Just put in my order, expected to arrive by July 6th at the latest. This’ll be my first time really diving into reading anything real (I’m about 2/3 of the way through Genki I); does anybody have any advice for tackling something like this?
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The first time you try to read anything, you’re not going to understand everything. Do your best to accept that, letting context and pictures fill in the blanks (your brain will do a pretty good job of crafting something that makes sense).
Pick grammar points and vocab you almost-understand to ask questions about or look up independently; you’ll find it easier to understand explanations about that than about something completely alien, and the more you understand, the easier it will become to break down the more advanced stuff when you see it again later. When you’re a bit more sure-footed, go back and re-read things that gave you trouble before and repeat the process until you’re ready to try it with something harder.
-Edit-
Also, the first page is always the hardest. If you can get through that, you can get through anything else the book has in store.
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This is great advice. Reading the first chapter of 魔女の宅急便 (Kiki’s Delivery Service) was so hard. I struggled through it (and the next few chapters to be honest), but by the time I got to the end of the book I was reading twice as fast and understanding twice as much.
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Thank you! And good luck with the JLPT!
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Thanks for the advice. I’m a believer that the best way to learn Japanese is to actually use it, and this’ll be my baptism by fire 
Still, I’m excited, I think this’ll be fun!
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I’m going to jump in on this one. I really need something beginner-focused. I’m in that catch-22 lately, where studying grammar by itself isn’t that productive, but I don’t know enough to really read anything.
But, maybe this is closer to my speed? Or at least, not so much too difficult that I can’t keep up. Only one way to find out, right?
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I’m a first-timer too – I’m under the impression that things are gonna be rough even at this level 
But I also have a hard time absorbing grammar from textbooks, so nothing for it but to take it sentence by sentence. Best of luck!
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That’s Swedish, it says something like estimated delivery: June 11th. That was much quicker than first estimate xD
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if anyone wants a non kindle version ebook, there is bookwalker! (kodansha company)
which you can buy without needing to be in Japan, they have many ebooks in Japanese and english even these days, so it’s a good alternative if you can’t get access to amazon jp
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I am not sure how much I will be able to follow, but I will give it a go.
I purchased the ePUB from Booklive.jp (にゃんにゃん探偵団１ にゃんにゃん探偵団 - 杉山亮/小松良佳 - 漫画・無料試し読みなら、電子書籍ストア ブックライブ) 1,080 yen, but as a new customer they gave me a 50% off coupon, so it was only 540 yen (£3.65 as opposed to £25 to buy a physical copy that would take a month to be delivered).
Now I just need to figure out how to read it on my tablet. The ePUB does not appear to be able to be opened in anything other than the BookLive application, and I haven’t managed to get the app onto my tablet. I can read it on my laptop for the time being.
regards
Frugal
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Just bought it with the 50% discount on booklive. App is available in the Japanese play store :
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PS I also had 100 points which took another 100 yen off so 440 inclusive.
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I want in too!!! By July I’ll most probably be in level 22-23 so it will be easier to understand everything. Plus it will give me a reason to boost my grammar studying and finish the first Genki book by then (I’m now on chapter 9).
Question:I’m thinking of getting the epub version, can the booklive epub be read in a regular reader (I have a Sony one) or does it have to be the app?
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just bought mine from BookLive! 
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I just got a notification that my book has shipped and should be in around July 15. Yay!
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I’m in! I was cringing at the price, but either I’ll join a bit late and just read the third one with you guys when I’m in Japan so I can get it at a non-import price, or if I can I’ll grab the Kindle copy of Amazon JP.
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It can be helpful to go through the first time knowing that you won’t understand everything and to specifically take notes on the main words/kanji/grammar that confuses you. Look them up and study them/make an Anki deck/etc., then go read through again. That’s what I’ve been doing, and I find it pretty helpful. I’d even say to reread the chapter a few times between study sessions to get fuller comprehension, if you have the time.
@ccprince Have you checked out Satori Reader? It’s more intermediate material for the most part, but it might be helpful if you’re up for a challenge.
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@obennett I haven’t. Though, I have poked around with TangoRisto, gotten frustrated, and threw it aside. I need to get my head turned around from, “If I can’t understand this entire News Easy article, I’m a failure and should give up,” to, “If I can pick up one thing from it, it’s a success, and I should keep doing it.” That’s not easy…
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