Luna's Learning Log

Japanese
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Whoops, I should’ve commented on the post. Sorry about that!

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2024年5月15日

クラスで2番目に可愛い女の子と友だちになった

I put everything down to read クラスで2番目に可愛い女の子と友だちになった6 | L26 and it’s going very smoothly… tho I’ve been reading it so obsessively that it’s cutting into my sleep (which in turn affects my reading :sweat_smile:). Overall, it feels like my reading speed has been very steady… and also like it’s still not fast enough 笑. It will be nice someday when I can read faster… Maybe I’ll lose less sleep 笑

Anyway sleep deprivation aside, despite having a good amount of lookups, it mostly feels comfortable and similar to reading things in English, and I’m definitely internalizing some of the repeat vocab. I’ve been reading it on my phone, which is clearer resolution and faster than my tablet, and I wonder if that’s part of why it feels so comfy (since it’s less disruptive)… I don’t actually think that’s why, but it’s probably contributing. Mostly it’s that, even when I get a bit confused, the sentences don’t feel hard… It certainly helps that this is the 6th volume in the series, so I’m very used to the author. I’ve also definitely improved a lot at speaker identification, thanks to all the manga I read lol

The story been really excellent so far, and things have really opened up in a way I wasn’t expecting. The tension that was teased in the previous epilogue also came up… but took a very different course than I was expecting, which I’m glad about (bc as much my brain is low-key craving some NTR/cheating stuff rn, I’d be pretty sad if this story went that way. Respectful 片思い (with some unconscious 距離を縮まっちゃった) is most welcome (not to mention something I can relate to :upside_down_face:)… The next chapter of 今日はカノジョがいないから 1 | L22 should be out soon anyway :stuck_out_tongue: )

Also this book might be the only time I’ve seen the kanji form of からかう: 揶揄う

I might join the 魔女の宅急便 | L25. I’m really curious to see how an unfamiliar L25 novel feels at this point. I need to catch up with 薬屋のひとりごと 2 first tho!! And of course get back to everything else I’m reading 笑

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What does this mean, out of curiosity?

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Oops that should have said 距離を縮める (closing the gap/social distancing) :sweat_smile:

Basically one of the characters is getting a little too close to her best friend’s boyfriend without necessarily meaning to (acting before thinking sorta thing)

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Ah, makes sense. Thanks!

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I’m glad you asked!! Cuz I probably wouldn’t have realized it :sweat_smile:

Also I’m reading the afterword, and the author mentioned that they increased the number of rows per page from 17 to 18… So that plus the higher page count explains why this felt like it took longer than it should have…

There seems to be a 試し読み story after the afterword, by a different author… Which I’m not planning to read… So I guess I’ll have a slightly inflated page count :woman_shrugging: (not something I really pay attention to anyway)

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And I’ve discovered the author’s カクヨム (web novel site), which seems to have a looooot of stuff that didn’t make it into the novel… Including related to the plot tension I mentioned b4

This is amazing, and also really bad for me getting anything else done… also will be the first time I’ve felt properly able to read a web novel (the few I’ve tried like SAO have been too hard/overwhelming). In any case, I’m excited

There’s also no limit on how many characters I can copy at once (unlike Bookwalker)!! So that’s even easier to read now.

Update: well I “only” have another 26 chapters to go at this point… They’re not like full book chapters, so who knows, maybe I could manage to finish it by tonight. I’m feeling pretty tired out though, so I have a feeling that it will take till tomorrow night tomorrow night at earliest lol

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2024年5月17日

lesson progress

Had lessons the last 3 days… Which gave me a nice glimpse of my progress… Also reminder to self: I need to eat before lessons!!

