I’m a third of the way in and just loving the gentle writing style
comment on forms of address
マスターって呼んで。 The coffee shop man says this. I was surprised that can be said? But I guess if he doesn’t want to be called 店長さん he has to say something. I have always wondered how you deal with this in Japanese when you’re in a situation where you have to signal your own title or expertise level
fun words
ハローワーク
Hello work - nickname for the employment office
葉桜 - the early leaves left after the Sakura blooms fall off. Such a specific word, love it
It’s my first time reading this genre. Still too early to tell if I like it or not as I’m the type who likes a good conclusion at the end. I hope the story from this chapter will continue into the next as I am curious about who Mary really is and why Cocoa-San cried.
I meant to send myself the sample of this book but I accidentally bought it instead, so I guess I’m joining the club.
It’s a good thing that I liked this first story.
Story thoughts
I’m not typically drawn to short story collections (I’m with @xnd521, I really want to know where this is going… although I did take a peek at some of the future chapter titles and I don’t think it’s the last we’ll hear of some of these characters) but I did enjoy the writing quite a bit. It’s definitely a lot more … poetic I guess, than the LNs I’ve been reading a lot of lately, so that was a nice bonus.
I’m curious what the マスター would have done if the narrator was only looking for a part time job. Would he have still up and left him to deal with the cafe?
I also was drawn to this one. It’s also a good time to learn it since the trees around here are going to be 葉桜 pretty soon ().
So… I just kept on reading and now have reached chapter 4… cough It’s a very easy quick read for me, so that’s a nice switch up. I am not entirely sure if there is a point to any of these stories but it’s like sitting in a coffee shop, people watching.
Oops, forgot to post after finishing the reading … I loved it! The writing style makes me feel calm and instantly drew me in. It was actually a little hard to go back to Silent Witch after finishing this chapter, and not just keep reading ココアさん (what I am calling this book in my head at the moment).
It seems like this didn’t bother anyone else but if you are wondering about ぼっくりした木のテーブル on page 9, someone else has already asked the same question. 【ぼっくりした木のテーブル】とはどういう意味ですか？ - 日本語に関する質問 | HiNative
This is the way. I get a little overly obsessed with definitions sometimes. But I did enjoy reading the exchange I linked to, so I probably won’t change. 笑
I did too! It’s nice to reach a level of, this is probably not actually a word, and then get a native speaker to verify that for me. And not even have to do the work to find it! So don’t change but keep sharing
I think I did check my ereader’s dictionary but couldn’t find it and surprisingly I imagined the similar table as shown in the pic except that the “table legs” is a tree trunk instead.
I really enjoyed this first chapter and was so pleased to finish it on time with the club reading a steady amount every day!
I totally flew by the ぼっくり reference but I appreciate seeing the discussion around it! There are so many mimetic words and I find this the least memorable part of learning Japanese. The approach I started to take was to basically ignore them unless it looks like more than an amplification of a descriptive sentence, as in - it’s setting the mood for a scene or statement or action. Or, if I come across a mimetic word so many times it becomes memorable - then I’ll be like - oh ok let’s find out what you are and I’ll make an effort to remember it.
I’m afraid ぼっくり probably fell into the camp of - sounds like a description of the type of wood for the table, I’ll imagine a beautiful grain fit for this setting (but at the start of this discussion I actually had no recollection of reading that word!)
Basically me too. With the added piece of, if it sounds like a mimetic word I already know (or is a (un)voiced sound change ie か<->が), I assume it’s related unless it cannot be based on the context. Then I decide it’s an adverb and it probably doesn’t matter.
I finally learned はっとして vs ほっとして but those gave my method so much trouble
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(but at the start of this discussion I actually had no recollection of reading that word!)