Oh, good to know 
Now I’m worried I’m not providing enough context, so if you need some gaps-filling, please say so! 
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Reading Update: 9月21日〜30日
Materials:
授乳
月刊少女野崎くん３
ヒトゴトですから！１
What a mood! It’s the exact mood that’s getting me to actually post an update for once, so thank you, Belerith!
As you can see, 野崎くん has been promoted to orange. This is, in part, because I finally got around to doing things I’ve been putting off, and thus needed something quick to keep that all-important streak going. (There are obviously also books I’ve been putting off…perhaps this is a personality trait…) I’m not gonna lie: I was probably also lazy for some of the days in this range, but I at least read something! Even one step moves us forward and all that jazz.
月刊少女野崎くん３: Read through one of my favorite chapters so far in the volume. Our titular character has trouble keeping his character’s placements consistent, which puts a lot of hardship on background artist 堀先輩. While it’s funny watching the characters trying to help 野崎, it was both adorable and hysterical how attached 御子柴 became to one of the solutions, in particular.
ヒトゴトですから！１: 久しぶりだよ〜 I managed to crack this manga back open after who knows how long. I forgot what happened since the last time I read it; pausing in the middle of the chapter really didn’t help that situation. This manga is about two lesbian women (not a couple, but there’s always the possibility of that changing) who work in human resources. I’ve been trying to read this volume straight through, meaning “not constantly looking up every word I don’t understand.” Needless to say, a lot of the HR lingo goes over my head. Still, it’s pretty interesting! I didn’t learn about this when I read it in this range of days, but it’s still probably the most interesting thing I learned about thus far.
What is ピグマリオン効果?
ピグマリオン効果, or the Pygmalion effect (or even the Rosenthal effect), is a phenomenon where the higher the expectations for someone (in the case of the manga, employees), the better they perform. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, meaning the other way around could work, too. In my experience, big expectations = big pressure, which hasn’t always equaled better performance, but alas, perhaps I’m not blessed enough.
Here’s the Japanese definition given in the manga, if anyone’s curious:
【ピグマリオン効果とは】
アメリカの教育心理学者ロバート・ローゼンタールによって発表された心理学用語。人は期待された通りに成果を出す傾向があり、他者からの期待値がそのあとの成長を決定づける要因になると考えられている。「ピグマリオン」はギリシャ神話に登場するキプロスの王に由来する。
授乳: Finally, still trying to catch up with the current 村田 pick. I’ve been having an easier time with Week 2’s section. I’m currently reading through a decently gross scene (wouldn’t be 村田 if there wasn’t at least one): MC’s recalling a time her father came home drunk with a bunch of younger co-workers; her mother welcomes them in and makes them food, only some of the ingredients may have been sourced from the garbage can… 
Part of me knows this isn’t the nicest thing to do, but her husband was also kind of an a-hole to her in this memory, so…I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little on board with this.
Some interesting vocab words (too many to list them all, so I'm limiting myself)
鼻の頭 (はなのあたま): tip of the nose (cute way of looking at it, imo)
古女房 (ふるにょうぼう): good old wife, one’s wife of many years
満面笑顔 (まんめんえがお): (with) one’s face beaming with joy; smiling from ear to ear (written in the book as 満面の笑顔)
Thrilled that I somehow made it to the end of the month without missing a day! Weekends are always a toss-up, so I’m glad I set myself with 野崎くん (even if I should maybe focus a little more on the other books on my list during the week).
Congrats to everyone who’s still chugging along with us on this challenge! Whether you haven’t missed a day or there’s several gaps in your tracker, you’re still making great progress. Here’s to 10月! 
(click for home post)
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Day 29:
日本語: I read a lot of はめふら 11.
Read-aloud: We read a chapter of 7SEEDS (but spent most of the call talking about 伯爵と妖精).
中国語
中国語: I read 为什么学汉语.
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Okay I will make a post for the last two days. First I started the second volume of まがつき around 40 pages read. Then I read a little bit of the まいてつ visual novel.
