📚📚 Read every day challenge - Spring 2022 🌸 🌱

[Zakarius]

The June Tanuki Den: Date 20220624

No Longer Tanuki Progress: 48.31%

Japanese found in the tall grass

Learnthings

見すぼらしい「みすぼらしい」ー Shabby; unsightly
貧富「ひんぷ」ー Rich and poor; wealth and poverty
前後不覚「ぜんごふかく」ー Unconsciousness
羞恥「しゅうち」ー Shyness; shame
脳裡「のうり」ー One’s Mind
骨身「ほねみ」ー Flesh and bones
所詮「じょせん」ー After all
始末「しまつ」ー Management; dealing with
義絶「ぎぜつ」ー Disownment
好都合「こうつごう」ー Favourable; convenient
幇助罪「ほうじょざい」ー The crime of aiding or abetting [a crime]
保護室「ほごしつ」ー Holding cell; isolation room

[Redglare]

Summary post

June 24th

・ 詩的私的ジャック - Jack the Poetical Private (5% → 12%)

Haven’t posted any updates since Monday, but have been reading a bit every day except Tuesday.

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As a side note, I’ve been playing a phone game called Postknight 2 and I’m aiming for this pet right here. Look how cute!

[lucylavelle]

June 24th!

I read the next chapter of Teasing Master Takagi-san today. It had a bit of grammar used in it that I learned earlier this week, so I was really pleased that I recognised it and was able to understand it

(Home Post)

[windupbird]

@Redglare

As a side note, I’ve been playing a phone game called Postknight 2 and I’m aiming for this pet right here. Look how cute!

Not me considering downloading the game just for the smol tanuki creature

[enbyboiwonder]

Home

It’ll be fun, after I’ve gotten vol 3 of ハイキュー!! and I’ve got them all, to sit down and see how many I can read in a day when I’ve got nothing else I gotta do. iirc it took me about 4 hrs to read vol 2? So unless it starts getting wearing, I should be able to manage 4. Unless it was 5 hrs, in which case it would be 3… Ahh but I’m happy I’m starting to get to the point where I can spend all day reading, even if I can’t read as much as I can in English yet.

Busy today, so I didn’t have much time to read. One of my stops was to B&N, where I picked up a couple novels as well as vol 3 of Play It Cool, Guys—the first two vol of which were on one of their “Read With Pride” endcap displays for some reason? lol? I mean, I’d like 35 to become canon as much as the next guy, but I doubt it’s happening, and the only queer thing that has happened is when those two random schoolgirls mistook 14 for boyfriends—and vol 3 of Life Lessons With Uramichi-oniisan, because I’ve apparently decided I am gonna collect them both in both ENG and JP after all. That’s something like nine series decided… I’m not sure how many more to go. I also got a free bookmark with my purchase, but of course it’s a “Sign up for a B&N Mastercard today!” one that I don’t care about. At least I’m not exactly choosy about what I use as a bookmark—as long as it’s thin, flat, and won’t damage the book, it’s fair game—so whatever, I’ll still use it.

I read ch 2 of ＳとＮ. Natori has to take his two younger siblings to the zoo, and on the way there, he runs into Setoguchi, who joins them and helps him look after the kids. They’ve already been getting along marginally better since the end of the last chapter, so there isn’t too much trouble. They exchange LINE info so that they can stay in contact when they separate to each take a twin to see their favorite animal again, and Natori agrees readily enough but then is like しまったあああああああ and decides he can always block him later. He does not. Though he does send a sticker of a bear that looks like it’s either giving a thumbs-up or flipping him off lmao (I feel like it’s more likely flipping him off. Setoguchi’s still excited either way just to receive a reply from him though.)

Some vocab of note:

コケにする [expression, する verb] to make a fool of someone
成り行き (なりゆき) [noun] course (of events); development; progress; outcome; result

[natarin]

June 24 Home Post

Just played some more バディミッションBOND today! It feels like the main chapters are getter denser and longer as I get into more plot which makes sense, or maybe my brain just isn’t having it It’s not like it’s harder really, just feels like I’m spending longer on each story because… the stories are longer, but who’s to say All the interactions and stuff are still wild, so all good!

some screenshots!

