Beyond Sleepy’s (pillow fort?) study log

Thank you Christopher :heart::pray::smile:

Your insights, as always, are super useful. I have the sense about “も” that it can mean “also” from having watched the Cure Dolly video in April of last year (but I haven’t gotten around to rewatching it). Somehow I still didn’t catch that nuance when translating, so thanks for calling attention to it. I’ll try to be more vigilant :triumph:

This is what I figured. I think some of my uncertainty came from a feeling that I ought to have struggled more with that sentence since to me it looks pretty intimidating:p

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You did a really good job on it.

I'm sure you'll find plenty of comics/books/materials with even more struggle-worthy sentences waiting in your future =D

(Ah, I’m having bad flashbacks from my struggles with trying to read through this manga. I’ll have to give it another try once I’ve leveled-up my Japanese a lot more.)

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I know this wasn’t even for me, but I’m pleased to see I can more or less work it out, with a couple lookups. I’ve got the detective/murder type vocab down, haha. I’m a little mad I forgot I had 待ち伏せ in my Anki deck, to the point that I didn’t even recognize it until I saw the definition, but I guess that happens. What is that manga, by the way?

More on topic, @Beyond_Sleepy , I’m pretty sure you’re doing much better at this than I did when I started, and I had already (almost?) finished Genki 2 then, seemingly much more direct grammar study than you have at this point, so… oops! Haha. Excellent work.

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GALS, which I read in English after watching the anime forever ago. There’s a sequel series that I haven’t read, so I want to re-read the original series in Japanese this time, then read the sequel series.

I haven’t learned this one, but I’m sure it’ll come up as I read through 名探偵(めいたんてい)コナン…

Time to sit quietly while things get back on topic. =)

EheHYpoU4AI-Qea2

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Ai-ai-ai :grimacing: Yeah, I look forward to slowly leveling up my Japanese to that level as well :upside_down_face:

I make a first pass without aid, then I look up things in Jisho and sometimes I google grammar, and finally I double check against the vocab sheet from the beginner’s book club. Without the last step I might not have figured out いいとこにきた or that あじさい was the name of the park and not just the plant :stuck_out_tongue: So I’m getting a lot of help with this manga :relieved:

Ah, feel free to talk about anything related to Japanese in here, it makes my study log feel kind of cozy :blush: You both inspire me.

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I read four pages from of よつばと! today.

🍀🍀🍀 よつばと! pages 33-36

——— 33 ———

変な奴だー‼︎

A strange person!!

あ、あのー お嬢ちゃん?

E- excuse me miss?

なにしてるのかな?

What are you doing?

ヤミ

Cicada

ヤミ…

Cicada…

ヤミ!

Cicada!

そっかーヤミかぁー、やっぱり夏ヤミだよねぇー

I see~ A cicada, huh~ As expected of summer, there are cicada~

——— 34 ———

あなちよつばちゃん!でしょ

You’re Yotsuba! Right?

なんで、知ってんだ⁉︎

How do you know!?

なんでだと思うー?

How do you think?

あのね、よつばちゃんのお父さんにたのまれてお迎えに来たのよー

You see, Yotsuba, it’s because your dad asked me to go pick you up.

おお!とーちゃんか!

Oh! Because of dad!

——— 35 ———

じゃあ一緒に行こうねー

So, let’s go together then~

いこつ‼︎

Let’s go!!

よつばちゃん何年生?

How old are you Yotsuba?

…… とーちゃんがすき!

I like my dad!

… そっかー とーちゃん好きかぁー

Is that so, you like your dad, huh :slightly_smiling_face:

とーちゃんが

Dad

——— 36 ———

いいかよつば, 知らない人についていつちゃダメだぞ

Listen/remember Yotsuba, following strangers is bad.

いいものあげるとかお父さんが呼んでるとか言われても

If they say “I’ll give you something good” or “your father is calling you”
Edit: I guess 言われても is “even if they say”

その人は悪い人かもしれないぞ

That person could be a bad person

——— end ———

I’m not entirely sure what’s going on in the second “memory bubble” on page 36, but I’ve made an attempt :four_leaf_clover::upside_down_face::four_leaf_clover:

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It’s super nice to hear that! Oh man, the amount I have ahead of me nonetheless, haha.

