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

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Day 33:

日本語: I read the very tiniest little bit of はめふら 11 just to have read something.

中国語

中国語: I read 接朋友, 新朋友, and 周末做什么. I added 面试, 好运, and 语言.

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:jack_o_lantern: My tiny summary post :ghost:

October 4 Aaah, I have no time to read, but I’m too stubborn to put it off
・Honzuki 6. (34% → 35%)


If I may recommend this series この音とまれ! vol. 1-3 are available for free on bookwalker until Oct 18. I read binged up until vol 17 during the summer challenge, enjoyed it a lot :3

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Reading Update: 10月1日〜4日

Materials:

:red_square: 授乳
:orange_square: 月刊少女野崎くん3

I…forgot to read yesterday. :sob: I woke up this morning and stared at my volume of 野崎くん, trying to remember what I (didn’t) read the night before. It sucks that I couldn’t go through the challenge flawlessly, but I’m not going to let this dampen the rest of it. After all, I’m still reading way more regularly than I ever have in Japanese, and I don’t want to give that up just because I’m feeling a little sorry for myself.

授乳: Finished reading the section for Week 2. Things are definitely starting to get interesting: the dynamic amongst each family member (father, mother, and daughter) is peeking out from the surface. The narrator has a deadpan, unbothered humor to her. A couple of lines that got laughs out of me: (regarding the value of the tutor her mother hired)「まあ私のお金じゃないし」and (after going through some thoughts she has about her mother) 「私は父の下着をたたみ続ける母の横顔を見ながら、わけもなく、母が同い年のクラスメイトだったらきっといじめてるなと思った」. I’m going to push myself to get through more of this book this week.

月刊少女野崎くん3: I’m going to be honest…I haven’t gotten all that much farther into the volume compared to my last update. :pensive: I wasn’t feeling well this past weekend, and by the time I (mostly) remembered to read something, I’d only make it through a panel or two before putting it down and going to sleep. I guess it’s unrealistic to think that moments like these won’t happen in life.

Vocabulary (mostly in hiragana, as it turns out)

わけもなく: without cause; without reason
がらんどう: empty, hollow, bare, vacant, deserted
のっぺらぼう: smooth, flat, lacking bumps and dents (there’s also a 妖怪 named this if you want to read about it in this wiki)
逆上 (ぎゃくじょう): going into a frenzy, flying into a rage

Here’s to a great week of reading, everyone! :muscle:

:house_with_garden: (click for home post)

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Summary Post

October 4th
Satori Reader: Secret, episode 52.

Random words
  • 手がつけられない = てがつけられない unmanageable, out of control.
  • 酒乱 = しゅらん drunken frenzy, drunken violence, also someone that gets violent when drunk.
  • 蹴る = ける to kick.
  • 酔っ払う = よっぱらう to get drunk, but more pronounced than 酔う, and mostly in a bad sense.
  • あろうことか = as defined in Satori Reader: “This expression indicates incredulity that something occurred combined with a sense that is completely out of the bounds of acceptability.”.
  • 道端 = みちばた roadside, wayside.

Very low spirits day. I wasn’t feeling the spark to read at all today, I kept procrastinating for hours. But I wasn’t really going to let this one slide, so in the end I forced myself to read one episode. Well, turns out, as is usually the case, that the moment I start doing it, I start feeling better and engaged, and after just a few minutes I’m enjoying it. But the period before I actually sit and do it… I swear that gets the best of me, not just in reading, but in pretty much everything. It’s not that bad once you start, but wow is it hard to actually start. Anyway day saved.

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<3

:partying_face:

This. So much this.
Sometimes I will get in such a funk that it feels like I don’t want to do anything, my partner will sometimes intervene and suggest I try doing something for just a little bit (10-20 minutes), and then if I still dislike it I can stop. Such a great strategy, I now find I use it on myself a bunch (I think there’s a name for this technique, probably the N minute rule or something).

