Mako's Learning Log 🦋

Japanese
1

いらっしゃいませ！ :butterfly:

I’ll be starting my Japanese learning log today.

Hello, my nickname is Makochou101, which I use across different Japanese learning platforms. Feel free to call me Mako.

Why this name?

It is a combination of Makoto and Kochou. Both are meanings to my real name Vanessa. Makoto, as a Japanese name for “honesty”. Vanessa can have the same meaning. As well as “butterfly” which is the reason why my parents have given me this name. And I chose the Japanese word “kochou” as translation for that.
The 101 is a reference to the platform JapanesePod101.com that I’m using for over a decade now in different intensities, different subscriptions and with different study methods :smiley:

In the last couple of months I have read through some of the existing learning logs and it really got me motivated.

I use my Mastodon account on fedibird to post my reading updates and 感想 in Japanese to practise my output. Sometimes I also talk about my goals or study habits but not as regularly as I would like. To be honest, I sometimes struggle with writing or even before that with the thought of “I have to write it in Japanese”.

That’s why I’m trying my own learning log starting today. 宜しくお願いします :bowing_woman:

Current level

I can comfortably read around L28. Comfortably for me means I check some vocabularies but can also read through some pages without checking unknown words and still understand most of the story. If I want to understand the details or a lot of specific new vocabularies come in, that’s when I check a lot in an online dictionary.

I have passed JLPT N3 some years ago and am currently loosely aiming for N2.

I love Kanji so I also try on the Kanji Kanken Test. There I have passed level 5 this year, meaning I can read, write and understand about 1000 kanji characters.

Recab on my language journey
  • 2006 First encounter with Japanese through the manga magazine DAISUKI that was published in Germany. They started a Japanese study series and I fell in love with the writing system. It felt like some sort of secret code for me so I wanted to learn it. The more lessons were published the more I though I should not start studying on my own but get a teacher, so I started at an adult education centre. That was a bit troubling as I was only 15 years old and you needed to be at least 16 years old, but I found some school where they let me attend.
  • 2007 Starting high school with the possibility to attend Japanese classes at a neighbour school. I also was able to choose Japanese as part of my final exams (Abitur).
  • 2010 Enrolled in university and officially studying Japanese next to computational linguistics. Because of my language level at that time I was able to directly jump into the third semester, though I needed to pass all the written exams from the first and second semester as well, as well as attending some first semester course additionally
  • 2015 Joining a private adult education centre focusing solely on Japanese. So I went there once or twice a week after my work. I did send out job applications for Japanese after studying, but did join a company because of computational linguistics. So at that time I hardly had any Japanese practice at work
  • 2016 I stopped attending the private adult education centre because of moving places and upgraded my subscription on Japanesepod101.com to get a private online tutor there. Slowly started reading novels.
  • 2022 Stopping the private online tutor.
  • 2023 Since end of the year I started having Japanese customers at work and was involved in meetings for interpreting Japanese ↔ English.
  • 2024 I created an iTalki account and worked on my business Japanese going through publicly available marketing materials to focus on the vocabulary that I needed for my customer communications (IT, sales, product development, …)
Study strategies

I have encountered and tried out a lot of different means in my language journey so far and I’m still evaluating every now and then if there is something new fitting better to my circumstances, interests etc.

For reference I will loosely gather them here in no particular order

  • Flashcards
    • on paper
    • Kanji flashcard desktop program (wakan?)
    • Anki
  • Vocabulary learning with the goldlist method
  • JapanesePod101.com
  • Listening to Japanese podcasts
    • Shadowing
    • … (tbc)
  • Text books
    • Minna no nihongo
    • … (tbc)
  • Satori Reader
  • Bunpro
  • “Kanji Study” app
  • Kanji writing practice
    • on paper
    • on reusable Bambook paper
    • on Lenovo’s smart paper
  • Study with me sessions on on a Japanese learning Discord Server
  • Tracking reading stats here on learnnatively.com
  • Writing posts about what I read in Japanese on fedibird.com
  • Playing visual novel stories in Japanese
  • Playing Pokémon in Japanese
  • Checking other persons study methods on YT, learnnatively etc
    • Special interest in how some polyglots study
  • Watching anime and dramas
    • on Crunchyroll
    • on Netflix
  • Reading native content
    • mostly (light) novels
    • sometimes mangas
Goals

