📚 bibliothecary's bibliophilia 📚

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:de: German

I’m listening to a few different translations for the 🧙 Multilingual Harry Potter Book Club 🪄 Home Thread (:kr: :de: :norway: :jp:), which has prompted me to read some more in German.

I’m currently reading through the https://learnnatively.com/series/4799fb9624/ books, which are a comfortable level for me and pretty fun. The free audiobooks on Spotify are abridged, so I’ll listen to them after finishing each volume. The author also has another similar series, https://learnnatively.com/series/5c7bd15ba1/, which I may have to check out at some point. So there’s your unicorn update! :unicorn:

No robot pandas (so far…), but I’m also reading through https://learnnatively.com/series/aebae69333/ along with the audiobooks. Again, they’re at a comfortable level and are fairly enjoyable, so I’ll probably continue on with the series. :deciduous_tree: :house:

I’ve also been listening to some Disney Hörbücher | Spotify, which are easy enough to follow if you’re familiar with the films.

I’m continuing with Hueber Lese-Novelas | L17??, which are short, easy graded readers with audio. I’m over halfway through the series, and although they’re not exactly thrilling, they don’t take long to read.

Since I’m enjoying listening to stories I’m familiar with (HP, Disney) while doing other things, I’ve also started listening to the audiobook for Buch 1 von 3: Der Herr der Ringe | L30?? (55 hours long!). It’s more difficult than the the other stories I’ve been listening to, but I can roughly follow it so far (2+ hours in and we haven’t even left the Shire yet). I’m considering this a preview of sorts, as I’m planning to read & listen concurrently at some point down the line. :eye: :fire: :ring:

:kr: Korean

I’ve only got a couple of episodes left of 나빌레라 | L27?? - I’ve been really enjoying it, although I have shed a few tears at parts… :smiling_face_with_tear:

I’ve got the first five volumes of 마법의 시간여행 | L20, which I’m reading after the German translations - currently I’m on the second book. :slightly_smiling_face:

TTFN!! :tiger2:

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Quick question, where did you manage to find them? I’ve been attempting to buy the books, or even ebooks or audiobooks, either one, but I can’t find them anywhere that’ll let me do that from outside of South Korea.

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I buy most of my (new) Korean books from Books on Korea

They sell them individually or in box sets. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Thank you! They have so many books! I even found the full set of all the 이상한 과자 가게 전천당 books there, plus the series’ guide.

It’s like this website is built to bleed me dry however. That price, plus shipping and potentially customs… So I can see why I hadn’t looked much at their website before, the shipping is expensive (I’m sure that some stores have even more ridiculous shipping fees, but still, it comes out to around $20 per kilogram for me at best). Also, do you know if there are often some customs fees to pay in addition to the shipping fees?

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The ebooks are available on Google Play, which is probably cheaper. :slightly_smiling_face:

Yeah, the shipping is a bit frustrating, because although they use DHL, they don’t seem to follow DHL’s shipping prices - rather, they seem to charge per item. I would buy so much more from there if they calculated shipping correctly. :sob:

I’ve never had to pay any (in the UK), but these things vary by country. :woman_shrugging:

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Speaking of Germany:

What you pay is called import VAT. It usually is the same rate that you‘d pay if you bought the book at home, so that buying it somewhere else doesn’t mean an advantage or disadvantage.

At Amazon.jp e.g. you have to pay it together with the book. So it seems that there is no tax at all, but it is hidden in the invoice. That’s why their packages usually get through without much problems. Sometimes customs want to see that invoice just to make sure Amazon did it right, then they wave it through anyway.

At other firms, like e.g. CDJapan you can choose between them collecting it for you, or you paying it at customs. I choose to pay at costumes directly as CD Japan does not seem to know that books have a reduced tax rate in Germany.

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I don’t mean to necro a 10 month old post, but where did you find that? I can’t find any Japanese dubbed western shows online (I did find some dubbed movies at one point, but I can’t remember where). It’s hard enough to find live-action Japanese shows. I’ve been stuck almost exclusively watching anime for listening practice.

Also,

8vrnba

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It has been a while… :sweat_smile:

Life kinda hit me like a truck and I went MIA! :truck: :melting_face:
I just checked and it’s been <4 months, but it feels like a year! :sob:
Glad to see some of the book clubs have been adopted and kept going!
And the regulars are still around! :hugs:
I haven’t done any language stuff in the time I’ve been gone, so let’s hope all that learning didn’t just tumble out of my brain… :rofl:
It’ll take a while for me to catch up on what’s been going on, but it’s nice to be back again! :dancer:

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oh my god

now to go read your post

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Wow, it really does feel longer than 3 months. Glad to have you back!!! I hope real life is treating you well these days. :open_mouth:

We’re all good here. o7 Children’s Club is taking a little longer break and 癒し系 is on a shorter one, but nothing’s been abandoned for sure. ^o^

Nah, I figure that even if it takes your brain a second to click back into gear, it’s all still sitting there, waiting for you~

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Nods.

I had just wishlisted a book yesterday that you had also wishlisted and was like “aw I miss @bibliothecary”. Welcome back! :blush:

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Oh my!! You’re back!!! Welcome back!! :hugs:

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Thanks, guys! Oh how I’ve missed you all! :heart_eyes: :heart:

Very late reply, but Netflix has quite a few English-language shows dubbed in foreign languages!