I had a sore throat and headache today, because of this I wasn’t in the mood to read more.
vocabulary
天誅 てんちゅう divine punishment
]調節 JLPT N2 ちょうせつ regulation; adjustment; control
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日30 
今日の日本の本: それでも歩は寄せてくる １
So I decided to read それでも歩は寄せてくる today because I missed yesterday Just reread some pages for the most part… も 疲れる、おやすみなさい
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September 30 It’s been a long day: 12 hours on campus
・乳と卵. (21% → 22%)
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I am utterly exhausted today, and very sorely tempted to say “the 59 reviews I just did should totally count as my reading” buuuuuut seeing this thread has inspired me, I am going to at least get through a level 0 graded reading book. They’re so cute they put a smile on my face. Also, I spotted that there’s Peter Rabbit in Japanese as a level 1 book, so that’s my goal for now!
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September 30th
Satori Reader: Secret, episode 50.
Random words
- いよいよ = at last, finally (also “more and more, all the more”).
- 面影 = おもかげ face, looks, vestiges (kinda weird word that I still haven’t quite unterstood, but the context was one of the characters telling the other that he’s a changed person, and that his former 面影 isn’t there anymore → 「お前、本当に人が変わったな。一樹に出会った頃の、あのお前の面影はもうないな」).
- ビールジョッキ = or simply ジョッキ , a beer jug.
September done! Enter October 
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and it looks like a sweet new avatar to match.
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Day 30: September 30
What did I read?: ハイ☆スピード!
How much did I read?: 7 pages - finished Chapter 3
How long did it take me?: 1 hour…30 min? (I stopped my timer to go to the bathroom and then forgot to start it again when I came back…classic)
Aww, omg :3 Makoto gets all panicky and feels like he needs to see Haru - he rushes out of his house, out onto the stone steps of the shrine, and who is already waiting there just a few steps up but sweet baby Haru. Was he waiting there because he knew? Makoto likes to think so, and I kind of do too. :3 I love the way that Haru is in this moment. He speaks so little, but he understands so much. He gives Makoto the opening he needs to talk about/admit his fear of the water, which started with the fishing boat sinking when they were young (the reason for the funeral procession Haru was remembering before) and turned itself up to 11 after Haru nearly drowned too. And just telling Haru is enough to help him feel better. Haru, in his own quiet way, gives Makoto what he needed. And we even get an “I’ll think about it” to the relay question, because Makoto wants to do it and wants Haru with him, and I think now more than ever, Haru understands the significance of that. Just a nice quiet friendship moment all around. <3
Sooo many good words, this author writes with so many good words
- 見透かす (みすかす) - to see through; to see the true nature of something (I might have put this one before but I really love this word in this context, this is my favorite word of today)
- 動き出す (うごきだす) - to come alive; to get going; to start to move
- 元 (もと) - (somebody’s) side; (somebody’s) location (I knew this word, but not this meaning, I like it)
- 水平線 (すいへいせん) - horizon (related to bodies of water)
- 疼く (うずく) - to throb (with pain); to ache; to smart; to twinge (I like this kanji, it’s like winter + pain)
- 和らぐ (やわらぐ) - to soften; to calm down; to be eased; to be mitigated; to subside; to abate
- 滲む (にじむ) - to ooze; to well up (of tears, etc.); can also mean to show through (of feelings, emotions, etc.); to reveal itself, which I love for some weird reason
- 問い詰める (といつめる) - to press a question; to cross-examine
- しまい込む (しまいこむ) - to put away; to stow away; to tuck away; to hoard
- 溺れる (おぼれる) - to struggle in the water; to sink below the surface and become unable to breathe; to (nearly) drown
- 蘇る (よみがえる) - to be resurrected; to be resuscitated; to be rehabilitated; to be revived; to be refreshed; to be restored; to be recalled (e.g. memories); to be brought back
- 凪ぐ (なぐ) - to become calm; to die down (what a great kanji ok, it’s like the wind, but stopped - and it means calm.
) - 夕闇 (ゆうやみ) - dusk; twilight (this is such a pretty word)
- 家路 (いえじ) - the road home (this is just a cute word to me for some reason)
Gosh, I can’t believe we’re halfway through already. Where did the time go? Into work, is where it went 
lol
My accomplishments so far:
- Kept my streak and read every day
- Finished 2 volumes of manga (technically 3 if you count me finishing the last chapter of Flying Witch Vol 10)
- Started the Tanuki Cuteness Brigade
- Currently on page 88/228 of High Speed, which I think is pretty darn good considering I put it on pause for at least a week
I’m pleased with that. I’m not sure I’ll quite finish it during the challenge, but I think the possibility is still there. 
