📚📚 Read every day challenge - Spring 2022 🌸 🌱

April 28th (Calendar Post)

私の拳をうけとめて! => 66 pages (80 minutes)

Felt absurdly sleepy today so I couldn’t read as much as I’d have liked.

Some fun panels:

やべ~

えっへん

creak noises

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That cover is seriously gorgeous! I want to read it now too despite having no other context!

When walk through book stores I’ll take photos of books to add to a “pretty books” Google photos album, this book 100% belongs in there.

I remember that story! I also started using those graded readers maybe a year ago now and I am still reading some of the later entries in the series, they’re really great for learning to read.

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Summary Post

Day 28: April 28th
What did I read?: ダイロクセンス Vol 1
How much did I read?: 20 pages
How long did it take me?: 24 min

Didn’t have a ton of time to read today, but still really enjoying this! I low-key love the main detective character in this, she’s great xD And I’m extremely intrigued by Rui :eyes: I think he’s where the title of this must come from.

Things took quite a turn today

So first we get the thrilling conclusion of the 知恵の輪 contest - Rui tries to sabotage Sumire by gluing her puzzle shut (he’s a little sneaky sneak and randomly carries glue around, apparently). It almost works, but in the last round of the competition, she uses her hulk strength to break her puzzle open anyway and she wins the camera xD It looks like everything is about to wrap up nicely but then suddenly
~RANDOM MURDER~
And Sumire goes into detective mode :dark_sunglasses: :sparkles: (Which is another reason I love her, she’s so competent and professional when it’s time to be competent and professional~) She’s gathering eyewitness accounts, when out of nowhere Rui drops a knowledge bomb regarding the perp. (How does he know~) He’s about to just peace out, but Sumire’s like “the hell you are” and offers to give him the camera if he helps her track down the person. The precious camera :o

Idk why I feel the urge to recap everything but I’m enjoying this manga xD

Good words
  • 閃き (ひらめき) - insight; flash (of inspiration, wit, etc.)​
  • 脳筋 (のうきん) - muscle-brain; meathead; hot-blooded idiot; person who charges in before thinking
  • 背に腹は代えられない (せにはらはかえられない) - you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs; you can’t solve a problem without making some sacrifice
  • ケチ付ける (けちつける) - to find fault (with); to cavil (at); to carp (about); to complain; to pick holes (in)​

I’m so exhausted, time to go to bed :upside_down_face:

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Home

I finished ch 1 of クールドジ男子. This time around, I noticed Souma (4) in the izakaya where Hayate (1) works! In this volume at least, each chapter focuses on a different character, and the current chapter’s will meet the next chapter’s at the end of their own chapter, so it naturally kinda leads into the next, and then at the end of Souma’s chapter, he runs into Hayate. But Souma actually makes a brief appearance in the middle of Hayate’s, too! Even though he’s at the beginning of the volume before the story starts, I didn’t know his name then and I didn’t pay any mind to him when I first read it (in English); I just thought he was some random customer.

Oh, and each of the main characters is named after the order they’re introduced in: 一倉(いちくら)(はやて), 二見(ふたみ)(しゅん), 三間(みま)貴之(たかゆき), 四季(しき)蒼真(そうま), and then at the very end of vol 2 we meet 五十嵐(いがらし)元晴(もとはる), so I don’t know him yet.

Apparently, it’s getting an anime adaptation this October! I’m excited. Hmmm this is making me wanna read the novel too now. I do have it, but it was lower priority. I’d figured I’d decide between it and 風が強く吹いている once I’d finished (or caught up on) 2.43, but, hm.

Update: Ohhh my god, and Umehara Yuuichirou is voicing Mima! I’ve been using his voice for him! Granted, because he looks a bit like Aoki, but still!! I love his voice so much.

Some vocab of note:

やらかす [サ五, transitive] to fail; to blunder; to make a mess
即決 (そっけつ) [noun, する verb] prompt decision; quick decision

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They really are great for the beginning reader, aren’t they? I was scared to start reading, which is why I hadn’t done it yet. But these readers are so much fun, I actually love reading Japanese now. I’m no longer intimidated by reading.

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April 28
More graded reader progress. I was surprised that the first book was so short and that it was written all in hiragana. But then I realized what it’s teaching is extended noun modification.

The second book was an introduction to the city of Beppu, and I gotta say, by the end I was thinking of how great it’d be to go! It’s got natural hot springs (not the kind you relax in), onsen (the kind you relax in), mountains, the beach, and really delicious-looking fresh fish.

