dates we’re supposed to read pages…
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I agree, this will be quite helpful since it’s really hard to look through all these messages 
I almost finished the first page and I only struggle with the last sentence. I’m gonna search now if people have already asked 