My motivation to keep on learning Japanese next to the part that I simply enjoy studying Japanese most of the time itself, are

  • read the light novel マリア様がみてる series, so I know how the story proceeds where the last anime season stops — I’m just reaching this point!
  • be able to read the (light) novels I want to read
  • have Japanese customers and be able to communicate with them freely
  • give a speech on a conference and or fair in Japan in Japanese one day. If it is a multilingual conference, interpret oneself with English/German — I once watched someone interpreting himself and this was the utmost coolest thing! It still gives me goosebumps

ごきげんよう！ :sunflower:

20 Likes
2

明けましておめでとうございます！

I’ve finished my introduction post (good thing, it can be edited so often :joy:) and will now start with some updates.

Just in time for my 2024 stats I’ve finished 聖女の魔力は万能です 9 カド | L28 on 31st of December and so have read 5 books in total last year. Yey :slight_smile:

A friend brought 鏡の孤城 | L28 for me when she was visiting in Japan. We met after Christmas so I got a new present to read.

I usually read 2-4 books simultaneously. Both because everything is so interesting and I can’t hold myself back from starting a new book and because I can easily switch when I’m stuck. So the books I’m currently reading are

  • 鏡の孤城 | L28
    • I often saw this book in bookclubs, on wish or reading lists and became interested in reading it myself. Luckily the level fits with what I feel comfortable with.
  • マリア様がみてる 28 フレームオブマインド | L29
    • I started reading in Japanese because of this story. And finally I’m where the last anime episode stopped, though this book seems to cover a lot of background or side stories so actually I haven’t read anything new to the main story, but I’m quite excited.
      (Edit: I started reading from book 9)
  • すべて真夜中の恋人たち | L36
    • I got this book from a Japanese friend 2023 for Christmas and slowly started reading it last summer. After I had added it to my owned list here on learnnatively I was a bit taken aback by the high level, but nevertheless wanted to try it out and, what can I say, it is definitely harder than what I am usually reading, but I don’t feel frustrated and can sometimes read a few pages without having to look up a bunch of vocabularies.

I have not yet decided on my specific goals for 2025, but I don’t want to miss the deadline this time to apply for JLPT N2 in summer and then prepare for it (“deadline”, the last two times I tried to apply it was already full for my desired location :see_no_evil:). I’m thinking about watching more animes without any subtitles and maybe listen to more podcasts / audiobooks.

ごきげんよう！

10 Likes
3

I’m soooooo excited someone else is reading these!! And I’m so jealous bc you’ve just finished the part of the story I really want to get to :slight_smile:

I’m still all the way back in book 7, but even still I’ve been really loving them!!

Edit: can I ask who your favorite characters and parts are?

5 Likes
4

I (often) hate that feeling of going through the already adapted part. I tell myself I need the refresher or it’s interesting to experience the original or the Internet lied to me, saying one should start from the beginning because there are two manga panels somewhere in the first 8 volumes that were cut from the anime… but really I just want to get to the new stuff. (Reading through 君に届けtraumatized me)

5 Likes
5

Interesting. I (often) only read the adapted part.

1 Like
6

I can definitely relate. So far this was an almost 1:1 adaptation, but having all the inner monologue here does really liven things up (an opinion I don’t always hold), and I really like the writing style, so it’s been fulfilling enough

Usually I read the source material first, but I find https://wheredoestheanimeleaveoff.com/ is pretty level-headed as a reference for when to start from the beginning vs skip

Watching 君に届け traumatized me. It was really excellent but the pacing was so unbearably slow that I don’t think I’ll ever watch the 2nd season.

Does that mean I should skip those parts in the manga, assuming I ever read it?

2 Likes
7

You don’t wanna know what happens next?? Or some other reason

1 Like
8

Yes. Mostly, I want to watch stuff first, as I hope that the written stuff is more detailed, which is usually true, though not always, especially with manga adaptions.

For some stuff there is still hope that the adaption goes on, like e.g. for フリーレン end of this year. And I want to watch it without expectation about the content.

1 Like
9

I don’t remember any difference from the anime. Maybe in the last arc there were some hints for the next arcs they didn’t adapt . But now they recentlY adapted the rest of the manga anyway (though I haven’t watched it yet). And I don’t remember there being all that much interesting in the unadapted content. Even though that’s like half of the manga.

