Setting a timer was the worst thing I did while studying a language lol. I also felt it was only worth sitting down when I had more time and would worry about how many hours I did per day instead of what I was doing. Anyway, this was really inspiring! Trying to read manga rn and it's slow going but when I keep consistent for a few days I can sense the improvement.
Exactly! I remember many years ago finding the Pomodoro method helpful for doing things like Anki reviews, but for things like reading it seems to be VERY counter-productive. The MOMENT I turned it off I started having fun. I'm happy to hear that this was inspiring. =) What do you think is the most challenging thing with keeping up with Manga?
@@ToKiniAndy I realized I get discouraged if I go really slow (especially in chapters with a lot of text...) or don't understand a lot that day and then I stop for a few days and it's harder to get back to it. My main problem is insufficient grammar, but I also always have to look up a few kanji, so it requires more effort than sitting down to read something in English, for instance (laziness wins sometimes). But I'm focusing on just one long series, which does help with picking up recurrent vocab and constructions (as long as I stick to it!!).
Gotcha. I can definitely empathize with that. When I hit a book that required a ton of lookups it could get really discouraging. It definitely helped if I actually cared about the story, but could still be tough some days. I definitely found having an extra book on the side that was super easy Japanese helped when I burned out. What series are you working through?
@@ToKiniAndy Vagabond! I've read the novel it's based on so I figured it would help knowing the characters and story (despite some differences), and the fact I'm not desperate to know what happens next also helps me not to quit. If it was an entirely new story I'd provably just read a translation cause I'm too impatient lol. But it's a good idea to have a second option nearby!
Ooo, I've always been curious about that one. Someone left a copy of the first book in my apartment when I first moved to Japan, but I never got around to it. I'll have to add that back to the list. =)
Love the honesty that comes with your videos, as it shows how genuine you are and the real issues we'll all likely face when learning a language. Absolutely awesome content!
I am only 2 minutes in and I just want to say, talking about your struggles helps. You are someone who has been at this for years now and the fact that even you have DOUBTS about your own abilities and improvements is just...so human and I am so happy about it. I'm still a beginner and I get very down on myself. Knowing that even advanced language learners still have the same feelings even now is somehow comforting. It just makes me want to just keep trying my best.
Really appreciate your honesty in these videos! It'd be easy to say you got the learning formula right the first time and there was no issues with it; but you kept it real about what worked and what didn't.
I admire your courage to look up kanji. I don't have the patience to do it, that's why I don't read manga in japanese only novels at my kindle (so I can easily look up new words in order to not I feel too bad with myself 😅). Congrats 👏
Been waiting for this video for a while and its finally here! Gotta say this is one of the most interesting video's I've seen so far. Awesome to see that you made so much improvement in reading during the project! I also purchased a 3ds for learning Japanese as its main purpose because of you and I might pick up some more Japanese manga after this one. Thanks for making the effort to create such a high quality video :)
Thank you Stein! This was a long time coming! I'm really happy that I was finally able to get the video out, and I'm glad to hear that it was interesting. =) I STILL love using my 3ds every day, so I hope that you can find it helpful too! And manga can be difficult in the beginning, but when you find one you like, it becomes a LOT of fun! =)
It would be better to set a timer for the first and last volume of a series. That way you'll still have some point of reference of how you're improving. Seeing my progress was a huge motivation.
That would definitely be better (and it's what I did with 日常) than what I was doing. But it's still kinda weird with Manga, because of what I mentioned with One Punch. The first and 10th book have such a MASSIVE difference in word count, that it doesn't work very well. I think manga is a poor form of media for timing yourself. Regular books are definitely going to give you more accurate results. Regardless, seeing your times improve are definitely a huge motivation! =) What kind of content did you see yourself improve fastest with?
Easier approach is to only time yourself once per week, or maybe only time yourself twice per day at 30 mins per timing. It could be like the "game time" versus your practice. Everyone can practice as much as they want, but the real test is the game. Even casually, with this approach, you should see improvement at reading pace.
Great vid Andy! It's interesting how you can feel slower even though in reality you're reading faster. I recently bought 55 volumes of Japanese manga second hand. Hoping to boost my reading ability over time with these though I'm definitely a little rusty haha The series I picked up were holy land 1-18 (missing 17), Dragonball 1-10, yuyu Hakusho 1-15 complete large paperback version, and blood on the tracks 1-13.