I have to admit, I’m pretty tired and only read the bit you mentioned struggling with, but you actually did great! The single nuance I would point out that I think you missed is that “ても” (or “でも”) at the end of a verb can mean something like “even if.” The final push that statement needs is to just stick an even at the beginning of it.

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I googled that and it seems I updated my translation as you responded :upside_down_face: But thank you for explaining it :heart:

I feel you :yawning_face: let’s get some rest:)

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Ah, took it a little slower with よつばと! today and only read :four_leaf_clover::four_leaf_clover: (2) pages. I also watched two Cure Dolly lessons and two episodes of 日常. It’s 23:00 and I have yet to do any studying for my university courses today tho… I’d better get on that now -_-‘

🍀here’s my translation attempt for pages 37-38🍀

——— 37 ———

ちょっとようじをおもいだした

Wait a minute, I just remembered something I need to do

は?

Ha?

あっちに… ばいばい

Over there… bye bye :wave:

えっ、え?どうしたの?

Eh- eeh? What’s wrong?

——— 38 ———

ええっ⁉︎ 全力疾走⁉︎

Eeeh-!? A full-on sprint!?

まちなさーい

Wait up

たすけて‼︎ たすけてー‼︎

Help!! Heeelp!!

——— end ———

This was really comfortable in terms of difficulty😌

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You know, I tried 日常 a little while back and ended up dropping off because I was frustrated with my lack of comprehension. School setting or not, that one’s not too easy!

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It’s not, but I’ve watched most episodes 3-5 times with English subtitles so I often remember the jokes even when I don’t understand the Japanese. I need that familiarity because at the moment with anime my level of comprehension is basically at most “oh, I know that word/phrase” most of the time for every anime:p

I’m just focusing on hearing familiar words and grammar while my brain adjusts to spoken Japanese, and I trust that in time it will pay off and I’ll be able to learn more effectively from anime.

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Oh definitely, that all sounds like a good idea and I think you’re on the right track. I ran through all of Shirokuma Cafe in basically the same “I might recognize a word” mode too and had a good time, haha. I’ve never actually seen 日常 previously so I think its… particular brand of humor is almost another barrier if I’m already sketchy on what exactly is being said, you know? (and let’s be real, in a lot of listening I’m still hardly beyond that level D:)

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Definitely, it thrives on “you didn’t see that coming, did you?” which isn’t great when you need all the help you can get from context clues and familiar patterns to try to make sense of what’s said:p

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I read six pages of よつばと! today :four_leaf_clover::upside_down_face::four_leaf_clover:

🍀Pages 39-44🍀

——— 39 ———

おや? どうしたの?風香ちゃん

Oh? What’s wrong, Fuuka?

いえ!なんでもっ、なんでもありませんから

No! Nothing- nothing at all

たすけてえー

Heeeeelp

ムオ⁉︎

Mou!?

——— 40 ———

よつば⁉︎

Yotsuba!?

すみません

Excuse me

…なんだ⁉︎

…wtf!?

とまりなさーい!!

Stop!!

——— 41 ———

さっきの子と風香お姉ちゃん⁉︎

The kid from earlier and Fuuka?

恵那!捕まえる

Ena! Catch her

え⁉︎え⁉︎

Eh!? Eh!?

あっ

A-

——— 42 ———

とりゃ‼︎

(An exclamation)

キャッ

Kya-

おおー⁉︎

Oooo!?

まてー

Waaait

——— 43 ———

たすけてー

Heeelp

…なに?

… what?

あ!あさぎ姉ちゃん、その子、ゲット

A! Asagi, that kid, GET (catch her)

はいはーい、おじょうちゃんどうしたのかしら?

Yes-yes, what’s troubling you little miss?

た、たすけて

S- save me

——— 44 ———

わるい人につかまる‼︎

(Maybe:) the bad person is trying to grab me. (In the context of Asagi’s question. On it’s own its “grab a bad person”?)

ええ⁉︎

Eeh!?

よし悪い人はお姉さんがやっつけてあげよう

Alright, I’ll beat up the bad guy

お姉さん強いからね

I’m strong you know

ホントか⁉︎

Really!?

とう

(Exclamation)

いてえ⁉︎

Ouch!?