Bocchi - I’m doing okay. I think this is the area I find myself asking the most questions. Some is vocab, but a lot is just context

堀さんと宮村くん - I did a lot better with this than I was expecting, also it was fun explaining the characters and broader story (we started 23 chapters in). I still needed help with making out a lot of the handwriting, especially the kanji tho. One thing I’m noticing is there’s a lot of words where I semi-remember, and I’ll guess at the reading, and often my first guess is right, but I doubt myself or make another guess or two.

Conversation - still my weakest point. I feel like I’m doing a bit better with expressing nuances, but my forms/conjugation are just all over the place. Still I feel like my comprehension has noticeably improved (but still has a ways to go). I’m slowly making myself ask “how do you say xyz” a bit more.

ongoing series

百合姫 - I’m reading 3 of the series in here, and maybe soon a 4th. So considering that + it’s monthly, and there’s probably a few more I could get into, it’s actually very worth the price for me. Otoh is sooooo frustrating waiting a month for the next chapter!!

ささ恋 is introducing a storyline that’s seemingly either シスコン or “I have feelings for my sister’s new girlfriend”, and I’m sooooo confused, and hoping it’s neither of those (I’m not inherently opposed to either, but they feel so out of left field here).

今日はカノジョがいないから went exactly where it looked like it was going, and I feel so bad for Nanase. I’m assuming it’s gonna develop into a both people are cheating story soon enough tho. I really wish they’d just break up, once Nanase discovers that Yuni completely shattered her promise, but that’s obviously not gonna happen anytime soon. I have such complicated feelings about this story, and it does make me wanna find other NTR Yuri (very selectively tho)

彩純ちゃんはレズ風俗に興味があります！ was ok. I liked last chapter a bit better. I mostly understood everything, but there’s one scene where I’m trying to understand whether she hooked up with her friend or not

I still haven’t finished reading the クラにか (クラスで2番目に可愛い女の子と友だちになった) web chapters. I’m on 271 out of 285. So I’m probably be done over the weekend. I’m anxiously anticipating the most recent chapters. Based on the name 彼女の涙, I have a feeling there’s gonna be some drama popping up (maybe the thing that’s been foreshadowed for a few volumes now)

novels

I read through a few pages of https://learnnatively.com/book/780211ae04/ with the audiobook, which I think has the same VAs as the anime! So far it seems pretty easy, despite the L28, but it’s been totally dialogue right now. I might continue with it once in don’t with the web novel chapters. If it does get substantially more difficult, I’ll probably put it on pause.

Also considering joining the 魔女の宅急便 1 | L25 book club, since that’s a good level for me, though I still need to catch up with 薬屋のひとりごと again, plus all the other stuff I was reading. It will be my first non-light novel and children’s book, if I do read it.

It’s interesting how many of my new reads are novels lately. That’s encouraging, cuz I did want to read more LNs this year, and one of my goals is to finish all the SAO novels (tho it didn’t really matter how long that takes). I’ve finished 27 LNs so far, but only 4 this year vs 21 last year. Otoh I’m at 217 manga vs 173 last year, and it’s not even half a year. So I’m waaaaaay ahead there.

anime

I started watching ガールズバンドクライ S1 | L24 and am reaaaaally hooked in. At first I was avoiding it bc of the CG, but it gets better over time, and the characters are so well done. Really great example of flawed, messy characters , who are generally good people. I especially relate to the older musician, having previously played in bands.

The big ささ恋 episode is this weekend, and I’m super excited!! 声優ラジオ was kinda meh. I’m thinking of starting 夜のクラゲは泳げない S1 | L28 soon.

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Tried out a few new series recently:

Reading/watching things I can just understand is soooooo nice. But also it’s kinda hard, cuz then I don’t want to go back to things I can’t automatically understand. Like having to start and stop & check EN subs with よるクラ felt really frustrating… but also it’s good learning material also only 2 eps in, but it’s soooooooo good!!

Also finished クラスで2番目に可愛い女の子と友だちになった | L26 web novel chapters, and restarting from the beginning, but not sure if I’ll stick with it.