That's exciting! I hope you have a blast with them! Yeah, it's super weird how your perception of time is like... completely disconnected from reality depending on your mood and what you're reading. haha
I've stumbled upon your channel not too long ago, and I am so glad I did. I don't really know where to put this but I wanted to thank you for all the help I've gotten from your videos, I just love the genuine attitude and everything. I don't know how you haven't gotten so much bigger and I wish there was more I could do, but thank you for doing all of this
This is awesome. I appreciate you talking about your methodology along with how you were feeling throughout the challenge. I definitely think using a timer would have negative effects on the challenge if I did it though. Like you said, only wanting to pick up a book when you know you have a good amount of time. Even just the stress of knowing the clock is ticking while you're trying to understand and enjoy something. I also feel like it's hard to truly quantify progress since, at least for me, there is always going to be a little bit of "white-noising" where you skip over a lookup because you're tired or feel like you can guess the meaning or something like that. Anyway, this is inspiring me to pick up the book I'm working on reading today. Keep up the great work!
@@ToKiniAndy I'm reading one of those 10分で読める話 books but it's aimed at ３年生 so it's surprisingly difficult due to the lack of kanji. Definitely going to read something aimed at a higher age group next.
Tokini Andy, have you tried audible for japanese audiobooks? There's actually A LOT of light novels on audible and I think it could be a pretty powerful tool combine to read along while you listen to the audio-book. It could make an interesting video. I think it's like 1.400 yen a month to access the entire audible library. I would also be interesting to hear your views about using audio-books as a gateway to more advanced reading.
I actually use them when I’m running a lot. =) I’ve gone through a few volumes of Overlord, and some other books. I actually planned to make a video eventually about exactly what you suggested (reading along with the audible book). Unfortunately, buying the book AND the audible sub is a bit expensive for many (and it’s a major pain to get a sub overseas apparently), so I’ve put it off. I think that using audio-books along with the actual book is an EXCELLENT way to get into reading though. I’ve done it myself and quite enjoyed it. =)
@@ToKiniAndy You can actually get the Japanese monthly audible subscription if you live overseas, If you use the google store application on your smartphone. I live in Sweden and has been using it for a couple of months. It's not possible to get through the normal website though. You may have to change the application language settings to Japanese. I get charged by audible in Europe. I've been listening to the first nine volumes of 本好きの下剋上 ～司書になるためには手段を選んでいられません～ and I'm also going through all the harry potter books in Japanese. I just setup a kindle unlimited account too (it's 1000 yen a month or 10.000 yen for a year, first month free) and it works fine with my Japanese amazon account (anyone can set on up, you don't have to be in japan). Also, kindle unlimited seems to include quite a lot of manga, so you are really getting a lot for your money. In all you would be paying around 20-25 dollars a month for pretty much unlimited audiobooks, novels and manga. That can be pretty cheap depending on how much you are planning on reading :) edit : the kindle unlimited book availability seem to be a lot more restricted than audible, while practically everything is available on audible, kindle seem to only have a limited selection of series and even if the series is part if kindle unlimited, you only get the first few volumes.
I took up daily reading just a bit before 2023 started. This video and your other challenge videos have been a great source of motivation. According to BookMeter, I have over 120 books on record. Not gonna lie, a lot of those are エロ漫画, but hey, they've helped me learn a lot of office-related vocabulary. I started with other stuff I already knew, so that kind of inflated my numbers. Not counting Dragon Ball and 幽遊白書, I'm closer to 60-70 volumes. I've kind of made it a goal to eclipse those series in terms of number of volumes read. I haven't been doing any new reviews most of the time unless a word involves a new kanji. For the most part, what keeps me going more than anything is the desire to consume stories. I'm considering dropping my book streak to make room for VNs though.
@@ToKiniAndy Maybe a live reviewing of some old jlpt questionnaires would be nice? Maybe live so we could chime in some questions or clarifications? Just an idea
Challenges that push the limit give us the opportunity to grow, but success isn't a guarantee; in a case such as this, I would wonder about the long-term results. Trying to make something content-heavy or laborious into a drill is a feat, and then people try to bring about results too quickly on top. I can understand the desire to turbo-charge one's study, but there's a relationship between level, aptitude, and achievable results. In addition to one's reading ability there's a psychological element to consider when reading a series. Rather than aiming to 'bring about certain results," it could be more effective to make it more enjoyable; especially when we're talking manga. If it's not enjoyable your commitment isn't likely to stay at a consistent level. That said, I'm quite impressed with how diligently he carried out the challenge and analysis. Whether or not language learning is supposed to 'be fun,' to a large extent it does affect our motivation and it's nice to see results.