(It’s been a long time ago that I read it. Might still be the longest manga I read and at the time it was the hardest. Shoujo can be a bit difficult and wordy)

Actually, there is a continuation series (which I haven’t read either) about Sawako and Kurumi (her rival) in college. If anything you’d start the I guess.

1 Like
10

Ohhhh I see, that makes sense. A lot of the stuff I watch is in “probably not getting an S2” territory. In the case of something I was extremely excited by tho, I probably wouldn’t have the self-restraint to wait

Gotcha, and thx for the additional info. That’s cool that there’s a follow up series in college. I really wish that sorta thing happened more (especially in yuri series)

2 of my favorites are 赤髪の白雪姫 and 暁のヨナ - so I certainly get that!

1 Like
11

That’s really cool! Now we are two :grin: It was quite a long way, but I really wanted to know how the story goes on, but was sure if I had just started there I would not have understood as much as I’m understanding now. So that’s why I read from book 9 on (need to edit my previous post to make this obvious).

I watched season one so often and also read the mangas, that I was not sure whether I could reread book 1-8 or became too boring. Though, I must admit, book 9 is also not one of the easiest one two start :see_no_evil: :joy:

There are so many vocabularies about buddishm because of Shimako’s home, that I needed to skip some pages. Else I would have had to look up nearly every second word :sweat_smile:

That is not an easy question! :laughing: I love the whole story / universe and almost every character has something endearing. My favourite characters also have changed over time, so here is what I currently think [spoiler: all anime seasons]:

  • Touko. She is just the cutest :heart_eyes: I like her deep character mixed with her ツンデレ
  • Kashiwagi. I like his teasing :joy:
  • Eriko. I somehow feel connected to her character, and her family story is hilarious with her big brothers
  • Nana Arima, she was briefly visible in the anime in the last season, when Yoshino was teased by Eriko about whether she has a younger sister. In the books we get a bit more stories about Yoshino and Nana. Here character - up until now with book 28/29 - somehow reminds me of Maomao from 薬屋のひとりごと (I watch the anime). Kind of a very intelligent character, composed but joins in events when someone else is pulling them

I guess I would have loved Youko or Sei as a big sister, and Touko as my younger sister.

And here about my favourite parts [spoiler: all anime seasons]:

I really enjoyed the summer vacation, when Yumi is traveling with Sachiko to their summer base, where Touko then makes an appearance. And it is always enjoyable when Yumis mother is kind of overreacting, like with sending them rice as well. I love how Sachiko and Yumi wins against the other “nobles” and performs the Maria song so nicely. I also like the song very much.
And there is also one side short story in book 28 that I really enjoyed :smiling_face:

What about you? :slight_smile:

1 Like
12

I can relate to that. In my case I’m often not sure about my Japanese vocabulary knowledge so I use the already known content to work on my vocabulary until I reach the part I know.

For マリア様がみてる (Series) I really love the story. I have watched the anime, read the translated mangas and few translated novels. Because of that I have revisited season 1 aaaa lot and decided to start with the novels in Japanese from season 2, so book 9, to build my vocabulary knowledge to be able to enjoy the story later on.

Oh, thank you for mentioning that! I also did not know and love the story (have the translated mangas)

Oh, I can relate to that. Because of that I started with 聖女の魔力は万能です (Series) - though they actually got a second season. +laugh+ However I’m glad I read the books, because for season 2 anime they really rushed through

3 Likes
13

I’m halfway through book 8 now (the graduation ceremony is killing me :sob:), and tbh 9 would have been my ideal starting point wrt story enjoyment. That makes sense re: Buddhist vocab… I imagine I’ll skim some of that as well, but I’m really interested to see how Shimako and Noriko’s relationship building reads in the novels. Also I’m excited to read that Nana shows up more in the novels, especially if she reminds you of 猫猫!

Fav characters: we match on 2 of them!!