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Summary post

Day 34: October 4
What did I read?: ハイ☆スピード!
How much did I read?: 4 pages
How long did it take me?: 42 min

I love this. I love it so much :joy:
The word of today is: リーダ - leader

Here's why

First, we finally get Haru’s commitment to being on the relay team, in the most casual freaking way
I love how he literally just doesn’t answer when Rin asks him about it in the shower room, but then two seconds later, he’s casually like “Yep” when Nagisa’s like “I get to be on the same team as Haru!”
Rin is literally more excited about it than Nagisa is, it’s so cute xD He even does a ガッツポーズ (my second favorite word of today because it’s so cute).
So now, the team is officially formed, and Rin decides they’re all gonna use first names now like besties, which is adorable. But then-
PFFFF Rin you cannot :joy: “Y’all can call me Leader from now on” You CANNOT
Why are you like this :joy:
But then it gets better
Nagisa: Riida’s not a name
Rin: sigh this kid explains the qualities of a leader in a surprisingly mature and thoughtful way
Nagisa: …Nope, weird. You get RinRin instead :rofl: :rofl:
Rin: :o
Makoto and Haru: dying in the background
They don’t get to escape the nickname-ification either, but they just get Mako-chan and Haru-chan, which seems…more normal, if a bit embarrassing :joy:
I love these children so much

Some more good words

掻き毟る (かきむしる) - to tear off; to pluck; to scratch off​
脈絡 (みゃくらく) - logical connection; chain of reasoning; coherence; context
何気ない (なにげない) - casual; unconcerned; nonchalant
さらり - without hesitation or delay
危うく (あやうく) - almost; nearly (can also mean barely; narrowly: I kind of love that this uses the same kanji as 危ない, it makes sense in a way that tickles my brain)
聞き逃す (ききのがす) - to fail to hear something; to miss​ (can also mean to act as if one didn’t hear something; to let a remark slide)
ガッツポーズ - triumphant pose assumed by an athlete; “fist pump”
いいか - listen!​; you see; mind you; remember​ (Rin says this and it kills me in context because for some reason it reads to me like “listen here, you little-”)
面倒を見る (めんどうをみる) - to care for someone; to look after someone
まとめ役 (まとめやく) - mediator; peacemaker; troubleshooter; manager
例えようもない (たとえようもない) - beyond comparison; incomparable

Hard relate. Starting is the hardest part like 99% of the time. Good job pushing through the wall!

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Summary post

Day 34: Read 2 pages of よつば&!

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Home post October 5th read graded reader ジョンさんの夏休なつやす.

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Home post

Onto the final story of それいけズッコケ三人組. The previous story took yet another unexpected dark turn when they found a box of toys belonging to a family who’d been killed in WW2 bombing so I’m starting to think this is normal for these book/this author/Japanese children’s literature? The story I’ve just started is about a TV quiz show though so hopefully that’s going to be a bit cheerier, and at least not have quite so many synonyms for clusters of trees as the last story did.

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:fallen_leaf: :raccoon: :waning_crescent_moon: :: TANUKIDATE 20211005 :: :waning_crescent_moon: :raccoon: :fallen_leaf:


Day XXXV: ネズミの会議 :mouse: & 人にだまされたタヌキ :raccoon:

Two pretty short stories today.

First one was on the home page and is a cute story about some mice holding a council on what to do about a cat. :mouse:

Second one was today’s Japanese folktale, and it’s the well-known one about the mischievous tanuki and the tree, first time reading it in Japanese though! :raccoon:

Also, today is Timetable Day - 時刻表記念日 :spiral_calendar:

Look how happy this little guy is to be doing some timetabling:
=3!!

~ New Words & Meanings ~
ビクビク - Onomatopoeia for trembling (in fear)
賛成 (さんせい) - Agreement: It’s here on WK, but I didn’t know you could use it as a stand alone word like this - similar to how people say “aye!” when in favour of a vote on something.
ネズミ - Mouse: not a new word, but I wondered what the kanji is - 鼠.
達磨忌 (だるまき) - Daruma Doll, don’t think I’ve seen this in kanji before.


Thanks for mentioning this, I’ll check it out at some point soon!

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Microsoft could definitely learn a lot from this thread, there’s a lot of scope for cute mascots in Outlook.

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Home post

Day 34:

日本語: I read a lot of はめふら 11 (and finished it), as well as a bit of パノラマ島綺譚.

中国語

中国語: I read 男朋友, 老板, and 教做菜. I added 男朋友.