Thank you for watching Kira. I agree more and more that "enjoying" language learning is the best way to consistently progress. Finding things you enjoy will lead to much better long term results. If I were just doing this for myself (and not for videos), I would probably not do a challenge like this. Instead I would do lots of DIFFERENT types of material, like games, manga, novels, etc depending on how I felt and what I was enjoying at the time. =) What have you found to be the most effective in your own language learning?
@@ToKiniAndy I can't take a look at the effectiveness of my studying as I lack metrics, but I can generalize about what I suspect is a successful approach here: diversifying content consumption and being methodical and organized is the surefire way to get results. Edit: The most important thing is to HAVE FUN and enjoy the ride. Language is ultimately a tool to communicate with people, and if people won't even talk to you what's the point. Language learning is supposedly holistic (absorbed in blocks) for native speakers, so by diversifying content you give yourself a way to feed your imagination. Native speakers don't have to study grammar to acquire fluency, and even as a second language pidgin speak can develop without study. Things like tutoring, Japanese friends, instruction at an institute, media, games, social support network, skills assessment and appropriate leveling, practice, planning out time, etc. are all part of method. Technology is a real help compared to the past. For me personally, I've become pretty languid about studying nowadays. I watch a lot of Japanese RU-vidrs, who conveniently subtitle their videos. I also use study apps like Quizlet and Anki to learn vocab and kanji; I do this at an unconventionally fast rate as long-term retention isn't as important as the throughput. I can impression hundreds of kanji or vocab each day and I think the quantity is important. This should mean that my comprehension is gradually increasing, though I don't really take notice. I've moved away from superficial goals like passing the N2 exam because it doesn't help my real-world performance.
Could be I'm just not exposed with library culture but generally speaking I more often hear about second hand book stores as well as buying new release manga/books but very rarely hear about what's available in a Japanese library. My primary expose to that is Anime/manga tho so it's generally about students studying there but am still surprised not to see it mentioned more with how much reading in general it feels as tho the Japanese culture consumes.
Hey Andy! Just joined your website, and absolutely love your channel. Which manga would you recommend for someone working through Genki 1 (Lesson 8) as one to work. on reading and immersion? A challenge, I know, but really looking to improve my reading and comprehension.
ty for your hard work, i also planned to time myself reading jlpt reading exercises to improve my reading skills butttt now i know that its not a very healthy approach) i'll just try to read whatever makes me happy and i believe (i hope, i wish) that there will be a day, when i would be able to read as fast as i can in english!
While I think timing yourself SOMETIMES to gauge improvement can be motivating, I'm noticing more and more that doing it too much is definitely counter productive. Turns out that if you read a lot, you get faster regardless! =) What are you using for JLPT reading exercises?
@@ToKiniAndy Currently i go to japanesetest4you and read n5 n4 ones. n5 were a breeze, n4 is very doable, i wish they put more kanji there. I tried n3 few days ago - and it was way harder than n4, i had to grab the dictionary from the get go. N3 grammar is somewhat understandable, but kanji...i gotta make some anki decks for sure)
This definitely inspired me to read more :) Loved the vid. I would like to see more stats at the end showing how your Japanese improved from start the finish, what jlpt grammar stuff you ran across, etc.
Thank you Spike! I actually intended to include N1 test scores, but I didn't realize that the tests I took at the beginning didn't have any different versions. So I would have ended up scoring higher, but a lot of it would be because I remembered the questions! I tried taking some different tests at the end to make up for this, but they were just too different to really give an accurate idea. For the next video, I found a better set of tests, and plan on taking the full 3 hour version before and after. Hopefully, that gives us some good ideas! =) Any thoughts on what you'd like to read more of? =)
@@ToKiniAndy That would be very cool. Also you could maybe mention random examples like "I ran across xyz while reading Dragon Ball, which is new and generally comes up on the N2." I'll definitely get on reading the old Yugioh manga, I started ages ago but put it down for a bit, and Dorohedoro seemed perfect after your vid on it. I also wanna tackle the book Bakemonogatari, which I know would be real tough, but I figure it's time to push myself. :) Really loved this project and seeing your Manga reviews as you went
Ah yeah! Adding some stuff like that to this kind of video would be good. I try to cover level stuff in my individual series reviews, but having a little more of that in these videos wouldn't be bad. Thank you for the feedback. =) I hope you enjoy Dorohedoro as much as I did! And good luck on Bakemonogatari!!
