Week 8 is here!
Hi there,
I’ve decided to get into reading, and was going to read Yotsuba&! by myself, but I remembered about this and decided to check it to see if it was anywhere near the start. Well, it isn’t exactly that new, but since you’re reading the book I wanted to read, I think I’ll just catch up and then go from there.
What is the general pattern for people in the club? I’ve done one ‘event’ on WaniKani before, which was the Spring Listening Challenge, and everyone had a ‘home post’ where we tracked our progress. I assume that doesn’t really exist here, but basically I’m wondering: how should I check myself in as ‘alive’ during the club?
For now, I’ll start with the first chapter and go from there.
There’s a thread for each week’s reading - they’re linked in the schedule in this thread’s first post. Each week’s thread has a participation poll in their first posts.
Yeah, just go to the thread for each week’s reading. There you’ll also find help with vocubulary and grammar, translations, questions and answers from others about that week’s section, which should be helpful too.
I got carried away so much that today I will likely be done with volume 3. I can’t believe I am reading at such a pace in Japanese after only(?) a year and a half of studying. Also the manga is so good, loving the fun vibes it brings
I’m happy for you. At least it means “accidental” buying a bundle of 13 volumes instead of 5 doesn’t seem to have been a mistake 
I look forward to a time when I can do that!
That’s really impressive! I started reading Yotsubato! in March 2025 and am only on Chapter 28. It’s a fun read so I really ought to pick up the pace.
I still remember my frustration at understanding those first few chapters after reading only textbook or news article Japanese. But, because of the struggle, I remember those early chapters (even the actual wording) much better than recent ones that I can read with more fluency.
Just popping in to say thank you so much, I had no idea Verasia existed and it looks amazing! I always automatically excluded physical books because importing plus shipping them was so expensive but I just ordered my first physical book in japanese at basically the same price I would have paid any other physical book and I’m so stoked!!
I know exactly what you mean. Since I found the shop, I really have to force myself not too order too many books, magazines or manga at once… there’s so much to choose from… if you don’t know it yet, I can recommend the Hiragana Times magazine. For me, it’s still a bit on the difficult side, but I’m getting there…
I‘m really enjoying the story so far and want to thank everybody for their inputs, especially those very elaborate ones that give detailed explanations and insights. Without those and the vocab sheet, I’d be having a hard time.
Interestingly, I just started the first book of Flying Witch and found that slightly easier to grasp, even though it has a higher difficult rating on Natively (L19 vs L17). I’m thinking that the language used there is more slang free, less abbreviated or something?
I hope you know about the book club: Flying Witch
Generally, I found the ratings of very popular titles are often a little lower on Natively. Combined with the trend of titles I look at moving down in ranking, I think it is an effect of people actually getting stronger at reading.
These popular titles are read by many people and are often used as a comparison point. If Yotsuba was the easiest thing you read (for many people it is), it’s easy to slap a “harder than” on the book you currently read compared to Yotsuba → thus resulting in Yotsuba moving down.
Additionally, there is the effect of people judging different things. The text density in the Yotsuba series is not too high; you can easily follow the story and enjoy it even if you lose the plot for 3-4 panels; the amount of Kanji is low since Yotsuba speaks in kana only
I truly agree with you. The slang and Yotsuba garbling words make it a little harder in the beginning than it needs to be. You totally get used to it though, and it is an important skill to understand casual speech as well.
Generally I only look at Natively to see if it is in a ballpark of stuff I’d like to read. If I feel okay reading level 35 and see a level 40+ novel I want to read, I at least know what I’m in for. Doesn’t mean I don’t try if I actually really want to read that work. Conversely, if it is level 30 or even lower, I might decide to prefer physical since I can probably read without too many lookups.
Being motivated and enjoying what you read will triumph over the perfect level at any point in time 
Week 11 is here!
https://community.wanikani.com/t/
よつばと！・-yotsuba-week-11/75798
Week 12!
Week 13 is here!
the nomination for our next read is open:
Nominations Open: Absolute Beginners Book Club
Does this mean that you are our new fearless leader?
no no no
sorry, but I would not know how
just wanted to spread the word