チーズスイートホーム: Week 1 Discussion (Chapters 1-3)

Try this resource, in particular the second point about using か to join two questions.
https://www.japaneseammo.com/all-about-か-its-not-only-a-question-marker/

I don’t know why, but the link is not working. I googled “japanese grammar ka” and it was the top result, so that’s another way to reach it.
Edit: or click on the link Belthazar posted below, which works fine!

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Ooops, “page not found”

I also tried linking to it, got the same problem.

Chapter 3
p19

猫、ひどいめにあう - Kitty gets into trouble
いい ねどこ だった けど - It was good where I was, but…(?) It’s a good bed, but…
バイバイ - bye bye
p20
おうかえう - going home
ひょい - p(l)op
あえ - あれ - wot what
はなちて - はなして - release me/let me go
meow sounds, walking sounds…
パッタン - sound of the door closing?
p21
へ - e - what
なに - what
さっ - sfx (what does っ mean in these situations?)
シャ、シャー - shower sfx
ぎゃ
p22
みぎゃ
きゃ - sfx
ピタ
だちて - だして - let me out(?)
逃げる|な - Do not| run away
ぎゃー - sfx
p23
あが - 上がる - going up(?)
みぎゃー、やらー、いやーん - sfx
どうした大丈夫か - Is everything alright? (?)
たつけて - 助けて - help (me)!
みぎゃ〰 - sfx
助けて〰 - heeelp
しぬぅ〰 - I’m going to diiee / I’m dyyiingg
ぎゃ〰
ショワ - shower sfx
ころさえう - 転ぶ(?) 殺す(?)
ぎゃあ〰
いたーっ - it hurts! / ow!
ザブ、ゴシ、ごし - sfx

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Try this link: Japanese particle か ka - かどうか ka douka

Discourse’s onebox thing breaks URLs that contain Japanese characters…

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I’ve been talking with @Kyasurin, which gave me an idea for a suggestion for a new rule for the spreadsheet: since some people like to know the kanji even if it wasn’t used in the manga (like me), how about we put all the kanji that aren’t used in the manga in brackets, but still include them in the spreadsheet?

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I don;t think these are sfx, they are the actual shouts of the cat. My Japanese is awful, but if there is only one word I’ve learnt from reading 8 and a half volumes of Yotsuba, it’s ぎゃ! It’s often used as a shout, especially when someone is in shock in some way.

I think the first one here, with the “m” at the start, shows the movement in the voice from “meow” to shout! Very funny. (Even though I am determined to dislike this rotten cat and its awful speech patterns!)

picture

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Likewise with this one, it’s not a sfx, it’s actual speech. You can tell because it is inside a speech bubble. In this case it is female language and means “oh / no / don’t

どうした - what’s going on?
大丈夫か - Is everything alright?

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Just done chapter 2. I’m making a note of my translation as I go along so I’ll share it here again.

Chapter 2

猫、拾われる。
A cat is picked up.

どうしょう…
What to do…

おうちかえう
Going home.

むぐ~
Snuggle… (A guess - Jisho lists むぐる as an outdated alternative reading of 潜る - usually read as もぐる)

あえぇ!?
Huh!?

ここはどこ?
Where is here?

おうちかえう
Going home.

あえ?
Huh?

くさのとこおちてたのら
(くさのところおちていたのだ)
You fell down in the grassy place.

なんれきみもここにいるの?
(なんできみもここにいるの?)
How are you also here?

動いてるー!!
She’s moving!

元気出たのかな?
I wonder if she’s feeling better?

こんなに小さくちゃひとりじゃ生きていけないわよね
Such a small creature can’t survive on its own right? (Thanks @marcusp and @belthazar)

まいったなぁ
I give up!

ねこたんどするの?
What to do Mrs Cat?
What to do pussy cat? (Thanks for suggestions on this)

おうちかえう
Going home

何?これ
What’s this?