Thanks as always for the video and the honesty! I too have found trend lines to be very motivating. I honestly haven't found timing myself to be that much of a deterrence - though I make a point to never look at the timer until I'm putting the book down (I feel if it was staring me in the face that would be more stressful). Also, you can't have trend lines without timing ;) Super excited for the visual novel video in this style! VNs are my favourite way to consume Japanese content :D
Yeah, I really like trend lines. I found that timing manga was sorta iffy in the end, because of how variable the word count is. I think I could probably still enjoy timing myself with a regular novel, but we'll see! I'm super psyched for the VN project too! What's your favorite VN(s)? Any I should definitely not miss?
@@ToKiniAndy edit: TIL that putting links in comments is frowned upon - so sorry about that; was just trying to be helpful by linking to VNDB pages - original comment (without links) follows below. Thanks so much for asking! I'll list some below. Disclaimer that I've only read the English translations of these. I'm only recently starting to read VNs in Japanese, and for that I'm mostly choosing simple slice of life stuff since the vocabulary is easier for a beginner. With that out of the way... My favourite VN of all time is Baldr Sky - my RU-vid pfp is actually a character from it - but it's a really long read (over 100+ hours) so perhaps not ideal of a video project. It's a VN at it's core, but it also has gameplay mech battles in it (and you can level up your weapons, etc.) so you might enjoy it regardless, given you mentioned how much you enjoy video games in general. Steins;Gate and it's sequel Steins;Gate 0 are obvious choices, and are likely to be popular with viewers. I also loved The Fruit of Grisaia, Root Double, and Aokana. I'm not sure how long you plan to read VNs for this project, but a problem you might run into is that a lot of the good/popular VNs (at least in my opinion) are fairly long. For something under 30 hours, I'd recommend 999 (9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors) but you've already played this in your "How I Learn Japanese With Visual Novels" video :) Anyway, sorry for the long comment and thanks for hearing me out. All the best with the project!
Ah yeah, RU-vid will usually automatically block links. Yeah, that's why I figured I could only end up playing 1 or two in the end. OR I might do a few at a time like I did with the manga, and just play the first 10 hours (and keep playing after the video is done). My plan at the moment is World End Economica 1, Steins:Gate, continuing Higurashi on my DS when I'm away from the PC, and 7 Years From Now when I only have my phone. =)
I did this a bit someday ago and attempted to read a single of a particular manga. I will not admit that it took me multiple hours so I'll just say about 40 minutes.
I did this a bit some day ago and attempted to read a single page of a particular manga. I will not admit that it took me multiple hours so I'll just say about 40 minutes.
I really want to start reading さよなら絶望先生 as I bought all 30 volumes at Bookoff for like 35€ in total last month. But if I know one thing about me from previous reading sessions, it's that I just can never get comfortable while reading and especially reading in Japanese just tires me out after like 15 minutes. I've decided I will try focusing on my move to Hyogo now and get settled there, including all the bureaucracy stuff I have to figure out for being able to stay in Japan. Once all that uncertainty and anxiety inducing stuff is off the table I might just be able to focus better and go at it more determined. Love this series, keep em coming! Once I manage to finally get my hands on a proper credit card I plan on subbing to your Genki Companion course!
It can be very hard to focus on something like this when you have RL stuff like visas and what not to deal with. I definitely agree that focusing on that first is a good idea. =) Do you already live in Japan? Please let me know if you every have any questions about the course, and good luck on your Hyogo move!