I realized after the fact that the only screenshots I took today are of チェズレイ, which like… yeah, not surprising I mean look what he’s up to:

Not the shredded shirt… he’s such a wild combination of over-the-top polite yet will say anything he wants with no hesitation lmao. And he’s so conniving? He probably has like 8 plans in motion at any given time; you can never assume anything he does is just because, no throw-away scenes!!

Dramatic… rip モクマ

[DIO-Berry]

(📚📚 Read every day challenge - Spring 2022 🌸 🌱 - #12 by DIO-Berry)

• ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 17巻

6/24
start - 30

I finished the car fight. I had to look up how the car worked on the wiki because it didn’t make any sense to me. The wiki didn’t help a lot lol. Nor did my memory of the episode.

I’m going to let sleeping dogs lie on that front and just enjoy the next battle. This one I remember pretty well. It’s spectacular in the OVA, regardless of the changes they made.

[DIO-Berry]

What kind of game is it? It looks cute!

[Zakarius]

The June Tanuki Den: Date 20220625

No Longer Tanuki Progress: 49.85%

Halfway point! (more or less)

Japanese found in the tall grass

Learnthings

徒然「つれづれ」ー Boredom; tedium
猥談「わいだん」ー Indecent story; dirty talk
述懐「じゅっかい」ー Speaking about your memories/thoughts/recollections; reminiscing
赤痣「あかあざ」ー Red birth mark (like haemangioma)
好色「こうしょく」ー Lechery; lust; lewdness
執拗「しつよう」ー Tenacious; obstinate; persistent
検事局「けんじきょく」ー Persecutor’s office
血痰「けったん」ー Bloody phlegm
霰「あられ」ー Hail; diced food
身元引受人「みもとひきうけにん」ー Guarantor; surety

Forms
怺える ＝ 堪える「こらえる」(to bear; to stand; to endure)
訊問 ＝ 尋問「じんもん」(Questioning; interrogating)

[lucylavelle]

June 25th!

I read Chapter 12 of Yoru Cafe today. Getting close to the end now as there are only 13 chapters and then a 3 page postscript. I’m excited to be so close to finishing my first novel.
I also read Chapter 10 of Happiness today, finishing Volume 2. The last chapter was really interesting so I’m looking forward to starting Volume 3!

(Home Post)

[enbyboiwonder]

Home

I didn’t read much in Japanese today, since most of my free time that I didn’t spend lying around wishing I could nap I spent reading Meet Cute Diary. It wasn’t as good as I was expecting. I mean, it was still good, not an entire waste of a 400-pg read, but still disappointing. Hopefully the other book I picked up yesterday is better.

I did read ch 3 of ＳとＮ. The rainy season starts, and Natori figures out that Setoguchi won’t approach him (or even wave hi or anything like that) when he’s with other people, so he spends two weeks making sure he’s not alone when he’s at school. He starts feeling a little bad though when he sees how sad that makes Setoguchi, since it’s not like the actually hates the guy or anything, even if he does find his vibrancy and persistent cheerfulness a little annoying (they are definitely a “grumpy x sunshine” couple), and he lets himself be bribed into hanging out for a bit after school with dorayaki. Dorayaki is his greatest weakness. He curses his little brother for telling Setoguchi of it, but also, he’s in heaven because he got to have amazing fresh dorayaki lmao. On the way home, Setoguchi blocks Natori from getting splashed with water from a passing car (can’t have an exams student catching a cold!) and gets soaked himself, and, unable to leave him alone, Natori invites him to his house (!!)

