No worries!
I finally finished よつばと！The last chapter really had me cracking up. I love the interactions between Yotsuba’s dad and Fuuka. ^^;;
Anyways, this was a really great experience overall, even though I was mainly lurking in this thread. I had already read the first two chapters when it started, and then later I got behind and had to catch up. But it really helped to have all of the bookclub’s notes and other people’s questions for reference. I also found that reading it out loud helped a lot, too, for whatever reason. I definitely missed out on some nuances of meaning from not knowing grammar here and there, but it was still incredibly fun to read regardless. :3
2 Likes
Would you mind explaining あーあいつ, please? I’m guessing “あー” is just “Ooooh”, but how does the next bit translate to “Them/That person”?
Edit I’m a fool, I was reading “a” as “o”. Quick correction and Jisho comes through.
1 Like
Glad to know I’m not the only one who had trouble telling あ and お apart when learning hiragana.
I’m still watching the thread and will try to help if you have any other questions, though.
2 Likes
Just ordered よつばと！books. One as a gift for my 弟 and one for me to learn and keep studying fun 
2 Likes
Made it to page 20, am finally past the trash disposal conversation between the dad and the girl! Not easy, I definitely didn’t get all of the details of that conversation and the one before it (Dad and Jumbo’s conversation), but I got the jist of it, and it’ll be a good conversation to revisit down the line.
My goal is to read the first chapter on my own before reading this topic in depth, which is why I’ve been so quiet. Once I finish the first chapter, I’ll read through the topic and then probably will actually start posting in this topic. So for the other latecomers out there, you aren’t alone!
Also late to the party. I have a few noob questions that I couldn’t seem to find the answers to searching through the thread. Apologies if they are repeats.
On page 11 in panel 4 Jumbo says “そんな事はない 俺は働かない” I think he is saying “(I) will not do that thing. I will not work.” Is that right?
Page 13 panel 2 Jumbo’s balloon is confusing me. おまえさ 近所にあいさつで配る粗品とか用意しているか
I think it says “I will distribute greetings to the neighborhood. I’ll make preparations for small presents?” I don’t think I have the meaning of the second sentence correct. Why is で used in 近所にあいさつで? What is the usage of とか in the above sentence?
1 Like
そんな事はない is a response to what the dad said, than Jumbo works enough for two people, he’s saying that’s incorrect.
俺は働かない means “I’m not going to work”, simple as that, just like you said.
近所にあいさつで means “as a greetings” or something similar. The particle で can be used to indicate the intent with an action.
とか means “for example”
用意しているか is asking whether he’s prepared already [or whether they need to go get something].
4 Likes
Expanding the とか thing, since you’ll see it used like that pretty often: http://maggiesensei.com/2015/02/19/how-to-use-とか-toka/
2 Likes
Ah ok, I missed that the father was saying Jumbo works enough for two people. The first sentence makes a lot more sense now. Thanks! 
So altogether on page 13 Jumbo is asking something along the lines of Are you preparing to distribute something such as a small present to the neighborhood as a greetings?
Pretty much, yeah.
You’ll find some discussion about the exchange over what to hand out earlier in this thread, probably around the same block of posts you’ve been reading. It involves some slang and grammatical structures that don’t make much sense if just working from textbook knowledge.
He’s asking whether he has the things prepared already
1 Like
Where is the already coming from? I thought ~している was for an ongoing action.
It can also be used to describe the state induced after an action. As an example try to think of it in two parts 用意して and いる, what would it this mean? Prepared and is => is prepared.
That’s right. 
Now I’m remembering the example of けっこんしている. Separating out the verbs like that really helps. Thanks, Kumirei
Hi everyone,
Two thoughts:
(1)
While the book club has now moved on to Kiki for the next six months, that gives me plenty of time to make a good start on よつばと！vols 2 and 3 ready for our next reading.
For vol. 1 the vocab list was really useful. I believe there is a similar list for vol.2 but I can’t find it. Does anyone have a link they don’t mind sharing?
(2)
Over on another thread someone is suggesting we set up a Manga Reading Club so we can make a start on vol.2 (or some other manga) right away. What do people think?
All the best and よいお年を！
2 Likes
I’m not sure about a list of all the vocab, but I know that the memrise pack contains all the vocab for at least the first 10 or so volumes (probably all the volumes to be honest, it’s huge).
As for a manga reading club, I think this comes down to the whole “split the beginner club into two” debate that we had last month. While I would love to start talking about vol 2 since I’m already reading it (I had to stop Kiki and go back to よつばと！ because I was too slow for my own good), vol 2 did come second in the poll, so we may end up reading it in the club anyway (especially if we decide on alternating between books and manga, which I’m a fan of).
Also, is it really for the next 6 months?! I just saw that part or your post. Maybe it would be a good idea doing something, but then again I’m really not sure since there may be people reading Kiki that would want to read vol 2, but don’t have the time to read both.
1 Like
The pace of Kiki is way too slow for me, so I could join the manga club as well. And count @abertssquirrel in too, I’ll force them to join
3 Likes
Thank you, I’ll have to check out that Memrise thing.
Yes, when we voted on which book to read next I actually voted for Kiki in the belief that it would give us a bit of a rest before going back to Yotsubato soon. I had no idea it would be 6 months, and now someone on the other thread is saying that the club might not even return to Yotsuba. So I really shot myself in the foot there!
I don’t have the ability to organise a group, but it feels like there are plenty of people who, like me, would be keen to get started on Yotsubato vol.2.
4 Likes
That’s true.
I think this is a goo point as well. My main concern is deciding on what differentiates the beginner book club and the manga book club if the beginner book club decides to do a manga. Unless we decide that the manga book club does just manga and the beginner book club does just books (as per the debate).
2 Likes