@@ToKiniAndy yes, I moved to Tokyo in June, took a few weeks of Japanese in the hope of being able to learn a bit more than through self-study, decided that it wasn't worth the money though and started looking for a full-time job instead. I will be trying myself at working as a full-time caregiver in a facility for disabled people as I have experience with them through one of my relatives also being disabled. I hope I can get working permission for at least 2-3 years so I can work towards becoming a certified caregiver, I think I didn't quite think all this through enough before coming here but still somehow want to make it work now. If worse comes to worst, I will be going back to Germany and try go to a more immigration friendly english speaking country probably.. 😅
Caregiving is a field that definitely needs people here, so you very well may be able to find something. Regardless, I wish you luck, and hope that it works out! =)
I did a manga challenge a bit ago and it's definitely a fun way to measure progress. I made some videos on my progress, but ended up falling off after the 60 day mark. I had planned to finish the whole series, but the way I was recording my progress took alot of time. My reading speed improved, but I couldn't get through the books fast enough to hold my interest after a certain point. I may have try again, since challenges are the only way I feel like I make progress. I'm looking forward to the visual novel video as I always have a hard time finding one's I'm interested in. So it'll be great to hear your thoughts!
That's so cool man! I just took a look, and it looks like you worked your butt off! Creating videos is so time consuming, so it's really hard to do both at the same time. I hear you! If you were to do a challenge like this again, what do you think you'd want to read? Continue with Naruto?
@@ToKiniAndy Thanks a bunch! Yeah I wish I made more videos about progressand methods, but you're right videos do take a long time to make. I would read Naruto again. You're right about getting used to a certain person's style, it gets easier to pick up the patterns. Plus originally I was SUPPPOSED to complete the whole series, but between extensive and intensive reading it was roughly 3-4 hours a day to read. I can understand the gist of what is being said, but the details get lost on me. I think I will try to read a volume a day with occasional lookups, maybe after the first chapter in the book or something just because I want to focus on improving my reading speed. Also, I need to work on my speaking ability so I will possibly try to read out loud and see how that goes. 😅
・Subtract final value minus starting value (11.5-8=3.5) ・Divide that amount by the absolute value of the starting value (3.5/8=0.4375) ・Multiply by 100 to get percent increase (100x0.4375=43.75) ・If the percentage is negative, it means there was a decrease and not an increase. Source: www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/algebra/percentage-increase-calculator.php
Great video! This is inspiring me to finally tackle my tbr shelf. Recently got the novel, ゴーストハント, from Book Off. It’ll be my first novel-novel, but it’s perfect for spooky season and a great challenge. I’ll try to balance it out with an easier read like you mentioned in the video. That will hopefully keep my motivation up.
@@ToKiniAndy Yessss, it’s an ever growing pile haha. I have a book of short stories for kids, also good for spooky season. So will probably do that and maybe a manga like 呪術廻戦. I know the story and can skip over the difficult stuff in it.
Hey Brandon, I'm at the point where I'd say I can understand 95% or more of the meaning with 0 lookups. Because of that, I look up EVERY word I don't know, regardless of whether it effects my general understanding or not. If I were just doing it for fun, I might be a little less strict with it, but I really really want to level up. So, I pretty much never skip a word unless it's SUPER obvious from context. If I were just starting out, I might be a little less hard on myself, but at this point I feel like I should know pretty much all the words I'm seeing. Especially since I teach here on RU-vid. =)
I remember pretty much everything. =) I just wanted to see if I could do it, and I'm trying to improve my reading as fast as I can in preparation for the JLPT N1 test in December.
@@ToKiniAndy I can’t really say that I study Japanese, I try to learn some to better understand the culture in Japan. I would love to visit Japan, but it is very expensive to travel there from Sweden, where I live.
Fun video! I’ll look out for Black Cat next time I’m in a Book off! I read the first book of 作りたい女と食べたい女 last night. They’re turning into an NHK drama. Wasn’t bad. Also read the first book of Uzumaki last week. That was really interesting. I’m telling you - check out モンキーピーク! 😂
I know this might’ve been answered but on your website how to create an account. I assume you buy the member ship and the email u put in you create with? Sorry I am just very cautious with my money.
Hi Zachary, That is correct. You create your account after purchasing of the course with the email you used to purchase. I may add a free tier eventually so that it's not so confusing, but at the moment that's how it works. =) Thank you for your interest, and please let me know if you have any questions at any time! Andy
@@ToKiniAndy I have started reading Yotsuba and I had the physical manga in japanese and also a digital version translated in english. Probably it’s not the best way to go at it for it worked for me since most of the words are unkown and it would take an insane amount of time to translate them manually. This way I think I got something out of the reading experience and still managed to enjoy every part of it without feeling it was a “chore”.
@@ToKiniAndy I have started reading Yotsuba and I had the physical manga in japanese and also a digital version translated in english. Probably it’s not the best way to go at it for it worked for me since most of the words are unkown and it would take an insane amount of time to translate them manually. This way I think I got something out of the reading experience and still managed to enjoy every part of it without feeling it was a “chore”.
