📚 bibliothecary's bibliophilia 📚 language log 🇰🇷 🇯🇵 🇨🇳

Finished this week

Legend

:memo: includes a written review
:headphones: read along with audiobook
:ear: audiobook only
:studio_microphone: podcast
:cd: BLCD
:speaker: condensed audio
:repeat: re-read/watch/listen
:underage: adult content; not currently on Natively
:x: format not currently supported on Natively

Manga

TV Show

:x: Listening

Review

Lots of manga this week - 9 volumes finished, 12 partially read, and many more from my BW stash dipped into… :smile:

7 Likes

October Review

I’m going to try doing monthly reviews rather than weekly, posting my goals at the start of the month and updating my list with items as I finish them. Although I liked my checklists, I fell off using them as the month progressed; I’ll keep using the goal progress bars, though.

I achieved my goals of reading 20 manga volumes and watching 40 TV episodes a month, but stopped listening to Teppei towards the end of the month (distracted by non-Japanese content :sweat_smile:), so only reached 235/400 episodes. I should point out, though, that my original goals were 10 manga / 10 TV eps / 100 Teppei eps, but I reached those easily and ended up revising them… So I surpassed my original Teppei goal, at least. :smile:

Finished

Legend

:memo: includes a written review
:headphones: read along with audiobook
:ear: audiobook only
:studio_microphone: podcast
:cd: BLCD
:speaker: condensed audio
:repeat: re-read/watch/listen
:underage: adult content; not currently on Natively
:x: format not currently supported on Natively

Manga

TV Show

:x: Listening

Stats

24 books
3 TV seasons (+1 rewatch)
27 ratings
12 reviews
635 gradings
642 books contributed
1 video contributed

4950 pages read
18 hours watched
20 hours listened*

* approximately, based on podcasts + BLCDs + condensed audio.

요약

download

5 Likes

Niceee, always impressed by how much immersion you get in when you update your logs! :star_struck:

3 Likes

November Goals

Type Goal Progress
Read 20 manga volumes ▰▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱
Watch 20 TV episodes ▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱
Listen 200 Teppei eps ▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱

Finished

Legend

:memo: includes a written review
:headphones: read along with audiobook
:ear: audiobook only
:studio_microphone: podcast
:cd: drama CD
:speaker: condensed audio
:repeat: re-read/watch/listen
:underage: adult content; not currently on Natively
:x: format not currently supported on Natively

Children’s

Graded Reader

Manga

TV series

:x: Listening

3 Likes

November was a very quiet month for me language-wise, as I was focused on other things, but hopefully everything returns to normal in December. :slightly_smiling_face:

Saying that, I’ve been having fun with Week 3 of 소리를 보는 소년 👁👂 Korean Fiction Book Club 🇰🇷, both the story and researching various historical topics that crop up, as is obvious from my very long posts! :rofl:

I’ve merged my Korean and Japanese logs to make it easier to keep track, and in anticipation of dabbling in other languages… :eyes:

So that’s my disappointingly short update. :smiling_face_with_tear:

4 Likes

Oh, what do you have in the pipeline? Something new, or something you’ve been learning for a while?

1 Like

I’ve learned a tiny bit of Chinese and Thai in the past, which I’d like to get back to. I have a whole stack of easy Chinese readers I could binge (may make it part of my advent challenge :thinking:), and I’d like to be able to touch-type in Thai to make it easier to look up online dictionaries (I’ve tried a couple of times before, but always end up stopping halfway through :melting_face:).

3 Likes

I’m not 100% sure why since so far as I know none of my friends are studying Chinese, but I seem to have fallen into the ‘Chinese learners’ algorithm on Instagram reels and honestly that learning community seems awesome. Great humor, very positive.

4 Likes

The algorithm being like “oh hey you like squiggles? Here’s some more! A lot more actually!”

5 Likes

Have you heard of Heavenly Path? It’s a really neat site put together by more advanced learners grading webnovels, TV, etc. It’s basically a Chinese Natively, haha. I believe there’s a focus on BL stuff on there as well. (Or there was when they set up; not sure how they’ve diversified since.)

