I think @pembo or @ChristopherFritz may be better suited to answer this since they’ve read it before, but ultimately I’d say your grammar understanding is going to have a larger impact on how difficult of a time you have with the book.
To start, I’d check out the MangaKotoba link posted a few comments above so you can get a feel for how much you already know, but knowing vocab reduces friction because you have to do lookups less frequently. But not having a good grammar foundation will slow you down more because even the most simple sentences will require work to get through. Additionally, WaniKani doesn’t focus on providing you with the most “useful” vocab words first, so if it’s your only resource for vocab and you haven’t engaged in other content before, even higher level WaniKani users might struggle with it.
All that aside though, native content is always hard to get started with, and if you’re really interested in what you’re reading and willing to put in the time to decipher it, you’ll learn a lot!!
Tl;Dr: if you love Pokemon then get involved, it will elevate your Japanese more than anything
I’d say level 0 of WK is the level to start this, importantly is how much grammar have you studied and how much patience you have?
(I’m also of the opinion that WK shouldn’t be started until you have a good grasp of the basics of Japanese, just to let you know where I stand)
There’s no good time to start reading native material apart from yesterday, it sucks to begin with, you’re gonna be looking things up all the time but if you really love and are keen about what you’re reading then it’s not a chore.
If you keep with a series/same author then you very quickly pick up on the vocabulary they use and each page gets easier.
Don’t forget that WK doesn’t teach vocab. I quit WK over a year ago (and got the meme number) but I’ve been grinding vocab on renshuu and my reading skills have improved more in that time than the 2 years I spent on WK. I don’t regret my time on wanikani, but reading and drilling vocab will suit you so much better.
If you love pokemon, the manga will grip you and you won’t find doing look ups a chore as long as you have the grammar base, if you don’t have the grammar base, I reckon you’d be able to crash course it by the time this book club starts
Thanks for the insight! Seems like I may need to brush up on my grammar. I’ll definitely check that link out. I’ve enjoyed Pokemon for years, so this feels like a fun opportunity to engage with some Japanese content.
Thanks for the help! Interesting… I’ve been taking the approach of learning kanji and vocab before getting into grammar. I’m going to jump into this book club either way though, so I guess it’s time for me to start learning some grammar!
I would love to join this as my first book club and first foray into the WaniKani community forums! Pokémon has a special place in my heart as one of my biggest childhood interests, so the Adventures manga has been on my to-read list for a while. It’ll be a fun experience to try it out in Japanese rather than English.
I think I’ll start with this as my first Japanese book (club). Seeing how I bought this book on a trip to japan and never got to try and read it. Sadly I will be away on vacation for three weeks starting May. But I might be able to bring the book with.
We read this book as a book club at the Bunpro forums last summer. There’s also a Bunpro vocab deck to go with it. It might be useful if some of you are using Bunpro for vocab and/or grammar.
Thanks everyone for posting all the great resources as we get geared up to start soon! As a reminder, if you’re planning to join the club, please vote on the schedule as soon as possible! I’ll be closing the poll soon.
Also on that note, would love some more tenured club members thoughts on the schedule. Schedule 3 (fastest ) is winning at the moment, but Schedule 1 (slowest) isn’t too far behind. I want everyone who wants to read to be able to, but one volume for 3 months feels like a long time for the BBC.
In case a less experienced reader’s perspective would be helpful:
I voted for schedule 1 because i’m more used to that slow pace from the ABBC, but I’m also aware that this is a higher level book club, and it would be okay (although of course a bit disappointing) if it ended up being too hard for me. (Besides, maybe I would be fine! I did get through Hitoribocchi, though it did get difficult.)
Also of note, I remember seeing some folks say this is their first time reading a Japanese book. I think there’s an above average number of readers in this book club who might be more comfortable at an ABBC level but who have chosen the BBC out of a love for the Pokemon Special series.
If it’s better to prioritize accommodating them or not dragging things out for the usual BBC crowd, I couldn’t say.
There is the option of splitting the difference and going for schedule 2?
Along these lines, it’s worth noting that a poll doesn’t have to be “winner takes all”. Instead, it can be thought of more as a guide for the person running the club.
For example, I’ve run clubs where I’ve polled to see if the readers wanted an increase in pace, but an increase would only happen if at least 75% voted for a pace increase. If 70% voted for an increase and 30% against, we’d stay at the same pace.
You likely lose more people going at a faster pace than slower. But the loss also happens in different ways:
When the club goes too fast, some beginner readers will drop off, and their progress in learning Japanese takes a hit.
When a club goes too slow, advanced readers may read on ahead.
There’s also the option of starting slow for a month, then polling the remaining readers. By then, we won’t even have started polling for the next book club pick, so there’s room for a little variability in the schedule until probably week 8.
In the end, @jablekanji, you may find yourself making a “best judgment” call here and there, and the club will follow your lead.
I voted for schedule 1 because it’s consistent.
I still have my work and personal life to focus on too, so an increase in chapters might not be doable with my current level of japanese reading.
I still haven’t voted, I’d be fine with either 1 or 3 (schedule 2 just feels weird to me, since it cuts off between chapters more). I’m not sure how fast I’ll be able to go, I’ll try to stay on track, but either way, if we pick the faster schedule and I end up being slower than most of the group then so be it.
Thanks everyone for chiming in! Looks like some additional voters have leveled the playing ground in the poll a bit too. Since the next poll won’t be up, I do like @ChristopherFritz ‘s suggestion of polling the readers who stick with the club a couple weeks in to see how we feel. Early drop off is usually quite steep so it will allow those committed to reading to better decide the schedule! I’ll close the poll and put up the week one post sometime this weekend!
