I’ve been following your progress and your comments. This is super cool that you take the time to write them (even if they’re not for me). It’s the first time I really create content that other people consume so I always a bit embarassed when I read them .
I have to say, providing a list of someone’s attributes may give me the momentary satisfaction of learning that ‘height’ is written as 身長, but it won’t help me actually learn these characters.
身長 is here for this momentary satisfaction. It’s not repeated afterwards but in the context it is transparent so why not use it ?
This one has a horribly garish red background, avert your eyes.
You’re actually not the first person making this type of comments about background colors. I’ll be more careful in the future. I just checked and it seems I can do it easily by adding some CSS.
Also I need to add the CSS pokemons are not from me. I have on my todo to write a ‘credits’ page.
I read nothing yesterday (Jan 16), jetlag took its toll. I meant to read after dinner but after watching videos for a little while after dinner, I grew exhausted in no time, and went to bed instead. I’m also hoping to use this time zone change/jetlaggy period to change my go to bed time and wake up time to earlier than before. I will definitely have to get used to starting my evening activities earlier if I want to do them.
Anyway, decided to read BU$TAFELLOWS early today (17th) and hoped I could finish chapter one, but the end of the chapter did not appear yet. Will see if I can find more time to read this VN, or if I’ll settle for (English) novel reading. I want chapter 1 finished today or tomorrow, but since I don’t know how much is left… Who knows? I read a good chunk today for sure.
I want to catch up with the BU$TAFELLOWS club so I’m prioritizing that over ユージニア for a bit. I feel like before I was better at reading several Japanese things in one day because I’d run out of stamina and want to change things up, but now that my stamina is better and I’m reading interesting things it’s kinda hard to stop reading one thing. Thus I read BU$TAFELLOWS for ~2h and then I figured I’d at least read a little ユージニア but it was already so late and I was so sleepy that soon I couldn’t understand anything I was reading so I stopped having read less than 1%. Hopefully next time I can balance them better.
蟲師 continues to be very good fun, even if i was deceived by how simple this chapter would be the opening lines were a little tricky to parse (was in a poetic style) but then i flew through the next twenty pages or so, and then it got difficult again. it also doesn’t help that there were some slightly choppy timeskips in this one.
words that stuck out: 露骨 (ろこつ, open, undisguised), 暗示 (hint, suggestion), 破滅 (hint, ruin, destruction, fall)
a question
(first kanji of the bubble, apologies it’s a bit blurry) is this a font thing? an old version of the 父? something different entirely? what’s that extra stroke doing there? i did some googling around but couldn’t find anything. it’s not a mark on the page cos it turns up a few times and looks like that every time
I’m not sure I read that fast in English and it’s my native language!
I’ve been a bit MIA last few days as I’ve been trying to fit in too much (which does include browsing various BookOff stores in the evening).
14/1 1 page 夜カフェ
15-16/1 missed due to busyness!
17/1 skimmed short mission 1 of Spy Family
I may properly read that section of Spy Family before bed, I was trying to read it in a ramen place and couldn’t concentrate.
I’ve picked up a fair number of manga plus a few books over the last week. Was tempted by a set earlier that I think is too heavy, but I could probably squeeze it in (Blood on the Tracks, 10 volumes for ¥3000). I was put off by the weight and the fact that I think it’s a 13 volume series, but I may go back tomorrow evening, it’s near my hotel. Anyone read it? I gather it’s a bit disturbing, but I enjoyed Happiness, if that’s the right term for that series.
I like to make these comments to make sure I at least try and engage with the text more intesively. Sometimes I get confused by story logic. Sometimes I get to learn a new grammar point! None of my reactions or comments are supposes to be judgements of the quality of the content, so feel free to simply be amused by my silly notes.
That said, here are some more today. It seems in today’s story we’re talking about something near and dear to my heart: pixelart! Someone who wants to be a game designer shows us how to draw them. 猫 and the 描 appearing here are so similar, yet I haven’t had trouble with them? Some more usage of the と, this time two different functions in one sentence!
In the next story we’re greeted by three magic users. A lot of these Kanji I’ve already read in Kiki, though the 大鍋 only appeared in Hiragana - maybe because it was a pot and not a cauldron?
I wanted to get a preview of the next story and I met this guy!
Another CSS friend. He reminds me of something, but I don’t know what.