Progress on Tadoku graded readers
44 / 44 level-zeros
12 / 12 level-ones
8 / 10 level-twos
x / 18 level-threes

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:tulip: Day 28 :tulip: :house:
Read: ジャックジャンヌー夏劇ー
Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Finished: 24 pages
Finished Fumi’s short story からからから。This one was a fun read but pretty hard at times because Fumi talks really colloquially. It was really interesting to see Fumi interact with the Amber students since he didn’t much in the game. Two short stories to go!

Sentence question

「いつになったらできるようになんだ、あんたらはよッ!」

I’m having some trouble breaking this sentence down, is it something like “What the heck is ‘Someday you’ll be able to!’”

New Vocab

費やす (ついやす)to devote
着実 (ちゃくじつ)steady; sound; solid; reliable; trustworthy
煌びやか (きらびやか)gorgeous; gaudy; dazzling; gay; resplendent​
選りすぐり (よりすぐり)special selection; finest pick; top pick
神格化 (しんかくか)deification
不平不満 (ふへいふまん)discontent and grumbling​
活路 (かつろ)means of survival; means of escape; way out of a difficulty
蛍光灯 (けいこうとう)fluorescent lamp; fluorescent light
に於いて (において)in; on; at (place); as for; regarding​
(やしろ)(Shinto) shrine
怨嗟 (えんさ)(deeply held) resentment
瀬戸際 (せとぎわ)brink; critical moment
勝る (まさる)to excel; to surpass; to exceed; to have an edge; to be superior; to outrival
もろとも (all) together​
当たり散らす (あたりちらす)to find fault with everybody; to make oneself disagreeable
ハッパを掛ける (はっぱをかける)to start a fire under someone; to motivate someone with rough words

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Day 28 :heavy_check_mark: :milk_glass: :japanese_goblin:

告白 ~ 5% to 8%
ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 just 7 pages

In 告白 we finally got to the main point! It’s clear to me now that she is indeed in a classroom, talking directly to her students. And it’s starting to get clear why she’s talking to them like this. Not really a spoiler, as it’s mentioned in the book’s blurb, but after a long-winded introduction she finally got to her 4-year old daughter’s death, and her conviction that it wasn’t an accident, but that she was in fact killed by students in this class. Even though I knew it already from the movie and the blurb, this part felt uncomfortable emotionally, but also much easier to read now that I was on solid ground, and somehow more exciting too - because now is when the “fun” truly begins.

My mind was still on 告白 when I turned my attention to ゲゲゲの鬼太郎, so I just managed 7 pages to finish the cactus chapter and sample the first few pages of the next one, which features ねずみ男. In comparison to the first story about 鬼太郎’s birth, these next two seem somehow more clearly directed to children. There’s no gore, and the story’s resolution comes a little too easily. They also feel like they jump too quickly from 鬼太郎 being born to him casually defeating yokai and demons, but that may be because the order is probably arbitrary.
To be honest, I had trouble choosing which exact edition to get when I decided to read ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 - there are several different collections that seem to feature the same and different stories in no particular order. The manga was apparently published in several different publications originally, and the same stories often feature not only slightly different art but also different wording. It’s a little crazy.

Compare this same panel from three different editions for example:




The middle one is the one I’m reading. I only chose it because -I think- this is the edition that was translated into English (not that I intend to read it in English, I just needed someone to decide for me). I was between the first two, because the art in the third one looks somewhat sloppier for some reason.


interesting vocab

棚に上げる - to be blind to one’s shortcomings, to play innocent (“to put on the shelf” - similar to “sweep under the carpet” I guess :smile:)
四六時中 - around the clock, day and night (dictionary says because 4x6=24. Weird)
できちゃった結婚 - marriage due to unintended pregnancy
第三者 - third party, third person
自業自得 - paying for one’s mistakes, getting one’s just deserts
not fun words:
後天性免疫不全症候群 - AIDS (not surprising that it’s such a long string of kanji, I guess)
援助交際 - paid dating (esp. with underaged girl)

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透明カメレオン is like that for me as well… I was doing well in the beginning, but all the sudden everything got so confusing and difficult to read. Isn’t the start of the book usually hardest?? It’s not impossible for me to read, just really time consuming and therefore not as fun…

Are you enjoying the story still? That’s what’s keeping me from putting 透明カメレオン back in the shelf. Gotta know what happens next :eyes:

Just wanna say that reading this made my day :sob::sparkles:

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April 29, Fri :cherry_blossom: home post

Week 5 of Spring 2022’s summary

Not only did I read, but I also listen this week!

