📚📚 Read every day challenge - Fall/Autumn 2021 🍁🍂🦝

and it looks like a sweet new avatar to match.

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Summary post

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. :exploding_head:)
  • 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 :upside_down_face: 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 :raccoon:
  • 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 :sweat_smile: 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. :slight_smile: 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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Home post

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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Main Post

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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:fallen_leaf: :raccoon: :last_quarter_moon: ::: TANUKIDATE 20211001 ::: :last_quarter_moon: :raccoon: :fallen_leaf:

It’s October!!


Day XXXI: 食わず女房 :lips:

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!” :laughing:

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!」 :rofl: :rofl:
Though the little demon village is kinda cute.

horse

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! :raccoon: :raccoon: :raccoon:

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Summary

September 30
:maple_leaf: 30
total: 97/108

  • カラフル (57 → 65% audio)
  • カラフル (65 → 70% text)

October 1
:maple_leaf: 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 :expressionless: 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 :stuck_out_tongue:
And now! Now I managed to change the font in カラフル to size 6! :grinning: 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? :thinking: 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 :relaxed:


While I honestly laughed about this… is it really rice in that context, and not just meal/any food? :thinking:
Of course it’s still an interesting argument for the marriage - you get a free slave, no expenses required :laughing:

Even in this picture there are various foods, and not just rice (but I didn’t read the whole story!):
obraz

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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 :laughing:

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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. :slight_smile:
Hope I can resume doing daily reports as well too. September was hectic.

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Home post

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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Summary post

Day 31: Read another two pages of よつば&!Happy October, everyone!

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I read some more まがつき probably 40 pages. Today I was sick and had a fever that’s why there won’t be any vocabulary this time.

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:house_with_garden: home post

:heavy_check_mark: Day 22(9月 30日) :sparkles:
What did I read:
雨と君と, just a couple of chapters, 10min.
it was an exhausting day, I literally took tanuki to bed with me and was barely hanging; the tanuki cuteness kept my eyes opened though, hehe

:heavy_check_mark: Day 23(10月 1日) :sparkles:
~Happy October!
What did I read:
10分で読めるこわい話 link , just the first story, around 20min. This is for kids, and as such, it had too many kana and too few kanji for my liking, but it’s nice to sometimes go to such books and lower level graded readers and read without worrying about every single word being unknown! first story is 「めし食わぬにょうぼう」
暁のヨナ, ch. 38, around an hour bc word lookups~

i might have joined only some 20 days ago, but y’all, thank you so much for everything so far?? It’s so motivating to be doing this with everyone here, you are all so amazing!Thank you! I’m still amazed at and by myself for managing to keep up daily! Here’s to another great month of reading with y’all! :clinking_glasses:

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I cannot thank you enough for taking the time and sharing all those bits and pictures, I absolutely loved every single one!!! The bridge looks amazing, it really looked so cinematic indeed!

I audibly squealed aaaaahhh i love anything Date Masamune-themed sakjddkjas
And the owl ずんだ餅 looked soooo cute, aaahh :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
also, thank you for all the Nozaki-kun moments, they are always so hilarious :joy:

look at me do exactly that very thing right now, bc I just simply, cannot contain myself !!

cryinggg, I have actually been there, I wasn’t in winter though, I was in June, and it was just as beautiful… I miss Hokkaido so much…

wah… this is exactly the same story I read today! :flushed: I checked out from the link you shared and yay! It had a recording too!! how nice!

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My tiny summary post

October 1 It’s been a long week
・Honzuki 6. (29% → 30%)

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Summary Post

October 1st
Final Fantasy XIV

Random words
  • 見張る = みはる to stand watch, to look out, to open one’s eyes wide.
  • 捜索 = そうさく investigation, search (for someone or something missing).
  • 合流 = ごうりゅう confluence, merge, conflux, union.
  • 国交 = こっこう diplomatic relations.
  • 見習う = みならう to follow another’s example (lit. to look and learn).
  • 解除 = かいじょ cancellation, rescinding, lifting (a sanction, etc). → the context for this was lifting conditions for some settings that normally have restrictions.

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I’ve been reading, although barely. More than reading books I already have, I’ve been book-shopping again (I could shop for books for forever), and I noticed that I’m suddenly a lot better at reading titles and summaries! So that’s exciting. :blush:

I’m no expert, however, in my experience, あるsomething is a fairytale type of writing. It’s kind of like saying “there was once a”, and can be put in front of practically anything.

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Summary post

Day 31: October 1
What did I read?: ハイ☆スピード!
How much did I read?: 5 pages
How long did it take me?: 1 hour 23 min

Aki and Rin giving us their take on Haru’s personality today :thinking: I’m honestly not sure I understood it all properly, which is kind of annoying me :sweat_smile: But basically what I took from it was that people rely on him, because he’s good at stuff, but he doesn’t really reach out to people or rely on anyone else. …Sounds a bit too relatable in some ways :sweat_smile: He tries not to get too involved with people, because he doesn’t want to hurt someone or push them away. …I think.

But in other news, I love how this little group is beginning to take shape <3 I think this is the first time they’re actually all running together, and it’s super cute. First Haru and Makoto leave together - for the first time in the novel, Haru doesn’t start off his journey to the swim club alone. Then Nagisa’s there waiting for them when they get close to the bridge, and Rin catches up with them just as they meet up with Nagisa. Nagisa still trying with all his might to keep up with Haru, and Haru taking pity on him for once and slowing down a bit so he doesn’t completely fall behind. The other two cracking up behind them because of Nagisa’s very earnest plan to run in place really fast while he waits for Haru by the bridge next time :joy: You can feel Haru begrudgingly opening up his heart a crack, and ever so slightly letting them in. <3

Here's an adorable illustration of them running together

Realizing people might not know who’s who :o Time to put faces to the names. The expressionless one trying to run away in the front is Haru. The one dying just behind him is Nagisa. The one turning back a little and laughing is Rin Rin’s laughing face is everything, he’s so cute, and the one laughing with him is Makoto

Good words
  • 窄める (すぼめる) - to make narrower; to shut (an umbrella); to shrug (one’s shoulders); to purse (one’s lips)​
  • 時折 (ときおり) - sometimes; at intervals; occasionally; on occasion; from time to time
  • 思うように (おもうように) - as one wishes; the way one wants; to one’s satisfaction (did I already put this one here? idk, but I’m putting it down again, I like it)
  • 靡く (なびく) - to bend; to flutter; to wave
  • 落ちる (おちる) - to come out (e.g. a stain) (a new meaning for an old word)
  • はっきり言う (はっきりいう) - to put it bluntly; to get to the point; to be frank
  • 押しのける (おしのける) - to push aside; to brush aside
  • 調子に乗る (ちょうしにのる) - to get carried away; to get overly elated; to become over-excited; to be caught up in the moment; to get cocky (this is Rin’s word lol)
  • チラリ - fleeting (glimpse, glance, etc.)​
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Home post October 2nd graded reader about 着物.

I totally didn’t understand all of it, although I was able to infer a whole lot thanks to the helpful diagrams.

TIL that while wearing a kimono you have to cover your sleeve so as to not expose your arm / elbow or something, and have to wear your hair up rather than down, oh and make sure to take small steps.
I dislike all these rules, it seems like a bunch of fuss…

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That’s actually a necessity :rofl: so it comes pretty natural ime.

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