Welcome to the new book discussion! Feel free to ask any questions, even if we’re past these chapters:3 Someone will surely answer \o/
We will read 3 chapters every week, but don’t be afraid, they are quite short and don’t have much text. I will post new thread around this time, because it’s already morning in more eastern countries:)
And remember that it’s important to have fun! \o/ Enjoy!
Hiya!!! It’s great to finally be a part of all the book clubs I see around the forms.
On page 10 when the kid falls down, the mom says ころんでも自分で起きるんだよー．Does that mean “If you fall down you have to get up by yourself”? My grammar is really lacking so if anyone could help me that would be much appreciated!
I look forward to reading this uber cute manga with y’all!
Okay, so there’s me struggling over びっくいちた. Of course nothing comes up in the dictionary and Google Translate gives me something which is nonsense. Then I realise the real impact of the warning at the top of the word-list:
Chi’s thoughts are childlike and often have pronunciation errors that were made intentionally,
Not sure if this book is for me! I struggle enough as it is, without added pronunciation errors! I do wish the absolute beginner bookclub could pick more useful books. People seem to go for cute pictures (しろくま and チーズ, neither of which I voted for) more than useful text (なぜどして, にゃんにゃん, - though I am biased as I set those two up!).
Unfortunately, the books most people want to read will come on top, instead of the most useful ones.
It’s not really a learning book club. /: (But that doesn’t mean you can’t learn in them.)
It would be more appropriate to voice those complaints in the home thread either for the series or (most appropriately) in the home of the book club. Dropping a bunch of negativity in a thread for people looking for help when they’re just starting reading contributes absolutely nothing positive.
I can speak from experience, as I nearly quit the しろくまカフェ book club after you got all bent out of shape in the first week’s thread. I’m glad I didn’t, and I’d prefer you didn’t scare away similar people.
I had to look this up also so I’m sure other people will as welll. From what I’ve gathered, it’s basically saying びっくりした = “That was surprising/frightening”
びっくり (吃驚)(I’m too lazy to dig out the furigana code)
Suru verb, Adverb
to be surprised; to be amazed; to be frightened; to be astonished; to get startled; to jumpUsually written using kana alone, Onomatopoeic or mimetic word
した past verb tense
Disclaimer: I have below N5 grammar so I know less than John Snow.
This sounds like the perfect opportunity to learn =D I know I learned a lot of grammar by repeated exposure long before I did much in the way of formal learning. (The following is aimed at anyone at the early stages of grammar learning.)
Looking at this line specifically:
「ころんでも自分で起きるんだよ」
As @Kazzeon mentioned, a ても means “even if”. More specifically, when used with a verb, the verb is conjugated into its て form (which in the case of ころぶ is ころんで) and followed by も, it gives the meaning “even if (verb)”. So, if ころぶ is “to fall down”, then ころんでも is “even if to fall down”. That sounds a little awkward in English, but depending on who is speaking and who fell, it could translate as “even if I fall down” or “even if you fall down” (or “even if they fall down”). In this case, it’s the mother speaking and the child who fell, so “you” makes the most sense in this context.
自分で combines 自分 (じぶん) meaning “myself” or “yourself” (depending on context and speaker) with the particle で. This particle has many uses, one being similar to “by” and “with” in English, showing the means with which something is accomplished. For example, you go to the store “by” bus (バスで), or you can write “with” a pen (ペンで). Joining 自分 with で gives you “by yourself” (or “by myself”, based on context and speaker).
「ころんでも自分で起きる」
“Even if you fall, you get up by yourself.”
Thre are also three particles at the end (んだよ), but that’s enough from me for this comment =)
Finished chapter one. For all the talk about Chi’s baby talk, it was the humans that tended to throw me off. Thanks everyone who contributed to the word list in Chapter One. I’m getting a little lost in Chapter Two, so I’m hoping as more folks read that folks will add more words to that list.
I find that Chi’s speech is easier to figure out if you speak it out loud. Hearing it seems to be easier than reading it, at least for me.
The appeal of Chi, aside from the cute cat pictures, is the grammatical simplicity and everyday vocabulary that makes it easy for people new to native material to jump right in. This especially coming after Shirokuma which wasn’t too bad grammatically, but was tough vocab-wise.
I hate to say it, but if you’re struggling enough without taking chi’s speech into account, it might be worth going back to traditional study to make up for whatever grammar or conjugations you’re lacking since Chi’s among the most simple manga I’ve come across.
I figured this as something like: Seems like (Chi) wants to try to go outside.
Am I close? To me it feels like there are a lot of qualifiers in this sentence, and I didn’t separately add “to feel” (がってる is がる but in ている form, I think… maybe… feels like it, but entirely unsure).
Chapter 3, Page 23:
I can’t figure out what Chi’s あが is supposed to be. I can feel like I should be able to figure it out, but nothing comes to mind. (Maybe it is just a sound, but I had a feeling it should be something, so I thought I’d ask.)
こんなに - so, like that, in this way
小さくちゃ - 小さい is “small”, the conjunctive form is 小さくて. If you add a は it turns out as ちいさくちゃ, but I don’t know if that is what is happening here.
ひとり - 一人, alone
じゃ - again, this looks like a combination of sounds, で + は, but again I don’t know.
生きて いけない - 生きて is “to live”, 生きていくis “to keep on living”, 生きていける is the potential (can) form, ie. “can keep on living”, and 生きていけない is the negative, ie “can’t keep on living”
わ - feminine sentence ending particle
よ - sentence ending particle
ね - sentence ending particle “right?”
“such a small (creature) can’t survive all on it’s own, right?”"
Feel free to ask any questions, even if we’re past these chapters:3 Someone will surely answer \o/