📚📚 Read every day challenge - Spring 2022 🌸 🌱

Happy day one of spring challenge!

Appropriately, I waited until the biweekly Tadoku Free Online Reading Group meeting to start. It’s the same group that puts out free graded reader material that I’ve linked to in my Home post.

My goal is to read through as much of the free material as I can. And lucky for me, they just put out 4 new ones.

Progress
11 / 44 level-zeros
x / 12 level-ones
x /10 level-twos
x / 18 level-threes

I also started translating this page on Japanese grammar as taught to Japanese people that I found a few weeks ago. I’m interested in understanding Japanese from the Japanese perspective. I’m looking forward to the tofugu article about Japanese YouTubers who teach grammar in Japanese that was teased in the latest tofugu podcast episode.

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April 1st (Home Post)

First day of the challenge has happened to be on a Friday, which for me is bookclub day 1. Since I am usually tired from working all week, I usually go for the easier manga bookclubs.

  • からかい上手の高木さん (16 pages)
  • それでも歩は寄せてくる (18 pages)
  • ハピネス (42 pages)
  • 大海原と大海原 死の海編 (20 pages)

I guess I should also count Flying Witch, which I am re-reading with a read-aloud bookclub on Friday nights

  • Flying Witch (32 pages)

Total manga pages read: 128

It’s my first time trying to actually build stats around my reading, which is something I’ve been wanting to try for a while.

Some non-spoilery panels from today’s reading:

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それでも歩は寄せてくる is as always, a treasure-trove of endearing facial expressions.

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大海原と大海原 art style never disappoints. I am really sad the Pixiv version doesn’t have better resolution images.

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A crow enjoying a slide ^.^

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Day 2 - April 2

  • 美少年探偵団 1 - 3,19% → 5,59%

We finally got to meet the first three characters! So far 袋井満 is my favorite character ^^ He’s the number 1 delinquent of the school. I’m really looking forward to the introduction of the other two characters. So far it’s a hard read, but I manage to understand the gist of it, so that’s enough :heart: I can always read it again when my Japanese is much better!

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I’ll be in this!
Reading in Japanese is a struggle for me right now, but I enjoy it.

Currently reading:
Happiness (with the ABBC)
Bleach Vol. 2
Harry Potter 1 (occasionally)
NHK news easy (occasionally)

Apr
01 02 03
04 05 06 07 08 09 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30
May
01
02 03 04 05 06 07 08
09 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31

Update 7th April:
Lots of reading!
I’ve gotten excited about reading Harry Potter again and and spending most of my time on that (usually with lots of word/phrase lookups). I’m still in the first half of the first chapter… I think I’ll be on the first chapter for quite a while!
And bleach is my before bed book, so I don’t usually look anything up - I just spot the bits I already know (which isn’t much! :laughing:)

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This is my first time joining the every day challenge. My goal is to read 5-30 mins per day in Japanese. I want to avoid falling behind SRS (basically Anki) because of reading too much, so I’m setting the minimum reading time to 5 mins. I am always bad at writing down reactions, but I’ll try to force my self to write something down (Maybe twice per week).

Goals :dart:

  • Intermedia Reading Club 佐賀のがばいばあちゃん
  • Finish the rest of the stories in 本陣殺人事件
  • 12歳までに読みたい名作100
  • 宮沢賢治 一気に読める

Progress :paw_prints:

  • 佐賀のがばいばあちゃん (29%. ~Chapter 4)
  • 本陣殺人事件 (90%)
  • 12歳までに読みたい名作100(p32)
  • 宮沢賢治 一気に読める (0%)
Apr
01 02 03
04 05 06 07 08 09 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30
May
01
02 03 04 05 06 07 08
09 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31
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:tulip: April 1st :tulip: Home
Since it was Friday I had the free time to read (and write) quite a bit.
Read: マグメル深海水族館
Finished Prologue (16 pages)
Time: 7 minutes
I’m excited to keep reading this one. I find the concept of an aquarium where you could go all the way to the deep sea and actually see the creature there in their native habitat super interesting (and kind of terrifying.) Seems like I’ll get a lot of katakana practice with all of the different creature’s names introduced. Also I really love the art especially in pages with all of the different creatures.

