68% throughマリみて 3. Haven’t been timing myself, but do wish I was reading faster (what else is new lol). I unlocked almost all the words in jpdb deck… Which I’ve consequently been ignoring, and reading the book instead (but that initial round was helpful)
My comprehension feels pretty variable. Sometimes it’s perfect, sometimes I read it, but it just doesn’t quote connect, and then I look at the translation and go “oh, duh!”, sometimes I just straight up get it wrong.
I think reading along and checking translation has been a good and bad thing. It’s very helpful for ensuring I understand correctly, but I’ve also gotten lazier about understanding things b/c I can just look at the translation, if it doesn’t auto-compute. It’s also disruptive to constantly go back and forth. So maybe I’ll try the rest of the chapter without translation, and only look over it at the end?
In general my comprehension misses are either:
I got the context wrong
I missed obvious grammar
I just wasn’t focusing (including accidentally skipping a sentence or two )
I’m getting a bit better with number 2, I think.
My lookups count has definitely been lower as the book has gone on. Tho I think I’m gonna stop highlighting stuff now, so I can speed things up a bit.
I’d really love to get to a point where I can finish 1 volume per day. I wonder if I’ll hit that point by the end of the series?
In other news I read 41% of 百合姫 2025年2月号 | L26?? earlier, and got through most of it with few lookups. The fantasy stuff is the main pain point there. Especially わたおし - I looked up more in there than I do in a few pgs in まりみて. Still tho, it was a nice short break to read some comics at magazine size.
I flipped to reading the whole section of the chapter first, no more highlighting, and checking the translation afterwards. I’m at 82% now.
It’s definitely a much nicer reading experience, and doing okay enough for comprehension (I’m also in a simpler section of the story), but I’m not sure it’s the best for learning.
So I’ll fiddle around with it more. But in any case, no more highlighting!
Finished マリみて 3, started 4 - but making myself do the jpdb deck too. There’s a lot more unfamiliar vocab this time around! No highlights allowed
Read slightly slower in lesson today (.28/min, 16.8/hr), but still at a decent speed. I tried putting the text size down 1 level, and it did feel a bit nicer, but maybe it wasn’t actually beneficial? Then again, I did hit a bunch of vocab + places where I had trouble parsing words, and also a few sentences I had to reread to get the meaning of… sometimes I just move on, but I really wanted to understand this section. (And checking afterwards, I got all but 1 paragraph correct)
Also had a funny moment with the word 両刀 trying to puzzle it out (and I guessed the answer from prior knowledge), only to have it explained literally the next sentence! I feel like that sorta thing happens to me a lot 笑. Rereading this section gave me flashbacks to the anime scenes, and made me think that my comprehension has definitely improved since then
Trying to speak in lesson was frustrating, both in a “I forgot this obvious word” (literally couldn’t think of 少なく), “I can almost put this together, but just not there yet”, and “I have something deeper I want to say, but it’s way beyond my ability” sense… I hate resorting to English, so I try not to - but then I end up just awkwardly not saying things (which I already do in English )
I think my next in-lessons book will be 花物語 上 | L39 since it’s just harder enough (lvl is probably around L31?), and different enough linguistically from anything else I’m reading, and it doesn’t have a full translation. So it meets my “something I can’t do on my own” criteria. Plus it’s short stories - so the pacing doesn’t matter too much. I’m really curious to see how it compares to マリみて, since it’s from the 1910s-20s
I’ve noticed this a lot too, lol. Especially in kids books, but enough in LNs too that I’ve been trying to read a little bit farther without immediate lookups lately.
I do that sometimes, but it’s easy to misunderstand things, and then have to reread them cuz of it. Sometimes it’s that one word I didn’t get that throws me off for the next few sentences.