  • Night Cafe :shrimp: Ch.4
    • I wish I could read faster to enjoy, but I couldn’t… Anyway, several vocabularies are picked up.
  • Yuru Camp :tent: Ch.72-74
    • It was fun, but Ch.74 was a little slower to read, due to mocktail.
    • I think this series is good to read, although it is somewhat centered on 山梨(やまなし).
      • As always, I have to google a lot on names and places; and got to read real Japanese, which is a little over my level… Names in particular of course need appending the series’ name to the search query…
      • Kanji compounds are fun. I feel that Kun readings are the must. On compounds must be remembered, if I recall, but not really remember, or re-encounter. Unexpected readings may come as well, e.g. 発端(ほったん). New Kanji (or forgotten?) as well, such as (あぶ)
  • Wanted :skull_and_crossbones:
    • Well, I only finished the first chapter…

Vocabulary-in-Anki studies and Kanji studies

I made this script, but then, I updated the script a little after that, as I continue to use and improve. It allows me to have smaller decks (subdecks), so I resumed by Anki vocabulary studies.

  • I only do EN=>JP right now, but not really EN=>JP; but more of sentence cloze test with EN aid.
Anki preview

天命

It can be made from WaniKani context sentences too, but not sure if someone have done it (make a UserScript)?

Context sentences' parsing
const clozeChar = '__';
let newSent = context_sentences
  .map(({ ja, en }) => `${ja}<br/>${en}`)
  .join('<br/>')
  .replace(cleanJa, clozeChar);

cleanJa.split(/[\p{sc=Hiragana}]+/gu).map((c) => {
  if (c) {
    newSent = newSent.replace(c, clozeChar);
  }
});

fieldUpdate[fields.sentenceCloze] = newSent;

  • From resuming Anki, I recalled that I like certain sentence source’s audio, in particular - Death Note. However, I don’t feel I like listening to the whole sentences; but not the whole context / chapter. I should really watch the whole Death Note. (I also know that subtitle might be online somewhere, maybe Open Subtitle; but may be studied in advance.)

Beginning to listen

It may depend on the theme / tone of listening; but I want to focus on easier-to-listen, or grammar (or word combinations) that can apply to reading. As for grammar, I can think of 日本語(にほんご)(もり) - the video quality improved from years ago, and very well done. I found Meshclass Japanese to be nice too.

But not really grammar, but geared towards learners, maybe Comprehensible Japanese. There is i in website name; and it is on YouTube too. I like Nihongo con Teppei too (and I’ve just found this topic - Transcribing Nihongo Con Teppei together!, but I might need to be a little better, to be less stressful.

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It looked very tasty though. I want to try it some day.

For 発, that’s the same reading as in 発作, for instance.

(… why is discourse properly quoting the furigana for this one, but not the other?)
炙りえんがわ is one of my favorite types of sushi, that’s how I learned that kanji very early as a Japanese learner :sweat_smile:

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That one, I can recognize the reading and meaning somehow, but not the Kanji…

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I know it by heart.
badum tss
I’m sorry.

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Day 29:

I have not read/translated from Saturday to Tuesday. Saturday I had to work and ran out of time doing other stuff (and after work was not doable because I hit the sack after), Sunday my mom and dad celebrated their birthdays (delayed by over four months thanks to anti-Corona measures), and Monday and Tuesday (as well as technically Wednesday)… I caught a bug. A cross-stitching bug. I made almost 3000 little crosses* over those three days, neglecting sleep, learning and reading.
Wednesday however saw the release of a chapter of a manga I absolutely love - which I read in Japanese. It’s a shonen, so not that difficult, and it had battle scenes, so not much text. I still read though.

Not sure how it will work out today. I have to leave in 20 minutes for work and it’s Friday - no chance I will have a quiet evening :sweat_smile: Disadvantage of working in a hostel I supposse. I’ll try to squeeze a sentence or two in.

*Some context on the cross stitching thing: Cross stitching is essentially pixel art with thread and needle on fabric. Ranges from pixel art to swear words surrounded by dainty flowers or large, full cover projects that average 20 colours per 10 px x 10 px square. Very relaxing but addicting and very slow - I average about 100 stitches an hour.

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:house:
29th of April
Day 29

I read pages 40 and 41 of かがみの孤城 today. There were a few things I looked up but other than those, it was pretty easy to understand.

Oh yeah, this is where I find out more about what happened to Kokoro at her old school. Poor Kokoro… The classic gossip, backstabbing and exclusiveness of middle school girls. Wonder if it gets worse.

Honestly, what I really love about novels is that you get to step into someone’s shoes: someone that’s completely different from you; someone you would never have been able to emphasise with otherwise. Reading their story (which is, of course, most likely influenced by the author’s experiences) is gaining an entirely new perspective of the world and living a different life through their eyes. Obviously I’m saying this as an avid reader in my native language, English, but I hope I’ll be able to read in Japanese and get the same immersive experience someday.