4 Likes

I had not! Thanks, that looks really useful! :heart_eyes:

You know me so well… :smirk:

2 Likes

That site makes me want to learn Mandarin. Do what I do not have time to and open up an additional universe of BL. :saluting_face:

2 Likes

December :snowman_with_snow:

Book Clubs

언어 Book Nov 27 Dec 4 Dec 11 Dec 18 Dec 25
:kr: 소리를 보는 소년
:jp:
:kr:
美しい彼
아름다운 그


:snowflake: :snowflake: :snowflake:
:jp: 今日からマ王!

:snowflake: Taking a break over the holiday season :slightly_smiling_face:

Advent Challenge

The 2023 Advent Reading Club(s)! 🎄 ⛄ ❄

M T W T F S S
:cn: :jp:
:kr: :thailand:
:cn: :jp:
:kr: :thailand:
:cn:
:kr:
:cn:
:kr:
:cn:
:kr:
6 :cn: :cn: :cn:
:kr:
:cn:
:cn:
:thailand:
:cn:
:thailand:
:cn:
:thailand:
:cn:
:thailand:
:cn:
:thailand:
:cn:
:thailand:
:cn:
:thailand:
:cn: :cn: :cn: 21 22 23 24

I thought it would be fun to just pick things randomly each day, so there will be a mixture of media (and languages)!

:jp: Japanese

福娘童話集
Manga Library Z

:kr: Korean

디즈니 그림 명작

:cn: Chinese

Little Fox Chinese

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Rainbow Bridge Graded Readers

Rainbow Bridge Graded Chinese Readers_Books

  • A Phoenix Egg
  • A Young Girl Versus the Giant Snake
  • An Old Horse Makes the Best Guide
  • River Snail Girl
  • Yexian, A Cinderella Story from China
幼儿故事
Mandarin Bean

:thailand: Thai


Finished This Month :white_check_mark:

Legend

:memo: includes a written review
:headphones: read along with audiobook
:ear: audiobook only
:studio_microphone: podcast
:cd: drama CD
:speaker: condensed audio
:repeat: re-read/watch/listen
:rabbit: 만화경 webtoon
:hourglass_flowing_sand: waiting to be added to Natively
:underage: adult content; not currently on Natively

There are a lot of items that aren’t on Natively for various reasons (unsupported language / format, not listed on Amazon / Yes24, etc). Rather than mark them individually, anything that doesn’t have a Natively link (which includes the level) can be assumed to be excluded from Natively.

Textbook · 교과서 · 教科書 · 课本 · หนังสือเรียน

Graded Reader · 수준별 독본 · 語彙制限本 · 分级读物

Children’s Book · 동화책 · 児童書 · 儿童书 · หนังสือเด็ก

Comics · 만화 · 漫画 · 漫画 · การ์ตูน

Novel · 소설 · 小説 · 小说 · นวนิยาย

Non-fiction · 논픽션 · ノンフィクション · 非小说类 · หนังสือสารคดี

Other Books · 다른 책 · 他書 · 别的书 · หนังสืออื่นๆ

TV Show · 텔레비전 프로그램 · テレビ番組 · 电视节目 · รายการโทรทัศน์

Movie · 영화 · 映画 · 电影 · ภาพยนตร์

Listening · 듣기 · 聞く · 听力 · การฟัง

Visual Novel · 비주얼 노벨 · ビジュアルノベル · 视觉小说 · วิชวลโนเวล

6 Likes

May I present to you:

That’s good to know… I’ve considered making Korean a “next on the list” language, since it seems like there’s so many good dramas and stuff. Wouldn’t be for a few years tho probably

2 Likes

Really enjoying getting into Chinese again! :heart_eyes: I dipped into it a few years ago, learned a couple of hundred words and read one or two graded readers, then didn’t touch it again. Surprisingly, I’ve remembered most of the vocabulary and grammar, so I’m just working my way through graded readers. Would love to eventually read some 耽美 - I’ve read several 漫画 based on web novels, so I’ll keep a note here of which ones I’d like to read. :slightly_smiling_face:

7 Likes

If you’re determined to read these in the original then just ignore me, but several of these are translated/planned to be officially translated in English and Japanese at least, so you could pick them up whenever if you just wanted to consume the story.