Fishies

New Vocab

無脊椎動物 invertebrate
ダイオウイカ Giant Squid
潜む to lurk; to be concealed
吊るす to hang
生息 living; inhabiting

Giant Squid fact

Each chapter seems to provide some facts about the creatures featured so I decided I’ll try and roughly translate one for fun.
Giant Squid
Body size: About 6-14m
Habitat depth: a few hundred - 1000m
In the largest class of the world’s invertebrates, it’s huge eye can grow to as large of a diameter as 30 cm.
It was nice to come along a lot of words I learned recently on WaniKani here (巨大,眼,直径).

Read: ジャックジャンヌ ー夏劇ー
Started short story 1 “only one life” (8 pages)
Time: 44 minutes
Oh boy reading a light novel really is different, especially a paperback one. It took me a long time to look up words I didn’t know. It seems like what’s holding me back here the most is vocab. This light novel has short stories about each of the main characters from the game Jack Jeanne (one of my favorite games) and so far seems like a really interesting deeper look into each of the characters. Definitely a difficult read for me but I love the story enough to push through. Plus Sui Ishida’s illustrations are another bonus.

Illustration

New vocab

Way too much to include it all so just my favorites and ones that use kanji I’ve learned here
うだつの上がらない lacking potential for advancement
際立つ to be prominent
一線を描する to draw a line (between)
至宝 greatest treasure; pride (of)
鮮烈 vivid; striking
混迷 turmoil; chaos
佇む to stand (still) a while; to loiter
大手企業 big corporation; major firm
一対 pair; couple would not have been able to figure out the reading of this one
押し花 pressed flower
空回り going round in circles; going nowhere

Interesting details

It was interesting to see the word つとめる using the specific contexts for the different kanji in the same passage, 勤める referring to working at a company and 務める referring to playing a role.

Also I really liked the way this line was written,
まるで花が開くようにー
「…はーい、オッケー!」
満開の花をそのまま押し花にでもしそうな勢いで、パンと大きく手を打つ音が響いた。
showing the transition from the beginning where they were acting out roles back to their actual selves.

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I read 三毛猫ホームズ up to Chapter 1, part 1. This section had plenty of new words for me (def. more than the prologue), and they mostly don’t look high-frequency. I added them to a folder in my dictionary but won’t study them unless they show up again.

I was going along, mentally grumbling about all the new words I was encountering, and then

at the very end of the section... (spoiler inside)

The place he took the taxi to was Fuchu?! :scream: :scream: :scream:

No wonder the taxi driver was complaining about how his taxes are being used! Where is the police station? I don’t recall it being mentioned, so I was assuming it was somewhere in Yamanote-area Tokyo. Fuchu is really far away. And this book is from the '80s, when taxis were much more expensive than they are now. I totally understand the taxi driver’s feelings. I’d be outraged too if my taxes were being spent like this.

赤川 definitely saved that for the end for extra impact :rofl:

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This thread is so hard to keep up with, and the challenge has only just started! :astonished:

Ah, don’t be. On second thought, adding the same cards multiple times is still reviewing of sorts, right? I do somehow magically remember several of my previously added cards, so I’m sure it still somehow works :grin:

What are the odds that we’d run across the same word on the same day in different books, and decide to share it? :rofl:

I missed this before. Hope you get well soon!

In my experience the difficulty goes up a bit after the prologue, but so does the fun. I really like his style of writing so far.

Yeah, that didn’t work out. I read another 1% to 7%, but then I also realized that I hadn’t read to the end of the chapter before anyway, so at least I’m caught up with myself. I can allow myself to take it a little slower from here on.

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三毛猫ホームズ related

I found that scene hilarious :rofl:
I don’t think the location of the police station is mentioned, and as I’m not very familiar with Japan’s geography I didn’t pay much attention to place names, but it Fuchu really is far away from where he started off then that’s even funnier. :grinning:

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polv’s home post of Q2 of 2022 :cherry_blossom: (Next: Q3 of 2022 :sunny:)

I am going to share my reading goals this time. Also, this is my first time joining the every day challenge. I don’t totally plan to read every day, although I do plan to “read for the sake of learning the way of Japanese language” 2-3 days per week, and write the progress weekly.

An ultimate goal is to be able to read Japanese Wikipedia (which is also pretty much the way I developed English reading skills in school).