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:jack_o_lantern: My tiny summary post :ghost:

October 5 Wiii, I had a tiny time to read :sparkles:
・Honzuki 6. (35% → 37%)

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:heavy_check_mark: Day 25(10月 3日) :sparkles:

What did I read:
雨と君と, only that, just about 10min before bed, I was soooo tired

:heavy_check_mark: Day 26(10月 4日) :sparkles:

What did I read:
Inspired by the ever constant stable in this reading journey, hakumusume site, one of the 百物語’s, from Yamagata Prefecture. this one, 嫁になった雪女

Honestly, I don’t even remember what I read, I was so tired and only read in order not to miss a day… I’m away from home this week, and only brought with my ヨナmanga for the bookclub sessions, so hakumusume and random net articles will be my staple :kissing_smiling_eyes::v:

:heavy_check_mark: Day 27(10月 5日) :sparkles:

What did I read:
山形県

•Prefecture’s emblem

image
taken after the shape of :mountain_snow: mountains, but also representing Mogami river. The three acute triangles are also supposed to symbolise Yamagata’s developement…

•Prefecture tree: サクランボ、the cherry :cherries:
I’m the Meiji era it was the first Rosacaea species to be introduced from America.

•Prefecture flower: べにばな(紅花), Safflower

Used as a dye and cosmetics raw material ingredient. The seeds can be used to make cooking oil. The weather conditions would be suitable in The Valley area, so it’s cultivation for its colouring properties has been going on since the beginning of Edo era, and had been prosperous.

•Prefecture bird: オシドリ(鴛鴦), the mandarin duck

image

The ones in the parks are used to human presence and you can even feed them, but the ones in the wild are always alert, so it’s actually unusual to see them from up close.
•Prefecture fish サクラマス(桜鱒), the cherry hybrid salmon (?? first time hearing this)
Kinda confused about the life and hatching circle, but anyways, females come back to rivers around spring time (to hatch? After hatching?) and so they are the harbringers of spring for the rivers and sea, since they enter river waters when the cherry blossoms bloom… that’s cute
•Prefecture animal: カモシカ, the serrow.
I’ve never seen this animal before, and again, I’m getting to sleepy to read up on it, so here is a humble picture of it! I will came back for it tomorrow!!

Looks like a goat!

some vocab

改良種 かいりょうしゅ= improved strain, improved breed
熟す こなす = to ripen
導入 どうにゅう =introduce
二年草 にねんそう=biennial plant :potted_plant:
化粧品 けしょうひん =cosmetics
染料 せんりょう =dye
警戒心 けいかいしん =wariness

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Summary Post

October 5th
Satori Reader: Secret, episode 53.

Random words
  • 亭主 = ていしゅ household head, master, (often) husband.
  • 配達 = はいたつ delivery → 新聞配達 .
  • 整備工場 = せいびこうじょう repair shop, garage → 自動車整備工場 .
  • しょっちゅう = always, constantly, frequently (J-J dictionary uses いつも and 常に to define it so probably just another synonym). Also interesting pitch accent pattern, I thought it would be ↓↑ but it’s actually ↑↓ .
  • 気の毒 = きのどく interesting term, it means that your heart aches from something happening to another person, that you feel pity for them. → 気の毒だったよ。
  • 内心 = ないしん real thoughts, inner intention, what you really think deep down.

Thank you! <3 :relaxed: . I had a similar day today, but I remembered about yesterday and your messages and it was a bit easier to sit and do it.

Overall I’m not too engaged in this Satori Reader story, surprisingly after having worked through 53 episodes already. But I’m still learning quite a lot; I chose it mainly because it was one of the harder ones, and there is useful unknown vocabulary in every episode. But again, it has been a roller coaster of somewhat flat episodes and very exciting ones, over and over. I will finish it because I still want to know what happens, but summer’s challenge was easier in the sense that the two stories I was reading back then kept my interest much more. I also liked the voice acting of those two much more than this one, not because this one is bad, but it just doesn’t do it for me. The main objective is reading the stories, but listening to it afterwards is really nice, because the quality is great.

But luckily I have a couple games that keep my interest really high, so it’s good whenever I don’t feel like doing Satori Reader. I recently got NieR: Automata and I really, really want to play it. It is quite daunting, however, because there are dialogues that go by fast and there’s no time to read and process, but it helps that they are voice acted, and boy is it goooooooood. I’m not really into seiyuu, meaning that I don’t know the names of anybody pretty much, but the protagonist of NieR is apparently performed by Yui Ishikawa, the same seiyuu that did Mikasa from Attack on Titan and I always loved Mikasa’s voice acting so much. I thought that whenever I’m completely lost I can always watch a Let’s Play on YouTube of the parts I played and stop whenever I need.