Just the fact that I wrote all that is showing I need to go to bed :joy: I have not gotten enough sleep these past two days like last night, I said I would go to sleep early and then ended up finishing a novel at 1:30am :flushed: why can’t I do that reading in Japanese instead

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I have not been updating but I’ve been enjoying reading everyone else’s updates, you are all killing it :fire::fire::fire:

I was on a work trip at the start of this week and had about 1hr each day that wasn’t accounted for with either work or (not enough) sleep. I am now back, but am feeling terrible (so far testing negative for COVID so fingers crossed, especially as I’m meant to be starting a new job Tuesday and have so much to finish before then)

I tried reading more of the various novels I’ve been reading but have been too exhausted tbh, sorry books :pensive: But luckily 13 sentinels has been there, so I’ve actually still read every day. A combo of the repitition & mainly direct speech means that it’s manageable (& fun!) even with fried brain. It’s also nicely broken into 5-15 mins story chunks so works well when only got a little time. I’m really enjoying it so far! Being able to bounce between the different character stories is also really nice as they tend to vary a bit in difficult and style as well. It’s quite nice in that it feels more like ‘i want to play more of this game I’m enjoying that happens to be in Japanese’ than ‘must try to read something in Japanese and so will play this game’…if that makes sense :thinking:

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:tiger2: :books: Tanuki Den (aka Homepost): Date 20220429 :cherry_blossom: :raccoon:

Tanuki Scroll XXIX: 山びこになった男の子 :mountain_snow:

Read today’s folktale, from Kagoshima prefecture!

About a boy’s mean step-mum who makes him go out into the mountains to do meaningless tasks every day just to pick on him. One day an old man finds him crying in the mountains and asks what’s wrong, the boy tells him and he’s just like: “Well, you don’t have to go home, let’s make you into a Mountain Spirit instead!” and so -POOF- the boy becomes Yamabiko 「山びこ」.

And now he is happily running around in the mountains playing pranks on people by mimicking their voices and sounds. Until lumberjack-san reminds him of his step-mum and he gets sad and stops his mischief.


:seedling: Japanese found in the tall grass :seedling:

New Things

蔓草「つるくさ」ー Vine

Word not recognised because it was in katakana (these always trip me up)
マヌケ「間抜け」ー Idiot; stupid
I feel very マヌケ now after trying to work out what it could possibly even be, then as soon as I see the kanji it just clicks.

Bonus word I found earlier
牝鹿「めじか」ー Doe; female deer

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Thanks for the reminder! Hehe, mental slot, I like that phrase. Now where’s the “unequip” button :eyes::sweat_drops: ? Throwback to when the players couldn’t log out of SAO.

I’m kinda conflicted actually, I agree but at the same time I’m like… I don’t think I have it in me to stop just yet? I’ll figure this out somehow. But if things become too much I’ll definitely take a break from the challenge ^^

Hmm, it really depends on your situation :thinking: My problem is that I don’t know how to relax properly after a long day of studying (turns out doomscrolling/endless youtube is not very effective :skull_and_crossbones: ) and I tend to put off reading until it’s very late. Because of that, I end up not getting enough sleep and I find it difficult to be productive the next day.

You know what, I’m starting to think this could be part of the challenge :eyes: Figuring out how to spend my time the way I want to, as well as managing my level of energy. Recently, I’ve learnt the joy of waking up early without feeling tired. Might be a weird thing to be excited about xD Maybe I’m getting old :P I’m not even 25 yet…?

ohh, manga! :eyes: I think for me, Honzuki (light novel) might fill that role :thinking: I’m just scared of enjoying Honzuki so much I can’t put it down and end up putting off sleep :sweat_smile: As for actual manga, maybe I should pick up Flying Witch again.


Yawing is more contagious than I thought??? what in the actual xD
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Reply

I go to bed between 22:00 and 00:00, wake up between 08:00 and 09:00, and study until 19:00-20:00… in the 2-5 hours I have for relaxation I don’t do anything I do not want to, which sometimes means not doing anything at all. I think that might help? Because I can remember feeling frustrated by not being able to enjoy things properly after working hard, and that frustrated desire to relax by doing something just made me more exhausted and depressed. If you can cultivate the mindset that it’s okay to not do anything then maybe you’ll find it easier to relax by doing stuff as a result. It might not be the most actionable advice, but it works for me.

Also, I stopped participating in the challenge when I started working with the schedule I described. I can’t prioritize reading Japanese until after exams🙃

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@Beyond_Sleepy I’ll think about it and get back to you later


Summary post :bookmark:

April 29th :cherry_blossom:

・薬屋のひとりごと (71% → 73%)

Halfway-ish through chapter 25. Thoughts: I’m suspecting Maomao is drinking all that alcohol just because she wants to instead of actually investigating it

Word of the day: A non-fishy sakana (さかな) :eyes: Means appetizer or snack served with drinks.

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