Character thoughts (spoilers for all anime seasons)

Favorites:

  • Touko - basically what you said (I hated her at first tho :joy:). Also, I think she’s a much better and (probably) healthier fit for Yumi than Sachiko - cuz it seems like there’s more of a sense of equality between them or something… idk how to put it. Also I like how even though she’s all ツンツン and uncomfortable with Yumi, she does genuinely try to help Yumi out early on with the summer bullying thing
    • Like 80% of my incentive for reading is I really need to know how things turn out with the 2 of them :joy:
  • Suguru - I hated him at first, but it’s nice to see him grow over the course of the series. He’s still kind of a pain in the ass, but he becomes a lot more caring and considerate. I like the way he’s kinda unpredictable, somewhat uncomfortable, reliable but teasing, etc. And the interactions btwn him & Yumi later on are really delicious
  • Yumi - even in the anime (where she’s way more flat) I loved her, and can relate to her way too much, especially when I was that age, in terms of emotions, social class, etc. It’s really nice to watch her try to support everyone, and grow over the course of the story
  • Sei - I wasn’t a fan at first (some of her behavior really rubs me the wrong way), but she’s grown on me as I’ve read the novels.
    • It helps that the sleeping arrangements scene in book 4 (Sachiko’s, New Years, Yuuki is afraid to sleep in a room with Suguru) is actually written properly, and not mishandled the way the anime showed it. Sei is basically the MVP/hero of that scene, and I was so relieved when I read it. Also I love the way that she’s there for Yumi when stuff actually gets bad with Sachiko - both early on (explaining to Yumi what Sachiko’s lashing out actually means), and during the arc w/ the grandmother (when Sachiko is extremely cold to her, and Yumi considers returning the rosary)
    • Also that moment where Yumi kisses her before graduation :heart_eyes: and she tells Yumi how much Yumi has impacted her is so sweeeeet (and made my heart skip a beat)
  • Yuuki - he’s such a sweet younger brother!! I feel bad for him having to put up with Suguru though (also I really wanna know if they actually have something going on, or if it’s just that Suguru is attracted to him (and seemingly Yumi, maybe? sounds complicated lol) (no spoilers on this plz)
  • Alice - I was shocked when a trans character just showed up in the anime, and was so warmly accepted. Was totally not expecting

Otherwise, I don’t really find Eriko or Youko all that interesting… tho I did really enjoy the whole thing with bear guy, and her crazy family (as well as seeing Minako feel the heat, when she’s in the guidance office). I’m not really a fan of Sachiko, but I do appreciate seeing her grow somewhat, later in the story

That マリア様の心 moment was a favorite of mine as well! Otherwise besides the ones I’ve said, I loved Touko rejecting Yumi’s rosary (bc she had misunderstood everything), and her vulnerable “what am I supposed to do, I get hurt every time I try to get close to you” moments, and then her whole giant confession after they visit the hospital. The thing with Shimako and forcing her to reveal about her family in front of everyone was a favorite of mine, in terms of writing - b/c it’s the polar opposite of things I take for granted, and yet it turned out well. I really enjoy when the story defies my expectations.

I’m excited to here there’s more Nana stories, especially if she reminds you of 猫猫!

What do you think of the manga btw? I will read it eventually, but probly not anytime soon (so I don’t burn out). Also planning to read the Hanadera series, after マリみて. Not sure whether there’s any tie-ins, but even if not, I’m really curious to see what Kono-sensei’s other works are like

1 Like
14

If you’re not averse to it, I’ve found jpdb’s pre-made decks for マリみて extremely helpful in this regard

I was gonna say “I didn’t know that had an anime”… except apparently both the novels & the anime have been on my wishlist for who knows how long? Maybe I’ll try it when I’m done with おにいさまへ… S1 | L26 and 少女革命ウテナ S1 | L31 (half of which is too hard for me, but I’m watching it anyway)

1 Like
15

Thank you so much for your thoughts, ルナ. It is so much fun talking about Marimite! :heart_eyes:

Marimite character thoughts (spoilers for all anime seasons)
  • Touko - I also disliked her in the beginning, thinking something like “what a spoiled girl”, but she turned out to be so cute. I also loved the scene when the misunderstanding is cleared, that Yumi did not know about her background before proposing sistership to her. When Touko cannot hold her feelings anymore, Yumi then tells her to count to 100 and that Touko just makes herself so small and then in the end, fearing she would be left alone, that Noriko is there. I was crying a bunch :face_holding_back_tears:
  • Kashiwagi - I don’t know why it is not “Suguru” for me. Maybe because I read “Kashiwagi-san” more often. I also find him very reliable next to his teasing and I appreciated him wanting to help Yumi with Touko but at the same time giving the advise that it might be better to hear from Touko directly (though don’t remember whether with words or his actions). Also there are just a few background scenes with him or more details than what was shown in the anime, that I enjoyed
  • Yumi & Sachiko - Both my favourite characters when I watched the anime, read the mangas. But the more I read the novel, the more I favorites the Touko & Yumi pairing over Yumi & Sachiko. Though I usually like some “nobility flair” or setups and am also 憧れing
  • Sei - Oh, that sounds interesting, that the scene is handles way better in the novel than in the anime. Yes, I also like the supporting character of her also when they were visiting Katou Kei :smiley:
  • Yuuki - Definitely a sweet character! I will also read the Hanadera series after Marimite to see whether and how his relationship with Kashiwagi develops
  • Nana - You will enjoy the novel! :slight_smile:
  • Eriko - I also like on Eriko that she is struggling with “nothing is interesting because I am able to do everything” because it reminds me of my own “everything is interesting so I don’t know what to do or focus on” that can be quite troubling
  • Youko - She seems like a dependable character that forces you to grow over your past self. Someone that is pushy but endearing. Someone that follows the rules. Some kind of straight character, but always there for her friends (remember the scene with Sei, her big sister and Youko at the train station)

I don’t recall any details on the content, because it’s way in the past that I read it, but I remember that I enjoyed it. Just something I needed to get used to after watching the anime is that the manga is drawn a little bit different, maybe closer to the drawings in the novels? (haven’t checked the illustrators/mangakas names so far)

Oh, thank you so much! I will have a look at this! I just got aware of the word “jpdb” in some forum posts and wanted to checkout what those are. So vocabulary information that you can put into flashcard systems? Can I integrate those into anki?

Good, that you checked :grin: I really like this story, novels and animes. It is such a “feel good” isekai story with a 聖女 and medieval European-like setting. What is nice in the novels is that there are “what happened before in book X” sections, so you literally have some pages with pictures and summaries that helped me a lot in working on my understanding

1 Like
16

こちらこそ！I’ve been doing to talk with someone about the series :slight_smile:

マリみて character thoughts (still moar spoilers)

For real!! Actually I think that’s an example of why I like Yumi-Touko much better. It feels like Sachiko so often centers herself, and just leaves Yumi to figure things out without any real guidance. With Yumi-Touko, Yumi at least tells her what she needs to hear, in order to eventually move forward. Like Yumi’s really tough, but it didn’t feel like she was lashing out at Touko. And this is all right after Yumi was angrily rejected by her. (To be fair, Sachiko’s treatment did help Yumi get to a point where she could pull something like this)

Also this is trite, but hearing Touko address Yumi as Yumi-sama is just so satisfying. (Mostly bc it goes along with the fact that Yumi is a bit more accomplished now, and not just a lost freshman)

I’m just stubborn about calling characters by their first name (ironically enough). It took me so long to remember how to read both 柏木 and 小笠原 too! Tho now it’s internalized

Oh yeah!! That had a lot to do with why I ended up liking him more

Cool - looking forward to that

That’s just making me more excited for the novels! … I’m finally up to Sei & Shimako’s meeting, which of course will be the setup for Shimako-Noriko. I think the parallels but differences there are so cool. Like both pairs had that fated meeting. Both older sisters were stuck in the darkness, and needed someone to help save them, tho Shimako and Noriko could get close in a way that Sei & Shimako couldn’t before; but even then Shimako & Noriko still have some sense of distance with each other that the other pairs don’t.

