This is true when running a VPN in general, though you can set a split tunnel on many (most?) VPNs, here you can choose to let certain applications access the internet normally, only work on certain applications or only work when your VPN client is active. Have set up firefox for normal browsing and chrome for faux-Japanese with PIA just this way 
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That’s interesting. I will have a look at the settings for mine (NordVPN). I downloaded a Japanese movie from Netflix USA and couldn’t cast it to my TV using my WLAN.
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I was looking at the free Tunnelbear extension for Chrome, but ended up installing the proper version (free). It has split tunnel options in the paid version (I think 
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Just looked at our book (I bought from BK). Holy sh*t. Wall of text on every page. It will probably kill me in November. Looks like I need to speed up my study of Japanese now if I like to make into new 2021.
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I would say that both are very approachable for beginners. The manga has a lot more short conversational language which is obviously easier to read. However the casual language can sometimes be more tricky for beginners - particles get dropped, sometimes it’s not clear when one sentence stops and the next starts, and words are sometimes written a bit funny making them difficult to look up (e.g. きれー instead of きれい).
The 10分 book is written in more formal Japanese and so the sentences are very grammatically correct, and the language may be more similar to what you’ve learned so far from a textbook. Sometimes the sentences are quite long with subclauses that are confusing for a beginner. But with the help of the group you’ll rapidly improve in being able to break them down. It was really amazing the progress we made in previous books doing this, plugging away at a page a day.
I found it almost a completely different skill set reading manga to reading a “book book”. So I’d just recommend going with whichever grabs your interest more. From others experiences in the past, you might not want to read ahead on 10分 until the club starts. You’ll find it much easier going with the group alongside.
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I’ve had issues in the past with it declining my card unless I purchase a gift card instead. So basically once I have my cart total I buy an Amazon Japan giftcard (I buy it through Amazon JP) and send it to my own email address.
This is when I use a Visa. Can’t report for other cards
ETA: First book club I’m joining! That’s near the end of my first semester of Japanese class so it will be a nice way to keep practicing during and after break (club should end by the end of my second semester if I did the math right)
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Got my book today from amazon!
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Same! I am very excited to read it, will be a hard but fun read.
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@cpage Can you tell please how big is the book and something about the quality?
I bought my copy from BookWalker so will follow our discussion with the electronic release but as it is my first real Japanese book ever I am still interested. To me idea of a paper version of the book with some possibility to make direct notes in the book is appealing.
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I like these books. I think they are pretty decent quality. It’s a medium-size paperback book and the paper is a decent thickness (but can still see the text on the other side a bit so a marker would bleed through but not a pen), and the lettering is large with a little space between the lines and large margins. There’s a couple of glossy colored pages at the front and some colored non-glossy pages inside.
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＠cpage ありがとうございました
Is there a benefit to using Bookwalker as opposed to the other ebook websites, or is it just an option?
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@Nekyasai I love BK. I have hundreds of light novels and manga there (in English). You can also buy Japanese raw there. For me, it is service very similar to Steam where I have my Mac/PC games. It is a love or hate site :-). You can try it there are a lot of free books and mangas.
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Woah I’m seeing a ton of free stuff! Thanks!
If I am unable to buy the physical copy I will probably use this site
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Check out the freebies thread for weekly updates. The BookWalker Freebies Thread - #57 by curiousjp
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Vocab sheet created and added to opening post. Please do feel free to add words, it works best as a community project, but do have a look at the guidelines first. Main rule - if you’re not sure about the translation, don’t add it to the spreadsheet as if it’s wrong it might confuse people.
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Got mine on order, hehe, (along with some other things) ordered from Amazon JP because I got it along with the dictionaries I wanted for £40 less than if I’d ordered just the dictionaries from the UK store (which imports from the US, for some reason) and a week faster.
Logically I only need the Basic dictionary at the moment, but given the shipping is fairly expensive and doesn’t change much based on how much you order, I figured it logical to order the set…
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Oh you’ll be surprised about Amazon Japan’s shipping speed! The estimates they give are usually not that accurate. So far my orders arrived in Germany 3-4 days after placing the order which is insane
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Oh, you mean inaccurate as in over-delivering in speed, rather than being later than they say?
I’ll take that over the two week delivery time and one week windows that Amazon UK were giving me from the US imports, haha.
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Buying all three volumes of the Dictionary of Japanese Grammar was a brilliant move!
I love these dictionaries. They have clear explanations and lots of example sentences with English translations.
A particularly useful feature is the cumulative index at the back of the red book (A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar): it lists all the grammar points from all three volumes, so you don’t have to go hunting through the individual books to find what you’re looking for.
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