📚📚 Read every day challenge - Summer 2021 🏖🏖

Japanese Language Reading
#123

:ballot_box_with_check:Day 3
Started reading カラフル, just the preface. It’s already really interesting!

Today I felt like I has superpowers cause I was able to guess a couple of words’ meanings based on context (such as 奪ううばう, cause I knew it wasn’t 盗むぬすむ but has a similar feeling). Even with such an “on” day, I still had to look up so many words. Looking forward to it getting easier as I get used to the new writing style/vocabularies used!

Today's Interesting Phrases/Vocab:

疑問ぎもんを抱だいている = to have doubts
俗ぞくに言いう = commonly referred to as, slang for
めでたしめでたし = happily ever after
縁起えんぎでもない = Bad luck, ill-omen

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#124

That makes me feel like I might enjoy reading it soon after all. I haven’t been feeling up to vague metaphors lately and had somehow got it in my head that 羊と鋼の森 would be full of those. :grin:

2.6.
Yesterday I didn’t have much time to myself. I read 2 pages (or 2 entries) of 使ってはいけない日本語, and maybe 5 pages of あせとせっけん.

3.6.
It’s still morning, but after waking I decided to finish the chapter of あせとせっけん I started yesterday and ended up finishing the volume instead. I think the next one, vol. 11 is the last one… :cry:

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#125

Yooo, you genius. I’m going to edit my June 1st post into a summary post as well. Will also include box table because I like clicking boxes. Looks something like this:

June 月 火 水 木 金 土 日
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
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#126

Ooooh, mind if I also use this when I start reading? This looks so satisfying.

6 Likes
#127

Today’s reading (will update this post once I do some more):

  • Read today’s NHK Easy News.
  • Took some more notes on はたらく細胞。Reached page 148.
6 Likes
#128

Sure! :grin: I changed it into calendar weeks instead of week 1, 2, 3… etc. This will be my way of keeping track of the days during summer time lol

image

Edit: Feel free to copy paste if you want to use the same format too :slight_smile:

| June | 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | 日 | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| 
|Week 22| | [x] | [x] | [] | [] | [] | [] | 
|Week 23| [] | [] | [] | [] | [] | [] | [] |
|Week 24| [] | [] | [] | [] | [] | [] | [] 
|Week 25| [] | [] | [] | [] | [] | [] | [] |
|Week 26| [] | [] | [] | | | | |
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#129

I definitely used to be a ‘write down the sentence’ person. Lately I’ve swung across to ‘just read something’ to keep myself reading - most books where I’ve tried to note down sentences with words I don’t know I’ve given up on (because, I mean, that’s every sentence, and I’m not writing out a whole book). Thinking about trying to find a sweet spot in between and writing down words that I have to look up more than twice for easy reference. Of course, that means I need to remember that I looked that word up… we’ll see how it goes.

2 Likes
#130

I love the idea of ticking everything off - and see others doing the same - and I’ve done it too °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

Sum up! - Summer Reading Challenge

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#131

And finished the part I started yesterday, it changed from being pretty boring to actually get interesting. Not always that happens, but now I’m glad I finished reading that short story. Also day 3 in the bag. ^^

10 Likes
#132

Oh, I wanted to get back to you yesterday but forgot - sorry!

Yes, I guess that’s what will happen a lot. But if you read like 3 or 5 times more (because you spend more time reading and less time translating or writing down), you will get 3 or 5 times more exposure, and eventually things will start to stick.

Yes, that I also agree with. And I’m not saying you shouldn’t dive into sentences if need be. My approach is often that I continue to read, and when I am really surprised or get a “mental clash” by something that is written after that, then I must have misunderstood something, and I go back and try to reread. (It often happens for me because I misinterpret those pesky じゃない - often I’m not sure whether it’s an actual negation or just an “isn’t it” :joy_cat: - but I can feel it’s getting better).
For me the question would rather be “do I need to do a deep dive for every sentence?”.

Anyways, just my two cents :grin:

For my reading progress:

June 1st: Did not have much time and only managed to read 3 pages from すべてがFになる。
June 2nd: Finished chapter 8 of すべてがFになる (about 20 pages maybe? didn’t check). Also continued my current “book-on-the-side” which is 海の見える理髪店 (a collection of 6 short stories, the first of which is veeeery slow, and somehow reading it is also very slow…)
June 3rd: Continued 海の見える理髪店 - now halfway through the first story.

12 Likes
#133

ohh this looks fun and is perfect timing for me since I just got back to japanese studying :blush:
I’ll update this post tonight to make it more detailed but for now I’m thinking my goals for this summer will be:

Daily:

  • 1 chapter of Yotsubato (this is a reread so the first few volumes should be a bit easier)

Weekly:

  • 3 pages of the Hyouka light novel (gonna start small…)
  • optional: Yo-kai Watch on the switch

I’m also considering watching the Hyouka anime (with english subs) alongside the light novel so that I’m more familiar with the character names and supernatural vocabulary. Not sure if I should watch each episode before or after reading the chapter related to it.

