[2024] 多読/extensive reading challenge

Is it bad that I did not even notice that it was a variant? I was just like, “Oh, 掴む, I know that word” and then moved on… :turtle: :upside_down_face: :thinking:

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Past few weeks have been pretty frustrating. I keep abandoning books/keep losing interest to read.

I’ve started a new VN which is keeping my attention so at least that’s something but I really want to be reading books as well.

I wonder if I’m just trying to read too hard of books or I’m just pushing myself too much to read.

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Oh wow, I didn’t realize! I always see you talking about reading around the forums/book clubs so I incorrectly assumed you’d read a lot more. My bad :sweat_smile: That’s an impressive amount of manga though. I just started manga this past month or so, so I’m only at 9 volumes so far.

Well whadya know, guess it was just a matter of time until I ran into it then :joy:

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The funny thing is, I don’t know when I first learned it. I remember seeing it one time and thinking “I’m pretty sure this is the same as 掴む”, verified, and moved on. But that’s it.

I read very, very… very slowly. :sweat_smile: Fastest I’ve read a Japanese book is two months.

I read a few with book clubs, but then I started reading my first full series on my own with 放浪息子 and it just snowballed from there.

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Hah. I’m sitting here thinking “It’s Aria where you saw 摑む, right? It’s gotta be Aria”, but nooo.

Well, I just finished volume 3, and indeed fan service goes decreasing in the text… not so much in the illustrations. We are, this time, greeted by full frontal nudity (with the usual conveniently placed obstacles to keep the whole thing PG-13 or whatever the Japanese equivalent is supposed to be). Panty shots are also quite frequent. It’s a bit sad.
Plot-wise, things remain entertaining, even though the pace was a bit slower this time around.
Also, I chose the worst possible timing to finish the book, as my local library just decided to close down because of the plague. Guess I’ll just read something else in the meantime.

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i was wondering how important is a schedule when doing extensive reading? for example, is it better to read one hour a day, every day at 10 am or it doesn’t matter how sporadic your reading habits are as long as you read as much as possible?

I think it depends more on your life and schedule. But consistency tends to help a lot of learning, but whether that is reading every day at a certain time, reading every day at any time, reading on most days each week, etc. would depend on your schedule. So read at a time and an amount that won’t burn you out. Whether that is the same time every day or not, every day or not, the same amount each time or not, will depend on your schedule. That is how I see it anyway.

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Like @MissDagger said, there’s no true answer to that question. However, I do think making it an habit tremendously helps in the long run. So I would indeed try to set a time and do a ridiculously low/easy amount of reading at that time, everyday. I’ve seen someone mention reading only 2 pages for instance; whatever corresponds to your level.
Once you have hit your goal, keep reading if you have the time or motivation. If not, no worries. It’s much easier mentally to keep a streak going than catching up, so you are better off reading half a page for 10 days rather than 5 pages once and then quit.
Whenever you feel more comfortable, you can just increase your daily goal. If life gets rough, just reduce it.
A final advice: even if you miss a day, don’t beat yourself over it. Just read as soon as you can, then get back to the previous routine.

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I would add - don’t have a “catchup mindset” either. If you miss a day / week / whatever, that doesn’t mean you have to do twice as much the next day / week / whatever.

Otherwise you very quickly create an insurmountable mental barrier when you could have just started reading again.

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Is reading like a drug? “If you miss your required dose reading session, take it as soon as possible. Skip the missed dose reading session if it’s almost time for your next dose reading session.”

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I was thinking of the pill when writing my own comment. :joy:
Do not have unprotected anime watching if you messed up your schedule.

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I finally had some time and got around to watching the movie, and I have to say, I have a new appreciation for movies and a medium. I know when I was a kid I always appreciated the book more than the movie, but I think the おおかみこども story lends itself better to the film adaptation (though I’m sure this is in large part because it was a movie first, so maybe the real lesson is the original is better?).

All that to say, I actually quite liked the movie! It’s entirely possible that’s in part because I already knew what to expect, but aside from the movie itself it was really cool how familiar it all felt because I had read it. Really boosted my confidence that I understood as much as I though seeing the scenes I had only previously imagined unfold in front of me.

Still a very slice-of-life movie, but the parts I felt kind of dragged in the book didn’t feel that way so much in the movie. I think having the right expectations going in also played a big part.

Anyway, movie review rant over!

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@Naphthalene @Radish8 @MissDagger thanks for all your thoughtful responses! i usually have spare time to read before school but i wasn’t sure it’d be worth it since there are some days where i have no time at all. i think i’ll hold off on extensive reading until i can make it a routine.

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Any reading is better than no reading. Even only a couple of days a week. :smiley: Not saying you should read, but just a reminder that perfect practice is very hard to do, and mostly any reading is better than none.

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I’m really thankful that the library in Toronto has tons of Japanese books. I’ve been doing extensive reading with children’s books and they’re harder to understand than I thought they would be because there’s hardly kanji!

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Two things to celebrate today!

Reading a full volume (actually 1.5) of manga in one day. And finishing my first manga series (Alice 19th) in Japanese. Sure, only 7 volumes, but still. Definitely read it 多読 style, only looking up a few words that where repeated a lot. This is also a series I’ve read in English a couple of times. This being my favorite manga series of all I’ve read.

If I keep doing a lot of 多読 reading I’ll have to up my yearly goal of manga volumes/books read. :slight_smile: Although I will have something of a pause soon since I’ll be moving back to Sweden and sending most of my manga back by boat, so 1-3 months later they will arrive.

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I wonder how long until I can’t order manga from Amazon anymore… (due to coronavirus if that wasn’t clear)

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Probably they will quarantine your mangas for two weeks as well ^^

Can you imagine how much space would be needed for that? :scream:

Oh that sounds weird. I mean for all the parcels of all the people ofc ^^

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Finished both 衛宮さんちの今日のごはんvol3 and とんがり帽子アトリエvol6 and now I have to wait for 7 because it isn’t published yet. Torture! Volume 6 was a much more relaxing read than Volume 5.

Now reading 台所のドラゴンVol3 because it was published recently and I loved the first two books to death. It’s about an art student who’s living in a cabin and winds up living with a growing baby dragon.

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