And whether I do or not, I’m enjoying the story a lot and I’m glad I get to spill all my thoughts about it here xD
There is no such thing as too many pictures of Japan - true facts
Also that owl ずんだ餅 is cute as heckkk
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Finshed a book yesterday! On to the next one!
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October 1st - today I read 2 new graded readers
There were both new rather than re-reads, and they’re a step up in level from the hardest grader reader I’d previously tackled (May 24th, so 4 and a bit months ago) - so I was expecting to have to work for them a bit - but they both ended up being surprisingly easy.
I had thought that maybe me finding the re-reads lately easy was due to me already knowing the stories, but even with new reads I found these graded readers much easier than I used to. This has been a really fun way of internalizing how much progress I’ve made =D
I’ll finish off the rest of this pack (4 more stories of increasing difficulty), and then I have another higher level pack waiting on my shelf.
I guess all that manga reading and Anki in the meantime have paid off.
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Thought I would give an update/summary as 1 month has passed already and looking at my bookmeter I have been at for about 4 months straight now. I think I will take a break somewhere down the line, but for now I’ll keep at it for another month. Last month I have finished reading up on Yotsuba and Polar Bear Café. I also made a start at the book I have lying around and I’m planning on finishing that during this second month.
Speaking of, I read two more stories since my last update. On wednesday I read the second story called 半日村, I liked this one a lot more than the first story. There was plenty of repetition so it was easier to get a grasp on the story. Yesterday I read the third story called さるじぞう, I thought it was bit too silly. Just like the second story it had some helpful repetition so it was easier to not get lost, but yeah old people talking can get a bit long winded so it was still a little difficult. For tonight I have a poem coming up, so that’s a bit more on the lighter side.
I have added a checklist of all the stories in the main post under 10分で読める物語 二年生. It’s not as nice looking as in the book itself, but it will do for now. I’m looking forward to reading the haikus from Basho and the princess kaguya story at the end.
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::: TANUKIDATE 20211001 ::: It’s October!!
Day XXXI: 食わず女房 
Read a story on hukumusume, in the きょうの新作昔話 category (I went on a bit of a dive into this site and got a little lost). I think I’ve heard of this one before, or at least heard of a woman with a mouth in the back of her head part.
“わたしはごはんを食べずに、仕事ばかりする女です。どうか、嫁にしてくださいな”
I think I’d be a tad worried about someone just turning up at my door asking for marriage because they can work well and that they do not eat rice.
But he’s just like “whoa you don’t eat rice. YES!” 
Little does he know that his new wife eats literal mountains of onigiri… [何じゃ？]
ポイポイポイポイポイポイポイポイ
鬼婆 (おにばば) ahh so that’s where I’ve heard this before, I vaguely know about the onibaba.
「みんな来ーい！ うまそうな人間を持って来たぞー！」 
Though the little demon village is kinda cute.
horse
~ New Words ~
けち (or ケチ) - Stingy, the story even has a linked description for this one.
ある時 - the ある again! Looks like you can use 時 to mean “at one point” “at one time”.
家の米俵 (こめだわら) - Rice bale of the house, doubt this word gets much use nowadays.
塩を一升 (しおをいっしょう) - Box of salt, not exactly ‘new’ but helpful context, the story states that one 升 is 1.8 litres (wait this is sounding familiar, haven’t I already written this before?).
ざっくり (Hey, that’s me! almost) - has a few meanings, but in this context it’s “wide open”.
ブルブル - to quiver / tremble (eg. in fear).
なまんだぶ - Buddhist term/prayer : “I sincerely believe in Amitabha, Lord/Buddha have mercy on me”
菖蒲 (しょうぶ) - Japanese Iris, which also has a link.
(Not part of the story, but noticed this on the images) ::
無断転載禁止 (むだんてんさいきんし) - All rights reserved (copyright)
This is the best!