7 Likes
#134

unless youre rereading do it before

3 Likes
#135

gotcha! I actually prefer watching first and reading after but kind of felt like it was cheating haha. I’ll probably get to watching the first episode tonight and starting with reading tomorrow :muscle:

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#136

Sum up! - Summer Reading Challenge 2021

Day 3 - June 3rd
今日の読書: からかい上手の高木さん.
ページ: 18.

I have almost finished chapter 3 - just 6 pages - and then I just have to finish other two chapters to be ready to read the sixth one with the ABBC (b ᵔ▽ᵔ)b

Anyway, this is my very first time reading something that is not “graded” and I see the difference; N1 grammar mixed with more basic one, everyday vocabulary + slang, that’s difficult, something for which I wasn’t ready and I think I would never be ready without the small nudge from the ABBC ＼(＾▽＾)／

皆んな、頑張りましょう！

11 Likes
#137

Copying everyone else and have revamped my first day post with fun goals and progress markers :slight_smile: Link here: Summary post

I reread things quite a lot (especially Bookclub picks) so not quite sure yet whether I’ll count that as reading for the day or not. Will have to see how things go!

10 Likes
#138

Today I read the first 20 pages of the ふらいんぐうぃっち manga. I didn’t even know that I have it, but for some reason it appeared in the bookwalker app. I am too tired to read more.

11 Likes
#139

I’m thinking of joining, starting this weekend so I can wrap a few things up (like my queue of WK items after not reviewing for over a year…). I still need to finish 銭天堂２ so I’ll start there

June 土 日 月 火 水 木 金
June 5th
June 12th
June 19th
June 26th
July 土 日 月 火 水 木 金
July 1st
July 3rd
July 10th
July 17th
July 24th
July 31st
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#140

Wiki post

June 3 Update

Today I read through 不可解なぼくのすべてを. I originally intended to read this with the beginner book club back when it first started, but I was drowning under school pressure a week in, so I couldn’t keep up. I finally picked it up again in May and got through chapter 3. I’ve been meaning to read chapter 4 for a couple of weeks at this point, but was procrastinating for reasons unknown to me.

Today, I sat down for two hours and finished the rest of the book. That’s about 90 pages of manga. Unlike with 進撃の巨人, I didn’t keep track of the words (though there were several I didn’t know) because looking up kanji without furigana and keeping track of the words themselves was too much effort. Reading through a manga with no furigana is both fun and frustrating. It’s always great to find words I can actually read, and words whose kanji I don’t actually know but have seen enough times to guess them correctly; on the flip side, when I can’t recognize something at all, looking it up is a pain. All this really means is that I need to learn more vocabulary.

Loved the manga so much. I often struggle to read LGBT literature because they tend to bring up the darker parts of my own experiences, and I think that’s the main reason it took me so long to read chapter 4. Once I got through the conflict however, I can’t help but adore all the characters. I’ll probably pick the remaining four books in this short series later in the year, but at the moment, I have too many other manga to read.

I think I’ll wait to finish another manga before I add another one to my list. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed with too many things I want to read on my to-do list.

I love the boxes too, so I’m gonna steal this from you and modify it a bit. Thanks for the format!

12 Likes
#141

I’ll just keep track of this post for future reference (I started a day earlier).

Goals

  • Read a chapter per day
  • Read Yotsuba volume 6-15
  • Read Polar Bear Café volume 1-4

Progress

June

週 月 火 水 木 金 土 日
22
23
24
25
26

Days completed: (30/30)

July

週 月 火 水 木 金 土 日
26
27
28
29
30

Days completed (31/31)

August

週 月 火 水 木 金 土 日
30
31
32
33
34
35

Days completed (31/31)