@@ToKiniAndy haha :)) I've been playing Yokai Watch 4 on the switch! It's amazing has plenty of dialogue and full furigana. The game is actually really great and addicting too. I'm thinking of starting some VN's soon also, I'm ready for some recommendation^^
I've heard all the Yokai Watch games are great! I actually got the first 3 for 3ds but haven't tried them yet. VN recommendations in coming on the next video! =)
@@ToKiniAndy Yes they are all great! They really stepped it up in 4 too! i think persona 5 royal was just released for switch too, which is supposed to be really good, and most definitely more advanced. these will keep me busy until the VN video :)
I can really emphasise with the timer thing! I like to know how long I’ve spent reading a book, but since I use the forest app to time my reading it means I have to do a minimum of 10 minutes. Since coming to Japan I’ve mostly dropped timing as I’ll whip out my phone and read for a bit while waiting to cross the street, waiting for my next class to start, etc, which feels a lot more freeing.
It really is more "freeing" isn't it! I have a feeling we end up reading a LOT more that way too. It's cool to see our times, but in the end it may be counter productive. Are you reading anything fun now?
woah dude, that improvement is absolutely crazy! this next semester is my first semester without taking a streamlined japanese university course, so i might just take up a challenge like this to make sure im in tiptop shape before i go over for my abroad semester 💪
I also have multiple books at the same time for my reading. I have a manga, an English novel and a light novel which I cycle through depending on my mood. Keeping it fun is crucial!
This was a great experiment, and you’ve inspired me! 5 years ago when my Japanese wasn’t so great, I bumbled my way through the novelization of the LA Yamato movie, and now I’m interested in going back and re-reading it to see how much I’ve improved! I’ve also got Fahrenheit 451 I’ve been meaning to read, so maybe I’ll give that a go as well! It’s one of my favorite (English language) books, so maybe cheating a bit lol! I love these videos that aren’t strait Japanese instruction (those are great also!)! Keep up the awesome work! Cheers!
I’m reading manga rn. I picked two to do: Yokai Watch and Imawa no Kuni no Arisu (Alice in Borderland). I noticed the vocab for Yokai Watch was pretty simple (Tbf it is a manga primarily for children) while Imawa was more teen targeted and had some vocab I never heard of. Yokai watch helps me with reinforcing the stuff I’ve learned in Japanese class and Arisu helps with challenging what I already know.
Really great video! Thumbnail/title, story, editing. I've been trying this more "RU-vidy" type of video too and it's working. (I noticed we use the exact same BOTW desktop wallpaper lol)
That wallpaper is so fire, isn't it?! It looks like you're doing some amazing stuff over there! Playing the "RU-vid" game feels weird at first, but it's actually giving me the opportunity to try some fun stuff, like this, so I'm enjoying it! I'm glad to see that it's working for you too. =) Your courses look really cool! Are you studying Japanese as well?
If you find that you want to keep a timer so that you can maintain metrics (knowing you read 4hrs/day) but don't want the pressure that comes with it, set a countdown timer on your phone for 4hrs at the beginning of the day and only start it and stop it when you decide to read. Then at the end of the day, log the volumes you started/finished. It won't give you per tankoban numbers but it will allow you to pick up whatever you want, whenever you have a few minutes, and still have an idea of what you read. Also, with the mix of literature it removes the pressure for pacing. Anyway, enjoyed the content. Thanks!
Anime and Manga is the love of my life. I'm also really loving manhwa and manhua and chinese anime (donhua)... there are sooo many amazing stories or just fun series to read.
@@ToKiniAndy It was Attack on Titan for a while, but then I stumbled across BERSERK (a very dark manga, but also one of the most popular series by Kentaro Miura...), i can say 100% that it's my favorite. And then I really liked the Chainsaw Man manga (but the anime that is airing right now, is doing it justice, so both are good options). I appreciate all the effort that you do Andy, teaching us Japanese and sharing your experiences in other areas! :)
As someone who's very much into animnaga, I'd certainly like to be able to read them in the original, especially as I know there are many series that aren't translated into English yet and or where we're a few volumes behind...