夜カフェ pg 7 → 17 - GOD this is so melodramatic it’s hilarious. I love it so far, some parts my comprehension are a little iffy, but eventually context comes in and helps out. Lots of new words, some new grammar, but noticeably easier to read than when I did my test read at the end of december! Even just 2 weeks of reading magic treehouse made a huge difference. I saw 「残り少なくなった桜の花びらか涙のように舞い落ちてくる」 and couldn’t stop myself from laughing it’s so cheesy (in an endearing way)
夜カフェ
埋める「うめる」ー to bury
あからさま ー plain, frank
音痴 「おんち」ー tone deaf
鈍い「にふい」ー dull, blunt
目立つ「めだつ」ー to stand out, to be conspicuous
塾「じゅく」ー cram school
舞い落ちる「まいおちる」ー to flutter down
掲示板「けいじばん」ー bulletin board
紺色「こんいろ」ー deep blue, navy blue
しぼむ ー to wither, to wilt
ニヤニヤ ー grinning, smirking
呪う「のろう」ー to curse
肉じゃが「にくじゃが」ー meat and potato stew
疎かにする「おろそかにする」ー to neglect
せめて ー at least
ホリミヤ
怪談「かいだん」ー ghost story
お団子頭 「おだんごあたま」ー bun (hairstyle)
いじる ー to tamper with, to mess around with (here, with someone’s hair)
崩れる「くずれる」ー to break down, to get out of shape
人災「じんさい」ー man made disaster
January 17th
新書太閣記 progress: 02.42% // Volume I: 28.05%
Finished the chapter, onto the next one: 猫の飯
… anddd managed to finish that one too!
Granted it was relatively short, but still, two chapters read today
Words found under the kotatsu
化石「かせき」ー Fossil; petrification; fossilisation むざむざ ー Easily; helplessly; without regret; without resistance 半信半疑「はんしんはんぎ」ー Half in doubt; half convinced; dubious 血膿「ちうみ」ー Bloody pus 寒々「さむざむ」ー Wintry; very cold looking; bleak; desolate 野放図「のほうず」ー Wild; unruly; arrogant 煎薬「せんやく」ー Medical decoction; infusion
Forms
暢気 ＝ 呑気「のんき」(Carefree; optimistic; easygoing; careless)
呶鳴る ＝ 怒鳴る「どなる」(to shout; to yell)
Character Name List
for easy referencing later, because these will take some remembering
Also probably some spoilers, but this is a historic novel, so can spoilers really exist for things that have (for the most part) actually happened
Family
木下弥右衛門「きのした やえもん」- Father
筑阿弥「ちくあみ」ー Step-father
大政所「おおまんどころ」// also お奈加「おなか」ー Mother
おつみ - Older sister
小竹「こちく」- Baby brother
加藤清正「かとう きよまさ」// also 弾正「だんじょう」- Ojisan (only distantly related (before marriage))
– Married to: おえつ (sister of お奈加)
Friends & Acquaintances
仁王「におう」- Big kid friend
於福「おふく」(Nickname - full name: 福太郎「ふくたろ」) // 楊景福「ようけいふく」(Chinese name/birth name) - Timid kid friend (older than Hideyoshi)
– 五郎大夫 「ごろ だゆう」// 祥瑞「しょうずい」(Chinese name) - Father
– 梨琴「りきん」- Mother
捨次郎「すてじろう」- Previous servant to 五郎, later the adoptive father of 於福, and owner of a tea ware shop - and employer of, and master to, Hideyoshi
Others
織田信秀「おだ のぶひで」- Daimyo
– 織田与三郎「おだ よさぶろう」- Younger brother
今川義元「いまがわ よしもと」- Daimyo
斯波義統「しば よしむね」- Daimyo (head of the Shiba clan) at Kiyosu castle
渡辺天蔵「わたなべ てんぞう」- Nobushi
Historical People
阿倍仲麻呂「あべ の なかまろ」ー Japanese scholar & poet (around 700AD)
白楽天「はく きょい」ー Late 700s Chinese poet (Bai Juyi / Bo Juyi) also known as: 白楽天「はく らくてん」in Japan.
道元「どうげん」(or 道元禅師「どうげん ぜんじ」ー Japanese Buddhist Priest, writer & poet (Early to mid 1200s) (also known as 栄西禅師「えいさい ぜんじ」)
空海「くうかい」ー The one and only Kukai or Kobo Daishi - a Buddhist monk. Posthumously given the title of: 弘法大師「こうぼう だいし」born as: 佐伯 眞魚「さえき の まお」(late 700s to early 800s)
Replies
This is great to hear that your studying is going well!!
I also have this problem, I have hardly any free time anymore because of this
Not being punctual with these posts always feels pretty bad.