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Summary post

Day 35: October 5
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 4 min

Rinrin returns :rofl: He will never escape this nickname and I’m living for it

The saga of Rinrin continues

It’s the next day in class, and Aki starts talking to Haru about how happy she is that he decided to join the relay. Haru is sure Rin’s the one who told her he’d finally agreed to do it - Rin’s nearby, but he’s pretending like he’s not listening. Anyway, Aki’s like, oh, I’m sure your team will get number one, you guys are all so fast!
Haru, being deadpan savage as usual: “It’s not my team” raising his voice so literally everyone can hearRinrin’s the leader”
Cue laughter

Rin, embarrassed, comes over to them and starts spinning this story about how people at his old school used to call him “Rin-chan” to bully him so please don’t call me Rinrin or I’ll have to transfer again, which Aki takes seriously but Haru doesn’t buy for a second. (Honestly, I thought maybe he was serious for a sec too, but then he calls himself “shy” and I’m like…ok, I’m calling BS on this, you just don’t want your adorable new nickname catching on xD Poor baby)

Then, with epic comedic timing, Makoto comes into the classroom, blissfully unaware: “oh hey Haru, Aki, Rinrin” :joy: Aki, bless her heart, chides him for it and tells him what Rin just told her, which makes him laugh because it seems so unrealistic. But in the end, he kind of smooths things over and brings the conversation to an end without directly calling Rin out.

Cut to the four boys running to the swim club after school
Nagisa calls Rin Rinrin again, and Rin gets super annoyed
Turns out NAGISA REALLY THOUGHT THAT WAS HIS NAME :joy: He really thought that’s how the kanji read. Oh sweet baby angel
(Rin’s name in kanji is 凛 btw, which I really like. …Maybe partially because I associate it with him xD But it’s also a cool kanji imo)
Nagisa’s like, oh well, Rinrin’s fine. He turns and asks Haru, not Rin, if it’s ok.
Haru, without missing a beat - sure it’s fine :rofl:
These two
(But Makoto steps in and manages to get Nagisa to shift to Rin-chan instead, I think he feels bad for Rin xD)

On a more serious note, we get a little window into the reasons Haru wasn’t super excited about the idea of joining the relay team - normally, he swims because it lets him feel free, but with the relay, all those social burdens and expectations he loathes are coming right into the water with him. No wonder he wasn’t/isn’t that into it. …Felt kind of bad for him, tbh, reading that - I totally get where he’s coming from.

Good words:

  • 素知らぬ顔 (そしらぬかお) - pretending not to recognize (recognise); feigned ignorance
  • お節介 (おせっかい) - meddling; meddlesomeness; nosiness; interference; officiousness
  • しがらみ - bonds; fetters; ties of obligation (Did I put this one already, I can’t remember)
  • 怒らせる (いからせる) - to square one’s shoulders (didn’t know this could read like that/mean that)
  • 昂る (たかぶる) - to become aroused (of emotions, nerves, etc.); to become excited; to become stirred up; to become worked up
  • ぶつける - to express; to vent (e.g. one’s anger)​
  • うさん臭い (うさんくさい) - suspicious-looking; shady; questionable; dubious; fishy
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My turn to remember this advice, and just try to find my place where I left off and read a couple sentences, which turned into a whole page! Not a ton, but it only took a few minutes, and I got my reading done. :blush:

Bonbon (switching to romaji for time-saving purposes) has been kidnapped by the fairy prince, who left a fake Bonbon to stay with Nako. Nako has a feeling something is wrong though, because this Bonbon has better manners and isn’t such a 食いしん坊 (doesn’t even ask Nako to share her cookies!) The last thing I read today was
「やっぱりあんたはボンボンじゃない」

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Is that why they titled the anime Free? :thinking:

That’s an excellent vocab word! It reminded me of when I learned the word for appetite a few years back: 食欲.

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Thank you for this!! Google image searching カモシカ was one of the best parts of my night. :blush: It’s like a cross between a goat and a wolf!

Ooh, that’s a good one. It has a nice rhyme and rhythm to it. :relaxed:

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Summary post

Day 35: Read 6 pages of よつば&!Because a couple of the pages didn’t have much on them. :sweat_smile:

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