子猫用ミリクだって
It’s milk for kittens. (Thanks @scallions)

店員さんに聞いたんだ
So the shopkeeper said… (I heard from the shopkeeper)
I asked the shop assistant (thanks @kyasurin)

あっ ミルクら
(ミルクだ)
Ah, it’s milk!

ねこたん飼うの?
Can we keep Mrs Cat?
Can we keep the pussy cat?

ぺット禁止だからなぁうちでは飼えないなぁ
We can’t keep her because pets are forbidden.

もらい手探すね
We’ll search for someone to take her (We’ll search for a recipient)

んはー
Waa! (happy cat noise!)

おうち!
Home!

みゃおーん!おうちかえう!
Miao! Going home!

どうやら外に出たがってるみたいだな
It seems like she wants to go outside. (Thanks @missdagger and @uchihaha)

どうしたのかしら?
I wonder what’s the matter?

もうちょっとらけここにかくれてよう
Let’s hide here just a bit longer!

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Page 11 - I think the book writes it as どうしょう rather than どうしよう but I don’t think it matters as Jisho lists both as alternatives for the same phrase どうしよう - Jisho.org

By the way page 16 first panel - does it say ぽんぽん or ぼんぼん? I couldn’t tell on bookwalker. The first one meaning “tummy” seems to make most sense with the picture.

ー>EDIT - she says it after 1:10 in this video and it translates as “I’m full” - it sounds like ぽんぽんら?

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Wow! Nice! Thank you so much Micki!
Just one thing I’m wondering about…

You are translating たん as Mrs, and I see what you mean, and I’m certainly not disagreeing with you, and I’ve definitely not read enough manga to be able to put forward an alternative translation, but is “Mrs” cute enough? Not that I can come up with anything else!

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Page 16

Definitely ぽんぽん, though I had to put on my other glasses to see it!
Tumtum! Thanks for that Micki!

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I found this interpretation for たん (cute) on Jisho which seems to fit

It doesn’t matter, but I don’t think that’s right.

image

Although there are some times when the opposite happens, that letters look too big, but they’re actually the smaller versions.

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I think this might be “I asked the shop assistant”

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I understood たん to be a sort of “even more cutesy” version of ちゃん (though my understanding also is that it’s not “real”, and is just used in, e.g., manga), so I might translate that to “kitty” or “kitty-cat” in English, but ultimately it’s not a big deal.

That was a nice short read! I was expecting it to be more along the lines of しろくまカフェ, so I put off reading it yesterday after I finished with my beginner’s book club reading, but if this is how long it typically takes to read for a week (or even a bit more), I can probably knock them both out in a day going forward and get in on these threads on the first day.

Also, I just wanted to note for anyone reading for the first time (especially people still lurking), if you’re struggling, don’t give up! The first thing you read will always be a struggle, always be frustrating, etc., but once you get over that initial hump, it becomes so much easier. And these threads are here specifically so you can ask questions to help you get through all those most difficult parts.

That pattern repeats for each new thing you read too, especially when you’re increasing difficulty levels. It’s a bit annoying, but it’s also a great feeling when you realize how much easier reading that used to feel painful has become.

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That’s the clue I needed anyway, I will look for that use of か on my grammar books when I get back home. Thanks a lot.

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Thanks for this. I posted because I am definitely lurking but I want to be actively part of the book club

Maybe some the other ABSOLUTE absolute beginners like myself feel like I do - I don’t have anything to contribute but a tonne of questions

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Thanks for that. I just had 聞く in my head as “to hear”, I didn’t realise it could mean “to ask”.

I guess we could take a lead from Tweety Pie and go for “puddy cat”!

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Without looking it up I just assumed たん was baby speech for ちゃん because the ちゃ sound could perhaps be too difficult to pronounce yet.

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Bring on the questions! The more the better! I’ve learned so much through the answers to questions in these clubs, and every now again I’m able to answer one too! :smiley:

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