Still it’s a bit affirming, like “oh ok this wasn’t something I was supposed to know already”
Rereading わたゆり(私の百合はお仕事です! | L27) again. Finished 3/13. Still some lookups, and more importantly still some times I have to check the translation. This is my 3rd time reading it, so that’s disappointing, but it’s like spot-checking now - much less than last time I read it, in July 2024
In fact I’d say reading マリみて now feels similar to where I was then with わたゆり then. So that’s certainly progress! (Tho obviously a LN takes way more stamina than a manga - but that still felt like it took some stamina back then)
マリみて 4 deck was killing me earlier!! A lot of unexpected vocab, some new kanji, stuff like that. Anyway I pushed through it, unlocked a ton of words, and now I’m at 82.6% known (4394/5318), 94.1% coverage - which actually is better than where I was with deck 2 (Vocab 3706/4684 (79.1%), Coverage 92.9, Learning 533, Remaining 445). I’m definitely liking this strategy of just blowing open as many words as a time as I can. Right now my Learning is 764 words (tho I’m guessing about 75 or so of those will disappear in this coming round, bc I just unlocked them indiscriminately)
Looking at deck 5, I’m already at 76.6% Known (3868 / 5043), 93.3% coverage, and the deck has ~300 less word in total. I’m not even halfway through book 4 yet, and that will be my highest starting percentage so far. So I should be in pretty good shape, when I start it on Saturday/Sunday
マリみて reading speed & comprehension
Anyway, I ended up timing reading speed today, and varied btwn .21 pgs/min to .53 pgs/min. The .21 was when I was getting tired and my back was hurting, my next lowest after that was .29/min. Meaning my reading speed is faster than for マリみて 1 - which makes sense… Reading outloud, plus asking questions about vocab should be slower
I’m not sure why, but I’ve felt much more confident while reading this, and have felt much less need to check the translation at all
dictionaries
I’ve been thinking on the difference btwn 大辞泉 JP-JP dictionary and Akebi. One of my goals is to be able to read definitions in JP-JP dictionaries comfortably. However, I’m not sure that doing this while reading is actually a good way to achieve this goal (certainly it has been helpful). Nor is it necessarily beneficial for reading comprehension.
With JP-JP dictionaries, for any entry it means I’m reading at least 1 sentence. With JP-EN dictionaries (Akebi), most of the time I’m reading 1-2 concise words (maybe a few more) that immediately give me the info I’m looking for. When the JP definition is immediately comprehensible, it’s great, but otherwise it’s just kinda an unnecessary use of brain power. There’s already enough sentences in the thing I’m reading lol. So I don’t really feel bad about dropping stuff right into Akebi (tho I could drop into Takoboto, which has both, but a less compact search results display)
I’m looking forward to the Kindle getting here on Sunday, bc I’ll be able to sideload dictionaries. So I can see if there’s more comprehensible JP-JP, and I can get rid of the aggravating JP-EN (which shows example sentences, but not definitions, and often just doesn’t have words???). It would be great if I don’t have to pull up so many words on my phone (tho I’m fast enough at that).
Anyway like anything else, I think the way to get better at reading the dictionary is… to read the thing itself. And I’m not convinced that reading the dictionary while I’m reading another book is particularly optimal. That’s not to say my conclusion is “don’t use the JP-JP dictionary”. It’s just kinda food for thought. Otoh I’m not sure I’ll really sit down and read the dictionary at any point… Maybe if I put it on my kotarau and just randomly open it, instead of idling on my phone
Also I’m getting deja-vue, I feel like I’ve written this exact same revelation before, in this learning log
マリみて 4 is done. A lot of it felt easy, but other parts I needed to check, and there were some parts that I skimmed in the last 1/4, bc it was a ton of really specific to New Years stuff (including a rare household custom) that I didn’t need to get bogged down in. I had the same issue with that section in the anime.
Onto 5. This time I just decided to unlock all the words in the deck.
Stats: 86.2% Known, 96.2% Coverage, 695 Learning 82.6% Known, 94.2% Coverage, 875 Learning (I turned off the thing that disables WaniKani words)
Finished YH February - was nice. Jpdb words showed up in some of the comics. Has me wondering if I should pick 伽藍の姫 -がらんのひめ- | L25 back up again. Still couldn’t motivate myself to read the Android-sex one, and I think I’m fine with that. Maybe after I’m done with マリみて I should spend sometime with a deck for わたおし, cuz that’s one of the hardest manga in there for me, in terms of vocab. But that’s probably gonna be a few months anyway…
I’m not following the connection, but I actually just removed sentences (that I had added) from the names & proper nouns deck, b/c they were pissing me off
I already forgot about the handwriting thing anyway lol… so thx for the reminder
Writing a whole sentence is too hard, so if out of your sentences you only have one kanji per card it could alleviate that difficulty. But that only is in the case that you wanted to keep the sentence cards and it sounds like you already ditched them
Ohhhh I see - you’re saying sentences w/ 1 kanji-word per sentence? Interesting. It’s not really that writing a whole sentence is too hard. It’s that writing a collection of whole sentences - particularly from a light novel - is hard, and probably not productive (for me, right now) b/c of too many different kanji-words w/ too little repetition. That’s a good suggestion tho, thx!