Reading list

よつばと！

よつばと！6
よつばと！7
よつばと！8
よつばと！9
よつばと！10
よつばと！11
よつばと！12
よつばと！13
よつばと！14
よつばと！15

しろくまカフェ

しろくまカフェ bis 1
しろくまカフェ bis 2
しろくまカフェ bis 3
しろくまカフェ bis 4

Updates

August

Aug 31 - Read Yotsuba ch99
Aug 30 - Read Yotsuba ch98 (started volume 15)
Aug 29 - Read Yotsuba ch97 (finished volume 14)
Aug 28 - Read Yotsuba ch96
Aug 27 - Read Yotsuba ch95
Aug 26 - Read Yotsuba ch94
Aug 25 - Read Yotsuba ch93
Aug 24 - Read Yotsuba ch92
Aug 23 - Read Yotsuba ch91 (started volume 14)
Aug 22 - Read Yotsuba ch90 (finished volume 13)
Aug 21 - Read Yotsuba ch89
Aug 20 - Read Yotsuba ch88
Aug 19 - Read Yotsuba ch87
Aug 18 - Read Yotsuba ch86
Aug 17 - Read Yotsuba ch85
Aug 16 - Read Yotsuba ch84
Aug 15 - Read Yotsuba ch83 (started volume 13)
Aug 14 - Read Yotsuba ch82 (finished volume 12)
Aug 13 - Read Yotsuba ch81
Aug 12 - Read Yotsuba ch80
Aug 11 - Read Yotsuba ch79
Aug 10 - Read Yotsuba ch78
Aug 9 - Read Yotsuba ch77 (started volume 12)
Aug 8 - Read Yotsuba ch76 (finished volume 11)
Aug 7 - Read Yotsuba ch75
Aug 6 - Read Yotsuba ch74
Aug 5 - Read Yotsuba ch73
Aug 4 - Read Yotsuba ch72
Aug 3 - Read Yotsuba ch71
Aug 2 - Read Yotsuba ch70 (started volume 11)
Aug 1 - Read Polar Bear Café #97-100 (finished volume 4)

July

July 31 - Read Polar Bear Café #93-96
July 30 - Read Polar Bear Café #89-92
July 29 - Read Polar Bear Café #85-88
July 28 - Read Polar Bear Café #81-84
July 27 - Read Polar Bear Café #78-80
July 26 - Read Polar Bear Café #76-77 (started volume 4)
July 25 - Read Polar Bear Café #73-75 (finished volume 3)
July 24 - Read Polar Bear Café #70-72
July 23 - Read Polar Bear Café #67-69
July 22 - Read Polar Bear Café #64-66
July 21 - Read Polar Bear Café #61-63
July 20 - Read Polar Bear Café #58-60
July 19 - Read Polar Bear Café #55-57 (started volume 3)
July 18 - Read Polar Bear Café #51-54 ( finished volume 2)
July 17 - Read Polar Bear Café #47-50
July 16 - Read Polar Bear Café #43-46
July 15 - Read Polar Bear Café #39-42
July 14 - Read Polar Bear Café #35-38
July 13 - Read Polar Bear Café #32-34
July 12 - Read Polar Bear Café #29-31 (started volume 2)
July 11 - Read Polar Bear Café #24-28 (finished volume 1)
July 10 - Read Polar Bear Café #21-24
July 9 - Read Polar Bear Café #17-20
July 8 - Read Polar Bear Café #13-16
July 7 - Read Polar Bear Café #9-12
July 6 - Read Polar Bear Café #5-8
July 5 - Read Polar Bear Café #1-4 (started volume 1)
July 4 - Read Yotsuba ch69 (finished volume 10)
July 3 - Read Yotsuba ch68
July 2 - Read Yotsuba ch67
July 1 - Read Yotsuba ch66

June

June 30 - Read Yotsuba ch65
June 29 - Read Yotsuba ch64
June 28 - Read Yotsuba ch63 (started volume 10)
June 27 - Read Yotsuba ch62 (finished volume 9)
June 26 - Read Yotsuba ch61
June 25 - Read Yotsuba ch60
June 24 - Read Yotsuba ch59
June 23 - Read Yotsuba ch58
June 22 - Read Yotsuba ch57
June 21 - Read Yotsuba ch56 (started volume 9)
June 20 - Read Yotsuba ch55 (finished volume 8)
June 19 - Read Yotsuba ch54
June 18 - Read Yotsuba ch53
June 17 - Read Yotsuba ch52
June 16 - Read Yotsuba ch51
June 15 - Read Yotsuba ch50
June 14 - Read Yotsuba ch49 (started volume 8)
June 13 - Read Yotsuba ch48 (finished volume 7)
June 12 - Read Yotsuba ch47
June 11 - Read Yotsuba ch46
June 10 - Read Yotsuba ch45
June 9 - Read Yotsuba ch44
June 8 - Read Yotsuba ch43
June 7 - Read Yotsuba ch42 (started volume 7)
June 6 - Read Yotsuba ch41 (finished volume 6)
June 5 - Read Yotsuba ch40
June 4 - Read Yotsuba ch39
June 3 - Read Yotsuba ch38
June 2 - Read Yotsuba ch37
June 1 - Read Yotsuba ch36

10 Likes
#142

Oooh, this has been hovering at the edges of my to-read list for a while but I wasn’t 100% on it, (tbh mainly because the cover put me off) but this has certainly bumped it up the list for me! I’ve had the similar trepidation (it’s what’s stopped me from getting further with series like Wandering Son) that things will be focused on the worst possible outcomes and/or they will be written by straight & cis for straight & cis people and so just kind of be…not great. But good to hear that you really liked it!

Also - you mentioned that reading with no furigana makes looking things up harder - do you still tend to look up every unknown word or do you find that it encourages you to get by on context as much as possible?

4 Likes