2 Likes

A lot of people I know really enjoyed 撒野! I want to try it out eventually. Right now I’m trying to read 200K more characters (~500 pages) to make my reading goal for this year, so I’m continuing to read 影帝影后今天又撒糖了, which is a cute, fluffy BG 娱乐圈 web novel.

If you don’t mind ghosts + transmigration + 娱乐圈, I really recommend 我家艺人满级重生! It’s a 耽美 with a cute couple and a very fun, interesting storyline. The English translation is on Novel Updates.

4 Likes

There are some I’m planning to read in English, like Heaven Official’s Blessing, because they seem like they’d be way too difficult in Chinese. :sweat_smile:

Although I recently bought the Korean translation of The Husky and His White Cat Shizun! :heart_eyes:

Good to know! This is actually first on my list because I happened to pick up the set really cheap second-hand. :laughing: And it’s a modern setting without sci-fi/fantasy/other difficult elements, so it should be more accessible. :slightly_smiling_face:

2 Likes

As someone stuck on the intermediate plateau who has struggled to find interesting-but-not-too-difficult content to read in Chinese, I’m going to watch this thread for recs :eyes:

I tried a couple of the easier stuff from Heavenly Path but couldn’t really get into the childrens’ books. Then again, I was mostly reading on my phone, so maybe it’s time to pull out the popup dictionary…

Lol, I picked up the first book in Chinese earlier this year, but I fully expect it to gather dust for that reason :sweat_smile:

4 Likes

I’ve already made some goals for next year, so this is more of a look at where I’m at and how I’d like to continue with various languages. :smiling_face:

Multi

Anki

I’ve been pretty inconsistent with my Anki use so far, so I’m going to try to make it a daily habit to finish all the reviews at least. :triumph:

The vocab I’m learning is usually either from exam lists or the vocab from whatever book I’m currently/planning on reading; the sentences are generally to learn grammar, although I’d like to move on to sentence mining native material once I’m past textbook stuff.

I’ve (reluctantly) started using https://jpdb.io/ to learn vocab for specific books I’m planning to read, but I’m hoping for a good export option to appear at some point, since I don’t want to use it long-term.

Audiobooks

Since my focus is on reading, I feel like this is the easiest way to incorporate listening into my routine. I’ve got audible for Japanese, and my Storytel subscription includes books in Korean and Chinese. Storytel also offers Thai books, but I guess you’d have to have a separate subscription for that. :sweat_drops:

Audiovisual

My focus is on reading, so I don’t have specific plans regarding TV shows. Still, it would be good to watch some Korean and Japanese TV series, possibly some Chinese, too (with subs where possible).

I’m not sure I’d get much out of watching Thai shows at this point unless I prepped using frequency lists, subs2srs, or something similar. :thinking:

Book Clubs

Try to keep up! :melting_face:

Korean

Novels

The intensive reading I’ve been doing with Week 5 of 소리를 보는 소년 👁👂 Korean Fiction Book Club 🇰🇷 has been really rewarding, so I’d like to continue with that method, at least for book clubs.

I’d like to read (non-book club books) more regularly, and actually finish the books that I’ve started… :sweat_smile: Especially the ones with audiobooks available on Storytel. I’d also like to try web novels, since I’ve never really read any before.

Manhwa

Although I have been reading some manhwa/webtoons in Korean, I still read a lot of them in English out of habit and convenience. I’d like to change my reading habits and tip the scales in favour of Korean.