——— end———

It’s a little late (00:00), but I’m going to watch a couple Cure Dolly videos and some anime before bed

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Verbs that end in the ある sound are verbs of “being” (as opposed to “doing”). Thus, (つか)まる is subject “being caught” (rather than “doing catching”).

This one’s covered in Cure Dolly’s lesson 15, so if you’ve watched that one is may sound a little familiar. If you haven’t seen it yet, then you have yet one more video to look forward to =D

As for who’s doing the action, the subject would be marked by が (if it’s stated). Here, the (わる)(ひと) is marked by に, which tells you that that person isn’t the subject doing the action of (つか)まる.

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Ah, “I’m being caught (by a bad person)”

Thank you :pray: This makes sense to me now. I just ignored the presence of に, couldn’t tell you why:/

I watched Cure Dolly up to lesson 17 in April 2021 (I think) so I have to rewatch them. Currently I’m up to lesson 7🙃

I’m making a note of this. Super helpful information Christopherさん

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For those with MEMRISE accounts as well, there is a Yotsubato deck list with level broken down by each volume, and includes full audio so you can hear how the vocab is pronounced. Found this helpful when getting into the series.
MEMRISE Yotsubato

I also used GENKI and found it helpful to have the mp3 audio files accessible so I could listen during down time. Since they are level appropriate, it should making transitioning into less familiar territory (like anime) easier. Happy studies!

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I’ve read three pages today, I feel like I want to do more but the translations are pretty mentally draining for me so I’m holding myself back. I think 2-3 pages are a good pace for where I’m at right now.

🍀よつばと! pages 45-47🍀

——— 45 ———

す… すげえー‼︎つえー‼︎

A … amazing!! Woah :exploding_head:

で なに?この子

So, what’s with the kid?

隣に引っ越してきた子、連れて行くの

(Maybe:) It’s the child of our neighbors who just moved in, I’m bringing her home

あれ?よつば

Huh? Yotsuba

あ!とーちゃんだ‼︎

Ah! It’s dad!

あぁ連れて帰ってくれたんだね

Aaa you brought her back for me

どうもありがとう

Thank you :pray:

いえいえ、私はたいした事はなにも

Don’t mention it, it wasn’t a big deal (for me)

ただいま…

I’m home…

——— 46 ———

あ、うちの姉と妹です

Ah, this is my older and my younger sister

長女のあさぎ

The oldest daughter, Asagi

私が次女の風香

I’m the second daughter, Fuuka

で末っ子の恵那です

And the youngest child, Ena

よろしく…

Pleased to meet you…

——— 47 ———

あ、えーと、引っ越してきた小岩井です、よろしくー

(Something like:) Ah, um, having just moved in, we’re the Koiwais, pleased to meet you

こいつがよつば

This is Yotsuba

よろしくねー、よつばちゃん

Pleased to meet you, Yotsuba

え?

Eh?

このお姉ちょん達はお隣さゃんだ

These young ladies are our neighbors

ちゃんとあいさつしなちい

Greet them properly

おとなりさん?

Neighbors?

そ、うちはそこ、おとなり

That’s right, we live there :point_right:, (so) we’re neighbors

——— end ———

In other news I’ve noticed a small development in my grammar knowledge: I can now read other’s grammar questions and the answers they get and learn from them, which (somewhat understandably) I had difficulty doing before I started applying my grammar knowledge to reading. It all seemed so abstract to me just two weeks ago :stuck_out_tongue:

As for the grammar in Yotsuba&!, I don’t know or look up all of it (I do some guessing based on context, and do skip some syllables from time to time :pensive:), and what I do look up and learn doesn’t necessarily stick. But over time it will :slightly_smiling_face:

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Pretty good. There are only really pretty small gaps in your understanding but nothing major!
I especially like your translations. They are so natural in english :smiley: . I always struggle when translating japanese trying not to butcher the sentence in english.

The second one is also an adjective which had a strong sound shift and does sound a little manly how yotsuba uses it. Normally it should have been つよい. Edit: On second thought maybe you already new that and just used a better term for the english translation. Never mind me…

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Thank you :pray: I try :upside_down_face:

Hah, I know 強い but I did not know that that’s what Yotsuba said:p “A- amazing!! So strong!!” is how I’d have translated it if I knew. Thanks for explaining this to me :blush:

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