Been thinking I wanna start working on output more… But it’s a bit tricky cuz idk how I want to do that. I do know I want it to involve writing. Think about transferring my reviews here into JP maybe

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Same.
Breezing through anime and books + audiobook that I want to watch/read (not just for language learning) has lowered my frustration tolerance for more difficult materials. I guess it’s time to find a struggle series again :sweat_smile:

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It’s usually more of a short term thing for me. I generally tend to go for stuff that’s slightly hard (like within a few levels of comfort), but then I’ll impulse read easier stuff (esp romance) to keep me going… Or randomly get interested in something harder.

It’s been really nice watching ささ恋 tho, cuz it’s one of the only shows I can naturally understand without subs that’s also interesting.

よるクラ is proving interesting, cuz some episodes are super hard, and then others I’ll only have to pause like 3 times… but definitely still need the subs

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Yeah I’m hoping to get bored with my level soon. Right now all of the text books I’m reading with audiobooks I can mostly just let the audio play and know well enough what’s happening to only stop a few times a chapter to look things up. It was only a few months ago that I was going sentence by sentence with the audiobook to look up multiple words a page. In a perfect world I’d want zero lookups, but that’s not how you learn, but I probably should start reading things that are giving me a bit more new vocab than my current books.

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I think even with zero lookups, there’s still things you learn. In any case, sounds like you’ve acquired a lot of vocab - that’s great!!

Good luck with figuring out the next book(s)

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2024年5月20日

Started 百合の間に挟まれたわたしが、勢いで二股してしまった話 | L29 (aka ゆりたま) after someone on Reddit recommended it to me, and I’m finding it surprisingly smooth. It’s got some very colorful vocab, but nothing that feels Hard. Also I love the author’s sense of humor and small wordplay. I understand most of the sentences correctly (I think), though some by intuition rather than proper comprehension.

But just like クラスで2番目に可愛い女の子と友だちになった | L26 I’m able to just be in the zone and read it, and it feels like it’s going at a decent pace. I should time it at some point, so I can have a more concrete idea of what that means.

Anyway I’m surprised that L29 doesn’t really feel any different than L26 so far. With manga, that would be a very substantial difference for me. It’s funny cuz I was hesitant to go on with 声優ラジオのウラオモテ #01 夕陽とやすみは隠しきれない? | L28 bc it’s L28, but I guess I don’t have to worry about it so much, esp since it has an audiobook.

There’s only 3 Vols of ゆりたま, so I’ll probly finish them first, and then pick up 声優ラジオ

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Finished Still Sick 1 | L25 - wasn’t crazy about it, and definitely wouldn’t have managed without checking the translation… which I feel really disappointed about. ゆりたま is still going decently though.

Started playing SAOIF again, and it’s interesting b/c the UI is extremely exhausting compared to FGO, but the story is much easier (still plenty to look up tho). That kinda makes sense… SAOIF is much more complicated in terms of gameplay, and FGO vocab is wild. Anyway, playing a bit here and there now, when I’m in the mood.

Saw 天空の城ラピュタ | L26 (EN subs) in theaters w/ my friend yesterday. It was interesting seeing how much I could understand without the subs, and what parts I needed subs for. On one hand, it’s nice I could understand as much as I did - and paying attention to the speech styles was nice. Otoh, I still couldn’t understand all of it - 悔しい lol

Been a little light on the reading the last few days… but will pick back up tonight and over the 4 day weekend :smiley:

他愛ないけど… I just realized 二股 (two-timing) is literally “2 thighs/crotches”, and that amused me for a moment :stuck_out_tongue:

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Started 鬼滅の刃 Hashira Training Arc | L30 … watched the 1st ep without stopping for lookups, since I had already seen it in theaters (there was still a decent amount that went over my head), and did decently with the 2nd episode. When I don’t get things, it’s either unknown vocab (which there’s a solid amount), or just that it’s simply too fast for me to actually process the grammar/meaning in real time. Double-checked the translation a few times here and there