四月
第1週目 01 02 :writing_hand: 03
第2週目 04 05 06 :white_check_mark: 07 08 09 10
第3週目 11 12 13 14 15 :white_check_mark: 16 17
第4週目 18 :writing_hand: 19 20 21 22 23 :books: 24 :white_check_mark:
第5週目 25 :writing_hand: 26 27 28 29 :books: 30
五月
第5週目 01 :writing_hand:
第6週目 02 03 :white_check_mark: 04 :white_check_mark: 05 06 07 08 :books:
第7週目 09 :writing_hand: 10 11 12 13 14 :books: 15 :white_check_mark:
第8週目 16 :writing_hand: 17 :white_check_mark: 18 :white_check_mark: 19 20 21 22 :books:
第9週目 23 :writing_hand: 24 25 26 27 28 :books: 29
第10週目 30 :writing_hand: 31
六月
第10週目 01 :white_check_mark: 02 03 04 :books: 05
第11週目 06 :writing_hand: 07 :white_check_mark: 08 09 10 11 12 :books:
第12週目 13 14 :writing_hand: 15 16 17 :books: 18 19
第13週目 20 21 :writing_hand: 22 23 24 25 26 :books:
第1週目 27 :writing_hand: 28 :memo: 29 :memo: 30 :memo:

I like the idea of weekly count. It seems that trunklayer started the idea.

Although and works, the color is not strongly noticeable. Also, it pretty much limits to only two icons. (It’s pretty cool that I can click on without editing, though.)

For some reasons, I can’t find anyone putting up a June calendar. It’s not too hard to be commited for 3 months, I think.

Let me make weekly progresses, ok?

Progresses :dart:
  • Committed
    • (2/12) Death Note - all volumes (1-12), also for discussion.
    • (2/10) Happiness - all volumes (1-10), whether or not the discussion is ongoing.
      • Though, I can’t be sure how thorough I will read, after the discussion has died down.
      • So, it would probably end quickly then, maybe with vocabulary lists from earlier chapters.
    • (66%) Night Cafe Vol.1
      • This is different from other choices, that it is in full text (light novel) format (with some illustrations).
      • This one actually requires some effort on my part, although I somewhat adapted to it. I think I can finish Vol. 1, at least; but maybe with bad comprehension - and could be hard to continue on to the next volumes by myself.
    • (2/4) JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 2 - Battle Tendency
      • I bought the Monochrome Version, and there are 4 volumes. (I think there are exactly the same number of chapters in Colored Version, but more volumes.)
      • I don’t have that much problem understanding colloquial written Japanese, so I really want to finish the series.
      • Whether I will continue part 1, 3-6 is, I haven’t decided yet; but I seriously consider it.
  • Potential
    • (2/13 = 1+13) Yuru Camp
      • Although I started on (and bought) Vol. 13, and it isn’t really a stressful read; it is a reading without Furigana, as well as I will always try to read signs and place names, that aren’t really in the dialogue.
      • I will also take time to research about real places in Japan. This much is pretty normal when remembered the time I’ve been in Japan - there were both solo travels (exchange student’s free time) and travels with friends.
Some other things
  • Somewhat failed
    • それでも歩は寄せてくる
      • I pretty much dropped out of it because of Shogi terms.
      • It can be said that I am not really interested in it, but it is just an excuse.
  • Some things I might consider
    • I don’t give Wotakoi Manga just yet.
    • I have bought 時をかける少女 (Light Novel), but I don’t feel I am at the level to read it yet.
      • Still, it might be just some 杞憂.
      • I might reconsider, as I might be able to learn more from relying on the text, rather on the pictures (in mangas).
    • Some kinds of medical series. Might be はたらく細胞.
    • Some kinds of novels that are in fad.
    • Some kinds of non-fiction or philosophy books, rather than Wiki or interlinked (website) format.
  • Some things I find interesting, but haven’t consider just yet.