Some vocab of note:

白々しい (しらじらしい) [い-adjective] barefaced (e.g. lie); shameless; transparent
手に乗る (てにのる) [expression, ラ五] to fall for a trick; to be taken in; to play into the hands (of)
躍り出る (おどりでる) [一, intransitive] to jump (e.g. into first place); to shoot (e.g. to the top); to come to the forefront; to suddenly become prominent

[natarin]

June 25 Home Post

Started late but still a good reading day today actually; I started with some バディミッションBOND which was a good time as always. Then I started on this week’s reading for 海辺(うみべ)のカフカ and once I started I was determined to finish a chapter in a sitting, and I did! I read chapter 10 which was 23 pages in a little over 2 hours which like… yeah? That’s pretty good, definitely a major improvement over me struggling for hours to get half that far so that’s always nice to see! It was interesting trying to figure out a character where the main character had no idea what they were saying lmao, but pretty low stakes since clearly I wasn’t expected to understand either

buddy bond chaos like always

Not a whole lot plot-wise today either, still doing preparatory investigation for the current mission. I learned about a fun metaphor though:

So metaphorically わらじ seems to be used in the same way like “wearing multiple hats” is in English when referring to jobs and skills and such. What モクマ said isn’t word-for-word a set phrase, but there are things like 二足(にそく)の草鞋(わらじ)を履(は)く meaning wearing two hats, having two irons in the fire, etc. etc. so it was fun seeing it extended like that and understanding it! モクマ uses a lot of idioms lmao so I’m always running into weird stuff, it’s fun though!

Also he got absolutely roasted:

They were investigating at like an イケメン security agency because that exists here and モクマ said something like “wow they’re sparkly, you’re sparkly, it all looks the same to me!” and yeah, shot down immediately rip モクマ

[polv]

Jun 26, Sun of Week 13 of Spring 2022’s summary

Death Note Ch.18 and SPY x FAMILY Ch.1 can easily be read, as long as I don’t rush. SHADOWS HOUSE is easier to be read ahead (finished Ch.4, 34%).

• In addition, I read SPY x FAMILY Vol.2 Ch.6 quite thoroughly, then rushed to finish Vol.2 – so I now know about kids’ stories.

進撃の巨人 Ch.1 is also read to finish the chapter, as well as watched the anime (S01 EP01).

For JoJo, I read a little into Caesar 's single battle arc (Part 2, Vol.3/4, 55%).

I practically put Night Cafe on hold (finished Ch.9, 66%), but it can’t be said that I really give up yet.

• I do worry about not reading enough “Wall of Text”, but I will probably be reading aloud 福娘(ふくむすめ)童話集 for a while into summer (Q3 for 2022).
• I also know very well about reading styles (regardless of language) – glancing in an efficient way? really properly read everything? picking up keywords and illustrations? – Everything have their places.

I played MARCOと銀河竜 for about 1 hour, before deciding to request for refund (on Steam). Many vocabularies are similar to Dragon Ball, so I can somewhat understand, without looking up.

I played Yakuza 0 a little. ^[1] ゲームパッド推奨, but I have bought a gamepad a while ago, anyway. I wonder if I should also read some Yakuza mangas to prepare for the language style and the vocabularies?

I also requested for refund for Metal Gear Solid ^[2], as I have decided which game to focus; but I still keep Devil May Cry 5.

Everything I play are in the Japanese written interface, otherwise I wouldn’t be in the mood to play them at all. But to be able to infer everything by ears? I am not ready for that yet.

I changed the display language of my Android tablet to Japanese, as I have a secondary gain of Bookwalker starting directly in Japanese store. (Also, no unneeded translations for Pixiv. Kindle would start in Japanese store as well, but I can’t really buy anything.) I don’t change the language on my Android smartphone, as practicality and for work, it is better in English or my native language.

• I should mention that changing Steam display language to Japanese involves secondary gains as well. (Like I immediately know that a game isn’t available in Japanese.)

I would probably put WaniKani Context Sentence Breakdown on hold, but maybe focus on listening and reading aloud (with recording) instead.