Of my own volition I ended up reading like 3/4 of a volume of manga yesterday. Reaching the point where I can casually just open up another chapter of (SOL at least) manga without feeling like I’m pushing myself on a mental level has definitely felt like a blessing. The number of fishing-related terms that are not on jisho and also require more than a cursory explanation are wearing at me a little though…
Word of the Day: 飛び魚 - flying fish. Good to know Japanese and Western naming sentiments are exactly the same on this one.
Replies
Thanks lmao, I’m also kind of at the point where I just get kind of annoyed at excessive kana usage because being a new learner means I can’t really “distinguish” stylistic choices, if there are any, to using hiragana instead of kanji (for instance, kids’ speech bubbles in kanji vs hiragana are like the exact same to me. Hopefully this’ll change as I get accustomed to the language. Or maybe not. Either way nothing to do but get used to it I guess,
New to the community but I’ve been speaking Japanese for about 12 years. I lived there a couple years, married a girl from Japan and speak fluently but have limited reading capacity so decided to be doing this challenge before even learning about Wanikani.
Just got back from a 3 week trip to Japan visiting my wife’s family and friends yesterday so I am counting the reading done while there that was on signs, texting friends and such as my reading but officially starting my reading today. I’ll be reading 私だけがいない街 for my manga reading and ノーゲームノーライフ for my light novel because I picked up the first 10 volumes of each from a bookoff while I was in Japan this last time. Looking forward to getting to know everyone and learning to actually read (finally)
Jan
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Jan 22
Got a few pages of 僕だけがいない街 in this evening. The story is beginning to unfold now that I’m a few chapters in. The main plot is starting to be unveiled and I am excited to see what I can pick up from the manga (that is 8 volumes long) that doesn’t exist in the anime that I watched years ago. (That only has 12 episodes)
Finished Harry Potter 1 - Chapter 8 today. I just read because of this challenge today. Otherwise I would just have skipped it, because I’m very tired today. So thanks reading challenge!
After yesterday’s phrase: 話をそらす: to change the subject of the conversation
Today’s phrase is: 目をそらす: to turn one’s eyes away/ to look away
Nice to see the same word used in different situations.
What: A blog post (I forget the author) yesterday, ピーチガール today. Pages: 300 characters yesterday, 20 pages today. Time: 12 minutes yesterday, 12 minutes today!
Seems like 12 minutes is what I can manage when I’m tired. I’m in this awful place where I feel like I might get sick any minute. Slightly itchy throat, but not enough to say I’m unwell. I need to have worked two months at my job before I can call in sick without a doctor’s note… Immune system, please hold on for a while longer!!
I’m so over ピーチガール now.
Spoilers
In this latest chapter, the protagonist’s boyfriend is in the hospital because he suddenly got a stomachache? The thing is, he collapsed in the middle of a phone call with her, which made her think he was angry. The next day, MC is late for school, so she misses the announcement of her BF being unwell and in hospital. So of course, rival girl volunteers to bring the notes and homework to him in her stead. While there, she plants all kinds of lies about the MC. Boyfriend asks rival girl if she can tell MC he’s sorry, and of course rival girl lies through her teeth and does not
I knew I was vaguely angry at this series last summer, but this is something else. I can’t believe I read manga like this all the time in middle school and thought it was great The only character I like now is the other boy involved in this love triangle, mostly because he’s a chaotic idiot.
Tomorrow is Japanese class again, which I’m looking forward to Have a nice day, everyone!
Yup. You’ll see it with other characters too where it seems to just be the font rather than a variation, I suppose something like serif vs sans serif. (If it were a variation, it’d get furigana, even with how similar it looks to the usual kanji. Like, 繫がる is immediately obvious it’s just a different way of writing 繋がる, but it still gets furigana anyway.)
Day 15
I was working on my japanese test and because of that I didn’t have that much time for reading. But I still managed to finish the second volume of Bakemonogatari manga and started reading the third one.
Hella long day, been out in the city all day so I had no time to read manga but I read a few articles on NHK webs easy while on the train. Time for sleep
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January 16-17 
the opening lines were a little tricky to parse (was in a poetic style) but then i flew through the next twenty pages or so, and then it got difficult again. it also doesn’t help that there were some slightly choppy timeskips in this one.
１月１７日 
The Tanuki Kotatsu Reading Den 
The only character I like now is the other boy involved in this love triangle, mostly because he’s a chaotic idiot.
Have a nice day, everyone!
I’m kinda bad at staying consistent when it comes to book clubbing.