Also 11% through 声優ラジオ book 1 and it’s going well. I’m reading with the Kindle app (bc Unlimited), and along to the audiobook. UI is annoying, but the JP-JP dictionary is sorta cool - it’s totally forgotten about that. The audiobook is by dwango, who I seriously don’t recommend, bc of their website and subscription model. It’s just under 9 hrs, so maybe I’ll manage to finish it over the weekend

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26% through 声優ラジオ 1. I remembered that Kindle app has unlimited highlights, so I’ve been highlighting lookups, and it’s about 1-3 per pg. Highest is 5 so far.

It’s convenient to have the audio, but also kind of annoying to start and stop it each time. Still it’s probably faster than if I was reading without. The audiobook is pretty good, but I am definitely never giving this company another 円 again.

One thing in noticing is that the don’t is a lot more legible on the Kindle app vs Bookwalker on my (low res) tablet… Which is making me consider using Kindle app for LNs more in the future, if I don’t want to read on my phone

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Watched a few eps of ヒロインたるもの！〜嫌われヒロインと内緒のお仕事〜 | L22, which I last watched in November (half a year ago) - audio only. I’m not catching everything, but I’m catching most of it, and unlike last time, in not checking the subtitles at all / don’t really feel the need to. It’s really refreshing story wise (and also funny)

I’ve gotten bored with ゆりたま, but will still try to finish. On and off bored with 声優ラジオ, bc it’s identical to the anime so far, with no additional depth+credit to the anime for a good job here). If I hadn’t tortured myself to get the audiobook, I’d probably drop it rn, but I paid money for it, so I’m totally committed to finishing it now. In any case they’re both good vocab acquisition for me.

I started on 魔女の宅急便 - 8 pgs in, and honestly it’s kind of challenging. I have about 5-7 lookups per page, which is probably comparable to 声優ラジオ, after accounting for lines per page, and font size. Also the significantly lower proportion of kanji makes it really tricky for me, since it’s harder to parse. So it’s a good challenge. That said, idk if I’ll really stick with it… Kinda been bouncing around a lot lately

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Rewatched all of ガールズバンドクライ S1 | L24 today, and understood it much better, with a moderate amount of pausing. Still things I was getting by intuition rather than comprehension… but either way, I’m glad I did that, it was nice reinforcement.

Gonna try getting back to 月姫 and ツバサ tonight… debating on whether to put my pc keyboard back to romaji input mode, instead of kana input… I got the stickers for it, but it’s so frustrating being a slow typer still lol… like JP is hard enough as it is lol

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I got further into ツバサ (on 25/28), and my reading speed seems to have picked up a bit from last time (about 40 for the volume I timed). Comprehension still isn’t perfect, particularly with the more abstract parts. I honestly really wanna be done with the story at this point. Maybe it’s bc I’ve already read and watched it before, or maybe I’m just moody rn, but I’m just kinda tired of it at this point.

Decided to drop 魔女の宅急便 1 | L25. I’m reading too many things, wanna focus on finishing more of them. Well tbh I want to drop half of those, but I’m gonna push myself through them.

Also decided to drop 薬屋のひとりごと 2 | L38 for now. Too much effort for now, and I wanna focus on more easily accessible reads. Maybe after I finish 声優ラジオ and ゆりたま I’ll pick it back up.

Watched some YouTube vids of impressions about the latest ガルクラ episode + some documentary/interview stuff of トゲナシトゲアリ, and I think my comprehension was probably around 80% overall? Whatever the actual number, it definitely felt better than in the past.

I’ve been looking up tweets/posts/comments on the lastest ep bc I’m wondering how JP ppl are reacting to the 告白 scene. Some of them are a bit hard to parse, but overall it feels a lot less disorienting than when I’ve previously tried to do that sorta thing. I think I’ll try to do more of this sorta targeted searching in the future.

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