Grammar should still be actively learnt somehow… rather than in a reactive way from listening and reading. (I don’t really call it passive, as I will look up grammar if I want to understand properly. But some structured active methods might be better for now.)

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1. It’s called Yakuza rather than 龍が如く, even if I change the display language to Japanese. ↩︎

2. and NIOH, that I think it is too hard for current me. ↩︎

[Redglare]

Summary post

June 25th

・ 詩的私的ジャック - Jack the Poetical Private (12% → 19%)

I was going to post yesterday but forgot I finished chapter 2.

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Reply

@DIO-Berry

What kind of game is it? It looks cute!

The whole game is so cute. You start out in a village training to join the postknights in a world where delivering post is dangerous business. The trails are filled with dangerous (but cute) enemies, so you have to fight them on the way to the destination. Kinda RPG type of game, you equip weapons and armor and stuff, and you gain EXP and level up. You clear one area and go on to the next one and you befriend townspeople along the way.

The start of the game was so much fun and so well designed I couldn’t stop playing for 6 hours xD There’s always something more to do, so it can certainly be distracting when you have other activities you planned to do Best thing is that there’s no disruptive annoying ads (I really hate those, haha). They do exist if you want some extra loot, but they can also be skipped if you have Special Ticket

But yeah, cute game You get to adopt one pet for free, but other pets are expensive.
cc @windupbird

[DIO-Berry]

Nice! If I can play in Japanese, I’m sold!

to the app store!
Update: there is no Japanese version. A majority of the Japanese reviews are asking for a language patch rip

[Redglare]

@DIO-Berry

Update: there is no Japanese version. A majority of the Japanese reviews are asking for a language patch rip

Yeah, the game is only available in English right now, sadly. Seems like they’re planning to add some other languages, tho

[DIO-Berry]

If you happen to see it as an option, I would love an @ ! I understand if you’re busy or don’t notice though lol

[windupbird]

The new challenge thread is live!!
(If you are still continuing your reading from the Spring challenge, please feel free to keep posting/updating in this thread until the new challenge officially starts on July 1st )

Read every day challenge - Summer 2022

Welcome to the “Read Japanese Every Single Day” Challenge, Summer 2022 Edition! Summer time! A perfect time to sit outside and enjoy the weather with a good book. …Or you could be like me and hermit yourself away in an air conditioned room because humidity is the worst and bugs are icky. Either way, summer is a great time to start developing a reading habit! If you missed the previous Read Every Day challenges, feel free to jump in on this one! …

[omk3]

I’m looking forward to June being over. It was -for various unrelated reasons- a rather disjointed month, characterized by lack of focus and lack of energy. I missed a few days of reading, and I only read a tiny amount on some others. There were reasons unrelated to Japanese, but it was also because I wasn’t especially invested in most of the books I’ve been reading. So today I sped through the last part of 夜カフェto get it over with. It wasn’t an unpleasant read or anything, but I’m not anywhere near the age group of the target readership, and the book club dragged on for a little too long for me. Anyway, book is now finished and back on its (virtual) bookshelf.
The only scheduled book clubs I’m now participating in are of manga (Happiness, which I will probably follow for another volume, since I already have it from when it was free, and then quit, and Spy X Family). I can only enjoy manga for short amounts of time as I’ve previously written. When I think of curling up with a good book, I never think of manga for some reason. So, while these are enjoyable, they still don’t particularly excite me.
Now 糞尿譚 is quite interesting, but also very challenging, so it’s best enjoyed in small doses. I had been hoping I could finish it within June, it being so short, but I don’t think that’s possible.

In any case, that’s June summed up for me. 4 more days, and then I can start the summer challenge with (mostly) new books and renewed enthusiasm (hopefully )

[NicoleIsEnough]

@omk3

I’m not anywhere near the age group of the target readership

Can relate sooo much! I’m so over and done with schoolgirl stories, I can’t even start telling you…

@omk3

I had been hoping I could finish it within June

When I started to read it the first time around, I was also young and naive and thought the same…