Previous progresses :paw_prints:
  • Death Note (15/108)
  • 呪術廻戦 0 (Last chapter (ch.4) + pending discussion)
    • I read this series with moderate effort, with more efforts when it is some long handwritten text.
    • Some words are indeed made-up, but the meaning can be found, when I find references to some actual words.
  • Happiness (1/10)
    • I have finished the first volume, but I don’t feel the pressure to continue yet.
    • I feel that the series is interesting, and the reading is not too difficult; so I decided to buy all the volumes.
    • I am waiting for the discussion week-by-week.
  • Night Cafe Vol.1 Ch.2
    • I am continuing on with the discussion. It has just started Ch.2 as of Sat 2 Apr 2022.
    • I am thinking of, what is the best learning strategy.
    • I am considering reading ahead, but it may also be counterproductive; as it can be both time-consuming, and I don’t really understand enough.
  • JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 2 (2.1/4)
    • I am on the beginning of Vol. 2/4 where JoJo met Caesar (descendant of Zeppelli), and he has introduced himself.
    • It is pretty much on hold now, but probably no longer. It was on hold, because I focused more on other things that can have discussions. But then, actually I don’t care - I can take note by myself (by blogging that I haven’t revealed to the public yet).
  • Yuru Camp Vol. 13 (2/7)
    • Will reread for more clarity, and for discussion.
  • I am also considering listening to easy YouTube channels, for better grammar understanding and activating my listening skills; but I pretty much haven’t started.
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I’d love to read your JoJo blogging if you post it :smiley:

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Whoaaaaa the cover of this looks beautiful! :star_struck: This sounds awesome anyone from the last challenge knows my love for sea creatures LOL, I’m 100% adding this to my list.

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I hope this will motivate me. And hopefully, this will develop into a habit. :crossed_fingers:

Books

夜カフェ
娘じゃなくて私が好きなの⁈ (Vol 1.)

Apr
01 02 03
04 05 06 07 08 09 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30
May
01
02 03 04 05 06 07 08
09 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31

Also, please help. How do I add checkboxes? Edit: Thank you @windupbird !

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For empty checkboxes, type [ ] (but with no spaces in between the brackets)
To check the checkbox, you can put an “x” between the brackets ^^

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April 1st & 2nd :cherry_blossom: :cat2: :cherry_blossom:

Home post

Yesterday was so busy I didn’t have time to make a post, so I will summarize both day 1 and day 2 of my reading practice here :3 It took me a long time and I understood very little, however I feel like progress has been made. Going from nearly no reading to reading for around 1h daily is rather exhausting, but it feels good to know that if only I keep going it will get easier.

Day 1 :cat2:

I panicked, because I realized I didn’t have a reading list ready. So I scoured some sites and came across this 吾輩は猫である by 夏目漱石. It caught my interest because (surprise surprise) it is cat themed. Issue is, that once I opened the book I realized this is way way way above my current ability. But I decided to give it a go anyways, since I (for some reason) kind of enjoy painstaikingly reading something sentence by sentence until it clicks one day. Also, after the very wise and poetic words of @pocketcat about perusing reading materials, I won’t feel guilty about dropping this.
It was also very helpful to have an English version of it opened up while trying to read reading.

I’ve only managed to get through the first few sentences (writing this stuff out is incredibly time consuming :sweat_smile:), however I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the process. So far I have learnt that Cat, whose name we don’t know yet, has no idea where it was born and it had heard rumours that humans eat and boil cats.

Here’s a lil bit of what I’ve managed to do (there’s another half a page):

Day 2 :cat2: :cherry_blossom:

I decided to stick with the cat theme but do something a little (seemingly) easier: this article 「西炯子と大ちゃん」 - ネコメンタリー 猫も、杓子(しゃくし)も。 - NHK about mangaka 西炯子 and her cat 大ちゃん. I struggled a lot with the lack of kanji in some places - while I am getting better at recognizing words, a long row of just hiragana can get confusing. Nevertheless, I managed to get the gist of it - will probably return to it again to re-read it. Also, this is really helping me improve my ability to read katakana, which I suck at.

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Day 2 :slight_smile:
柿 (かき)
image
It looks like a tomato but it’s a…

Japanese persimmon

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… and apparently you can feed them to elephants as I read in 象のトンキー!

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You can also eat them yourself. They are super delicious.

Your handwriting is easy to read except for one Kana that for the live of me I can’t make out. In day1
生まれたかと?と見当がつかぬ。What character is that ?

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Thanks! I’ll keep an eye out for them here (Germany), I’ve never tried one!

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Yeah, you can get them in the standard supermarkets (Edeka, Rewe and stuff) and they are indeed very sweet and delicious. You can eat them with the skin.

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