There’s also all the 만화경 series which I have barely made a dent in. This one even has a time limit, so I need to start reading in earnest! :sweat_smile:

Grammar

I made an anki deck of all the example sentences and conversations from the intermediate and advanced volumes of Korean Grammar in Use (series) | L0-27, so I’ve started working through that. It should take about 3 months to do the intermediate cards - I’m fairly comfortable with most of the intermediate grammar points, so this is just to solidify my knowledge. Advanced may take longer, since I’m studying most of the grammar for the first time. It would be nice to complete the series in 2024. :smile:

Japanese

Graded Readers

My goal is to finish all the tadoku series (I’ve read most of them):

After that I can take a break from graded readers for a while and just focus on native content.

Novels

I’d like to read some children’s novels in the L20-26 range; some with the 🥳 Children's Book Club 📚 Next: ふしぎ駄菓子屋 銭天堂, but also some on my own. I’m sure I’ll also attempt other types of novels - BC or not - but I’d at least like to become comfortable reading children’s novels.

Manga

I’d like to read through more of my physical manga (I have plenty, after all! :rofl:), as well as reading the freebies on BookWalker and MangaZ. Like Korean, I just need to shift the balance so I’m reading a greater percentage of manga in Japanese.

Grammar

Working my way through an anki deck of grammar sentences pulled from various sources. I’m almost done with N4, so I’ll just keep chugging along…

Chinese

Graded Readers

I’m enjoying the Rainbow Bridge Graded Readers, so I’m planning to read all the ones I’ve purchased… And then buy some more? :laughing: I’ll also continue making my way through the free stories on Little Fox Chinese and Mandarin Bean.

Novels

I’ve started 撒野, and although there are a lot of lookups, it has been enjoyable so far. I’m learning the vocab by frequency using anki, so hopefully it’ll get easier as time goes on. I’m quite happy to just slowly make my way through the story, however long that will take.

Handwriting

I don’t plan on writing in Chinese, but I think learning to write the characters will help with memorisation and recognition. I’ve got grooved copybooks which cover the characters learned in grades 1-6 (and, of course, pens with disappearing ink :writing_hand:).

I’ve started working through the characters: the rules of stroke orders make it easy to guess how a character is written (I check on http://www.strokeorder.info/) and out of the couple of hundred characters I’ve learned so far, I’ve only needed to double check a handful to remind me of the stroke order (I say “learned”; I’m not writing them from memory yet).

So the plan is to just continue through the books, which cover about 2800 characters. Sadly I couldn’t find something similar for traditional characters, so I may have to make my own reference sheets for those.

Grammar

I’ve got an anki deck of example sentences from the Chinese Grammar Wiki, which should cover most HSK grammar. Once I’ve made my way through most of the deck, I’m planning to get a good reference book, possibly Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar or 博客來-當代中文語法點全集(二版).

Thai

Maanee

The Maanee books helped children learn to read and write back in the 70s-90s, and covers the first six years of education. The PDFs are available online for free.

I’ve started the first book, and I’m really loving it so far! :heart_eyes: Each chapter introduces a few letters, followed by words made using those letters (and ones you’ve learned in previous chapters), then a short story, again using only the letters that have been learned so far. The first half of the first book also uses spaces between words so it’s easier to read.

The plan for this is pretty simple: just keep working through the Maanee textbooks. I don’t really have plans for after that because I’m sure it’ll take me a while, although I do have a few textbooks (in Korean! :rofl:) and some novels I picked up second-hand for later.

Novels

It’s a bit premature, but I had a look for the well-known BL author JittiRain’s works and it looks like I would be able to listen and read concurrently quite easily. Technology is great. :face_holding_back_tears: :heart:

Handwriting

I don’t plan to write in Thai, it’s just an aid for memorisation. Although it is fun! :laughing:

I’ve been using a grooved copybook + pen with disappearing ink to practice individual letters, and writing out the sentences from the Maanee stories.

Typing

I would love to actually finish learning to touch type in Thai! :persevere: It would make dictionary lookups and google searches so much easier. I’ll make the effort to practice daily until I’ve finished the lessons, then I’ll work on bringing my typing speed up to the same level as Korean and English (~70wpm).

7 Likes