did you go through any textbooks/classes etc ever?
Yeah, I think there will probably be a few different reading styles. Personally I plan to skim read through the whole thing (without a dictionary as much as possible) then go back through more slowly to pick up on bits I missed, look up vocab, discuss grammar points here etc.
I don’t know what page this is on but I’m unfamiliar with a grammar point that I think it just listing examples of plants in this case?
「〜だの〜だの」
母さんが花より雑木が好きで、ハナモモだのツバキだのモミジだのを庭のあちこちにやたら植えてしまうものだから、家の庭は小さな雑木林になっていた。
Mom, liking trees more than flowers, planted here and there and everywhere things like hanamomo, tsubaki, and momiji which turned our house's garden into a little forest.
Is my rough 2sec translation.
After googling, I learned it’s a way to list examples that have no value or that I suppose the speaker doesn’t like.
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I appreciate the notification!
Yikes! What a hassle… the only good thing about Lloyds Bank is you can just call them up and be like “yo. open my account. stop having the account be closed.” 24/7.
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If you don’t want to deal with the VPN and hassle on Amazon, you can get an account on eBookJapan too. Their reader isn’t as robust for sure, but they allow overseas users and I’ve never had an issue with them. Here’s the guide I followed back when I opened my account, if you want to take a look: How to Make an eBook Japan Account to Download Free Manga - Chic Pixel
The first volume of the novel is only 280円 there right now too. Depending on what currency your converting, it’s not too bad in price at all.
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Not looking forward to having to deal with this sort of thing when I go back to the US… I just checked my local Book Off and picked it up for 100 yen. You guys are so determined!
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I have officially joined the club. I purchased the book on BookLive for the exact same price as on Amazon. I’m looking forward to reading my first ラノベ in Japanese!
I either don’t know how to edit the original post or I can’t because I’m too shiny and new. Regardless, it’s on the way! I’m going to be super stumped 10000% of the time, but I’m pumped!
I hear you on the grammar concern. However, sometimes jumping into an area like this that pushed you out of your comfort zone can be a great benefit. I see below that you are in the process of getting the book, which is great! My grammar is very basic, but the act of having to analyze almost all of the sentences, while tedious, will teach you a lot of grammar in the context of an entertaining (hopefully) story. Plus, we’re all here to help each other so, low risk, high reward.
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わたしがペンです。
No but seriously haha. I’m very excited for the peer support group aspect, actually! 
I don’t have anyone to nerd out to about learning Japanese irl so motivation can be low at times D:
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Thanks for the price update! When I checked just a few days ago, it was at 400円. Glad I didn’t get it then. 
Pretty much the same boat here. That’s why I thought this was a great idea. We’ll help each other out and hopefully learn tons in the process. Really looking forward to it, but also worried about not understanding a lot. 
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I finally got it! :o
Tae Kim’s book is the only one I’ve read in full, and it was a while ago…I should give it another read-through. Otherwise, I’ve taken notes/studied from online grammar resources and looked stuff up as needed when translating song lyrics or reading manga. So it’s been about four (?) years of casual independent study.
I mean, I’ve got a good handle on verb conjugation (well, some of them; others I have to confirm with Jisho), I know how adjectives/adverbs work generally, I’m acquainted with most of the particles, and can make sense of and to some extent identify varying levels of formality.
I do think I’ll buckle down and buy some of the Genki textbooks soon. It’s time I added structure to my grammar studies.
Oh, I got tripped up by this too! I guess I was tired of looking things up, so I didn’t and just assumed it had to be a way of listing things. Thanks for the note on the nuance! (It’s p.10 in my copy, btw.)
うらやましい!!
<I’m jealous! Well, to be precise, envious, but no one seems to make that distinction anymore.>
Everyone is voting わたしがペンです just because it’s funny!
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You’ll be able to edit when you become a member, but I’ll add you for now. Do you have an ETA?
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