Ahh, I generally have to be really sold on the nobility-esque characters. So for me Sachiko is like: this is the girl everybody puts on a pedestal? (Someone else referred to this as “gap moe” recently - and I’ll admit that from a writing perspective, that’s pretty brilliant). Also Sachiko is very authoritarian and (earlier on) borderline abusive, in a way that really puts me off

Omg this author and her naming :joy: . Just as good as Uzawa Mifuyu, or having a Rei and a Sei (who are both rather boyish at times) in the main cast :sob: I appreciate that Rei is a lot more masculine looking in the novel illustrations - helps distinguish them

Ohhh - so it does overlap then? Yay!! Also I realized another thing I like about Yuuki is how Sachiko feels comfortable around him, despite her 男嫌い thing

Interesting, I wouldn’t have thought to connect that. I used to have the “everything is interesting” struggle when I was younger. But I guess from growing older, various things have lost their interest (either bc I’ve already done them, or because I haven’t, and this realized they either weren’t all that important, or were more trouble than they were worth). “Everything is interesting” pairs well with Japanese learning for me tho, since it just leaves me with a neverending stream of things to do (and difficulty level helps with the choice paralysis)

I’m any case, I’ve usually had something in my life that was like my overpowering main interest, even while everything else was competing for attention. So I can’t really relate to Eriko there.

Ohhh good point about the scene with Sei at the train station. I’ll have to remind myself of that in the future. As an aside that whole arc with Sei’s terrible past was so moving (tragic love - very beautiful to read) - as was her moving on from it. The way it paralleled the principal’s and author’s past was also a really nice touch. I really appreciate stories about characters overcoming codependency (as an aside, 熱帯魚は雪に焦がれる | L24 is one of my favorites)

Gotcha re: the manga

jpdb 101

jpdb.io is its own system - SRS (flashcards) and everything. The decks there can be arranged chronologically or by word frequency (either within the deck, or within the whole corpus). The words come with audio, example sentences (often also with audio), kanji, etc. Youcan export the word lost, and import it into Anki, but you’ll lose the frequency count, and it sort of defeats the point.

Their premade decks are where it really shines. Idrc if this is a patreon-exclusive feature, but they’ll have decks for individual volumes or episodes (their patreon is $5/month). For マリみて I basically just cram all the words shortly before I start reading (I don’t particularly recommend this, but it works for me. I only do it like that bc I don’t wanna wait between books)

It will be a little annoying to set up and get started, bc you have to tell it everything you know, but I’ve you’ve gotten past that, it’s quite useful. There’s some stuff you can blacklist or doable in the settings that will help. Iirc @shitsurei made a recent post where there was a lot of discussion with different strategies for using it effectively (I forget what it was called tho)

That will definitely be a nice balance after おにいさまへ… S1 | L26 :joy:

Oh yay, content I can skip! Jokes aside, I could see where that’s useful. Good to know :slight_smile:

1 Like
17

Thank you so much for taking the time to create a jpdb 101 :hugs: I now created an account and will try this out while reading.

EDIT:

Thank you! I’m not sure whether this is considered a spoiler but as I took it out of our details, I let it blur. I will put this onto my wishlist, thank you for sharing!

1 Like
18

ごきげんよう！ :butterfly:

Reading and writing in this forum’s threads is so much fun and has motivated me a lot during the last couple of days.

Thanks to @暁のルナ I’m also testing out JPDB with prepared desks both for the Marimite volume I am reading as well as for 鏡の孤城 | L28 . As mentioned I need to tell JPDB a lot which vocabularies I already know, but it’s fun how I already get to see vocabularies in the books while reading that I have studied in JPDB. For now I will continue trying this out.

鏡の孤城, page 41 or 7%

The mirror makes his first appearance and the world こころ gets shortly sucked in, as well. She gets to escape and find herself back again in her room.
I like it how her inner dialogue is described. That she is both curious and frightened. Tries not to think about what happened but find herself stealing glances at the mirror.
We got glimpse at the girl with the wolf mask and the castle. I’m curios how this story enfolds, especially as I haven’t read any summarization yet, so I really don’t know what this story is about.

From language perspective there are a few words I need to look up but the grammar is straightforward so far.

We had a lot of discussions in our Marimite thread so put 鏡の弧状 onto the side and picked up Marimite again. I guess I need to read them really one after the other. Laugh.

(Need to stop here for now and continue my post in the evening because of work)

8 Likes
19

続きはこちらへ！ :butterfly:

For my Marimite updates from volume 29 please see my updates here. I really enjoy this volume and have a lot of favourites. This is unexpected, because I was very disappointed when this volume started, as I wanted to read more about Yumi and Touko.

And it’s so nice that the forum’s back :raised_hands:

4 Likes
20

I look forward to reading them once I’m caught up. About 1/3rd through book 12 now

2 Likes