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September 30
30
total: 97/108
- カラフル (57 → 65% audio)
- カラフル (65 → 70% text)
October 1
31
total: 98/108
- カラフル (70 → 73% text)
- カラフル (65 → 73% audio)
Felt asleep when listening to the audiobook again this time completely, waking up in the next chapter 
but I already relistened.
Sometimes I’m not sure if my listening even does something, because even if I’m listening after reading, a lot of times I’m still not sure what was just said… at first I tried to rewind all the time, but now I’m trying “no interrupts” approach.
But I had some progress at least with the reading itself?
I recently changed the font in my Kindle from size 8 to size 7, which I was already proud of, because 7 is what Kindle uses for its “large” default setting. So I was felt like I finally got within the “acceptable” size. It’s not the best word, but I can’t find anything better 
And now! Now I managed to change the font in カラフル to size 6! 
It made me so happy!
I don’t want to overdo it, but it would be nice to be able someday to read at least easy paper books, and for that I need the tolerance for the small font.
I’m still using a very high “bold” setting unfortunately, because otherwise the letters are not, uh, standing out from the background enough for me.
(I have some eyes problems, and reading on Kindle will always be more comfortable for me, but still, I want to at least have an option to read physical from time to time.)
I also don’t really think my speed improved during the last year (which means I won’t complete my extensive challenge goal, eh, because I assumed I will speed up because so many people were talking about how their speed increased) (and that’s why I prefer this challenge, that failed extensive goal really makes me demotivated, because it was so big and yearly and all)
BUT I think at least my stamina improved? I think until recently I was feeling like I was burning down while reading, mentally and physically, I was constantly feeling hungry and devouring food while dealing with Japanese all the time (and nope, I didn’t gain weight at all, it really was all consumed by my brain somehow) and it was so hard to concentrate. It’s still hard, but no so excruciatingly hard.
カラフル spoilers
Everyone is so happy that “Makoto” survived suicide that it would be really sad if my theory about protag really being Makoto (with amnesia) won’t be true.
Anyway, the general mood turned into being quite sweet now. And there was a title drop. It’s actually done okay, there is a slow progress and not the sudden “now everybody loves each other”, but still, I’m not good with Family Reconciliation theme because personal issues so I will be complaining it’s too sweet regardless.
And our Guardian Angel seem to almost completely disappear from the story now? 
And all the good things and the good changes happened to protag after the Angel disappeared. Uhhh not a very good job, heaven support team.
I really liked the scene with Hiroka. (even if I saw/heard the name countless times I’m still not sure if I’m not messing it up when I have to write it, uh) It wasn’t very revealing for me, but it’s something I would like to explain to kids.
(That it’s normal to feel contradictory emotions or to have weird urges, for example about destroying something pretty and such.)
But all in all, it started really dark and I was even surprised at times how dark, and now it just seems to be going towards a happy ending.
The chapter ended with the cliffhanger, but I guessed what will happen, and I was able to confirm I was right by quickly skimming the text. Another improvement I am proud of! Some time ago it was much harder to quickly find something in the text, I had to read everything slowly and now it’s more or less possible at least sometimes 
While I honestly laughed about this… is it really rice in that context, and not just meal/any food?
Of course it’s still an interesting argument for the marriage - you get a free slave, no expenses required
Even in this picture there are various foods, and not just rice (but I didn’t read the whole story!):
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Oh yeah… I completely forgot that ごはん isn’t exclusively rice, now that you mention it would make more sense that it means a “doesn’t need feeding” sort of thing rather than just rice. Thanks for pointing that out!
I just imagined this guy was really weirdly possessive about rice
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10月1日：
Day 24
Mainly just a short update. I didn’t have the chance to write daily reports due to work, and couldn’t read as much either because of this, but in these days I finished reading chapter 3 for 大海原と大海原, and 生き残った者 for 鹿の王. So far I enjoy reading both. It’s hard, but I do feel more and more comfortable with reading by each passing day, which is the most important part for me.
Hope I can resume doing daily reports as well too. September was hectic.
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Day 30:
日本語: I read a lot of はめふら 11, a bit of それでも歩は寄せてくる, and a bit of 魔王城でおやすみ.
中国語
中国語: I read 我的爸爸.
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