I’m approaching language learning again with a much more laid-back attitude. Although part of me wants to be very disciplined about studying and reaching goals, I’ve realised that I’m not currently able to work that way. Rather than feeling disappointed, I might as well embrace the freedom of just doing what I want, when I want.

a bit more detail

After a lot of reflection and discussion with some lovely mental health professionals, I’ve realised that I’m neurodivergent. Although I don’t have a label (and I’m not sure I want one), this does explain why I struggle to make my brain do what I tell it. :sweat_smile:

It’s taken this long to realise because I’m apparently very good at pretending to be a normo neurotypical. On the rare occassion I’d share that I was struggling, I’d be told I “just wasn’t trying hard enough”, a message I had internalised and repeated to myself whenever my brain had trouble with something.

Now it feels like I’ve looked up to see that the door I’ve been trying to push all these years has a sign saying “pull”! :confounded:

I feel slightly vindicated that the problem wasn’t that I was lazy/not trying hard enough, but that my brain just works a bit differently than I (and others) assumed. It seems obvious now that pushing myself past my limits to make others happy and appear “normal”, even at the expense of my mental/physical health, is proof that I was giving everything I had… :sob:

So now I’m experimenting to see what strategies can help me accomplish things that were difficult for me previously and generally trying to be more aware of, and respecting, my limits. Which means I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself to get back into study mode with languages for the foreseeable future.

BL is always a good place to start, so I might dive back into some TV series and manga. Maybe some easy books as well. :smile:

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Just some thoughts from me, glad you're doing well

I’m glad you were able to take some time and the opportunity to take a step back for some self-discovery. :heart: Although, if I may say, I’m not too surprised a diagnosis of neurodivergent is being talked about; I figured something was up with the absolutely huge number of languages you’d taken on yourself and how you always seemed to be at 150%. Not to say there’s anything wrong with that at all, but I feel like that’s more effort than most can/want to keep up with unless there’s something going on in the background, and there are enough people on the forum who also identify as neurodivergent in one way or another for some common patterns to slowly show themselves.

Anyway, I hope you’re able to find a happier and healthier balance for yourself; if there’s any way I can help, whether it be as a listener or helping run book clubs and such on here, or whatever, just let me know!

And on that note, I bet you can find some good advice from friends on the forum if you ever need it! I know there’s been some discussion in the listening challenge threads from ADHD peeps, all discussing what works for them to get the most out of their listening, for example.

I definitely don’t want to add to your pressure right off the bat, but I can highly recommend the current BL pick, 僕らの食卓! It’s a wonderful little 癒し系, and pretty easy to read to boot. (Plus the original story is just a single volume, so you can do a one-and-done with no worry.) Don’t worry about catching up with/keeping up with the schedule at all; just wanted to toss it on your radar!

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Yes, the clues were there, weren’t they? :rofl:

Aww, thank you! :heart_eyes:
I really appreciate you taking over the clubs in my absence. :heart:

BL family 癒し系, my favourite niche genre! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
And I already own the first volume, so it’s a definite possibility! :grin:

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I'm also one of the not normies 😂

It’s me! I’m one of them.
I have a confirmed ADHD diagnosis and haven’t bothered to get a formal ASD diagnosis but work with a therapist who treats me as if I do have both and it’s been the best help I’ve had ever.

Happy to share anything you’re wondering about my journey, what works for me, and any advice, etc. Simply learning that I was different changed everything enormously, but there’s also a lot that goes into living with the realization that you’ve been trying to squeeze a square piece into a round hole this whole time, and there are square holes that people never bothered telling you about. Anyway, happy to have you back, happy you are making these really important discoveries about yourself, and happy that it sounds like you have a good team in place to support you. :blush:

Me too. The art is a delight and it’s sweeter than sugar. Highly recommend it, even if you’re not joining the club.

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Just some of my own thoughts and glad you’re doing a bit better

I have a confirmed ASD diagnosis from earlier this year after almost 4 decades of thinking I was any number of words other people use to describe ASD and other non-neurotypical people.

It can be challenging but hopefully knowing, you now have a way to puzzle things out to a more manageable level and have less pressure to match others and just learn to be your best version of you, and however you interact with the world. I still find it difficult several months on from my diagnosis but one thing I will say is Be kind to yourself.

If you ever want to talk, I’m happy to listen even if I can’t physically help, sometimes just sharing can be a help and make things a bit easier. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Weee! Welcome back! I was honestly worried something had happened to you, considering the abrupt disappearance from the forum. I’m glad it’s ``just’’ (heavy quotation marks) burnout.

It’s always funny to see how many people in the language learning community are neurodivergent. I got diagnosed with ADHD a couple of years ago, waaaay too late in life.
(Unrelated to this thread but, in my case, it’s due to a borked dopamine receptor, so just taking medicine fixed the problem, which makes my experience not exactly useful in the general case, but maybe I should still check the listening challenge thread, then, if there are discussions on ADHD over there)

Me three. 種 (the kid) is the cutest bean and the story is extremely sweet indeed.

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Neurodivergents Assemble! :superhero: :laughing:

Thanks for all the kind words everyone, it really means a lot! :heart:
It’s comforting to know that there others who have similar experiences here. :hugs:

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