I think if I do anything with sentences, it will be from anime episodes, cuz I’ve done that b4 & enjoyed it (idk how committed I am to hand writing things in the first place, if I’m being honest…)
I got a Kindle, and wow it makes reading sooooo much easier!! Since it handles inflections properly, I literally don’t have to even look at my phone, and switching back and forth btwn the JP-JP and JP-EN dictionaries is really easy - the formatting/presentation is much clearer too!!
62% through マリア様がみてる 5 ウァレンティーヌスの贈り物〈前編〉 | L29 - so I can probably/hopefully finish it tonight. I’ve been doing a lot more “just reading” - but there’s definitely sections I don’t quite get 100% when I do that - sometimes that’s fine, but I think when I get to book 7 I’ll go back to reading more intensively (the first season of the anime covers through book 6, and I’ve been pushing to get past that. Otoh vol 12 and onwards I really want to be sure I’m understanding everything - since that’s where the story really starts to get exciting for me!!
Anyway while my comprehension may not be perfect, this has been my smoothest reading experience with high comprehension. And especially now with the Kindle, it feels like I can just go on reading, without pushing myself. It definitely feels like they they are getting easier for me to understand, as I get further into the series.
I feel a little guilty that I’m basically only reading this, and わたゆり between volumes (while I’m I take a day or so to do jpdb). But I also feel like I can maintain this and finish all 37 volumes. Right now it’s taking me 2-4 days per novel, so with 32 novels left, that’s 2-3 months, and it feels very sustainable - which is exciting
Finshed マリみて 5! Final jpdb count was 83.1% Known, 94.79% overage, and learning 850 words. Starting point for マリみて 6 is 73.6% Known, 91.9% Coverage, Learning 419 Words (334 of which are current reviews). So I’ll probly want a day or two to go through the deck first, and read another volume or two of わたゆり first. (Also as much as I wanna just go straight into book 6, I emotionally need at least a little break, after that volume!)… but knowing me, I might just start it tonight anyway
At this point, I’m planning to drop/delay Silent Witch book club, until I’m through マリみて - I don’t really wanna switch gears between the two, especially since Silent Witch will probly be reasonably harder. I just wanna focus on マリみて till I’m through with it. I’ll keep 徒然日和 1 | L21 since it’s a really light read. Idk about the non-fiction or CLAMP clubs - will depend on my mood. At the very least, I’ll catch up with them after the series is done
It’s fantasy tho, so that’s additional difficulty.
It’s not the level I’m worried about per se. It’s that I don’t want to divide my attention/energy been 2 things around this level, bc I really want to focus on マリみて.
Fair enough. I think that’s usually built into the level to an extent, but it really does depend on who’s grading the book. I read fantasy in both English and Japanese, so a L31 fantasy novel would be much easier for me than say a L31 mystery novel (a genre I don’t really read). Hopefully as you read more fantasy it becomes less of an issue though!
I suppose to an extent… I’m realizing all the fantasy LNs I’ve read (except 2) are L30+, so that maybe have skewed my perception, as I haven’t read as many L30+ 日常 works. But with manga I find there’s usually a noticeable difference depending on the genre.
I’m assuming same here… Which makes me want to try one (eventually) to find out
I’m sure it will. Especially now that I’ve picked up doing SRS regularly - that’s really helping a lot w/ vocab acquisition, which is my main challenge with fantasy.
Finished マリア様がみてる 1 | L29 in lesson, literally just in time for the end of the lesson! Fastest reading speed as well (.44 pgs/min, 26.4/hr) - which is in line w/ my silent reading speed. Reading the future volumes definitely helped w/ some vocab.
I’ll finish マリア様がみてる 6 ウァレンティーヌスの贈り物〈後編〉 | L29 tonight or tomorrow morning, and then I’ll be done with the S1 volumes (yay). This one has actually been the most enjoyable to read (it’s light and fun mostly). I’m yet again way ahead of the jpdb deck (81.7% Known, 94.8% Coverage, Learning 446), and I have a feeling I’ll just go into Book 7 at this point. So I wonder if I should just switch it to frequency or something, or whether I should switch to an anime-related deck instead… especialy 薬屋のひとりごと will be really hard. For now I’ll continue as usual tho!
My teacher said I’m reading and comprehending at close to native speed… which is cool. I’ve definitely still got a ways to go with that though, and I’m really pushing myself when I do it in lessons. Also I think reading out loud helps with the comprehension (tho it’s tiring), cuz I feel a lot more confident in lessons… Or maybe it’s just the section of the book I was in? Now that I think about it, I haven’t been talking along to anime much lately - so I should start doing that again.
(but that initial round was helpful)