As I can see even if we people think we learnt all of Japanese, we keep learning every single day. Even a guy like Andy looked up a lot of words although he passed N1. That just reminds me learning a language is an endless journey. You will never be perfect. You just need to be satisfied with your level. Sometimes I think that even in my native language, I have tons of things I can learn now.
i did the same I read and read until my brain couldn't take it anymore, even dough I don't speak japanese yet, I love the language learning languages makes me feel happy
ya idk, manga is way longer than american comic books in terms of pages. if it only takes you 45 minutes to read through a whole manga, it takes me like 25-30 minutes to read through an American comic book, and they usually only have 20-30 pages. Gotta chill, and enjoy the artwork man!!
For sure. By the end of the project, I had kinda figured that out. =) I'm happy with my 1 hour and 20 to 1 hour 45 per manga now. What's your favorite American comic book?
@@ToKiniAndy gotta go with Hellboy. Mike Mignola's art is like nothing else. so different, the use of shadows and empty space. I actually backed a kickstarter about a year ago where a group of people made a documentary about his comic book career. it was awesome!
Oooh! I heard that was really good. I think I almost read it after I first read all of The Sandman series, but for some reason I didn't get around to it.
Great video as always~ I subscribed to your course a few days ago, I love it so much! It's been helping me out a lot, I'm so glad i found your channel! Keep up the good work! 😊
Thank you so much for your support Laura! I'm so happy to hear that you are enjoying the course. Is there anything in particular there that you are finding helpful? =)
@@ToKiniAndy I honestly love everything about it, but I think that the immersion material, bonus grammar sentences and listening practice have been expecially helpful ^-^ i find myself wanting to study a lot more thanks to the course, and your discord community is just the sweetest!
I love this! Thanks for sharing your experience and the thoughts along the way. I'm trying to read a Chinese manga every day on my phone. Like you, I'm really struggling with the timer and don't want to pick it up when I have just a few minutes. I look forward to hearing about your visual novel experience! Do you know which one you'll be reading?
I own a TON of VN's, but my plan for the month at the moment is World End Economica, and Steins:Gate on PC, and continuing Higurashi on my DS. When I have down time I'll probably play 7 Years from Now on my phone. I'd LOVE to play more, but I have a feeling that this will keep me occupied. Are there any other suggestions you might have for good VN's?
@@ToKiniAndy Those sound interesting! I got started on Steins:Gate but got distracted. Have you tried Clannad? I've heard it's one of the best. I was trying to read it in Chinese while listening to Japanese audio but that's rough. 😅 I need to study more.
@@ToKiniAndy That's so odd. I wonder why they didn't include the Japanese subtitles. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is fun! My husband really enjoyed Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!. Chaos;Child is also on my wishlist but I'm not sure if you have to play Steins;Gate first.
This is great content! It feels great to hear from someone that are amazing at japanese feel the struggle of thinking if you are really learning when doing these kind of challenges! Motivates me to continue the path of learning japanese :) Slow and steady. Btw have you tried LingQ for reading? If so what are your thoughts? Would you recommend purchasing manga/light novels instead for learning to read?
Super interesting and inspiring, although the timer idea sounded cursed from the get-go! lol. I really wish I had the time to do this sort of challenge, but I'll be setting myself something more manageable based on manga reader soon as a result of watching this
thanks to this video i’ve started to take up daily manga reading! this and your visual novel and video game challenges have been such a great source of motivation!!
Man that dragon quest music came out of nowhere and hit me like a wave of nostalgia. Love the idea of setting challenges like this, though would you recommend it to someone who is a little less advanced? If so is there any particular books/manga you could recommend?
@@ToKiniAndy I'm on jlpt n4 and watching your lectures daily to understand everything I'll be done with your lectures soon then i'mma start learning vocabulary and use it in grammar patterns I'd've learnt in your videos ^^
I'm studying for the JLPT N3 this December, so I'm definitely not in a place yet that I could read that many manga that quickly. But you did give me some ideas. Currently, I'm reading 鬼滅の刃, and I've already seen my speed go up in just the first couple volumes / books. I time myself per chapter, and I keep track of page count, so I'm able to see the improvement. But despite the improvement, I also noticed that I felt rushed. If there was a sentence I struggled with, perhaps due to unfamiliar vocabulary or grammar, I felt like I wasn't taking enough time to get comfortable with it before moving on, because the timer was still running. After watching your video, I think what I want to do is get two or three more manga series, including maybe a really simple one. I'll have one series be my "benchmark" series, where I keep track of pages and chapters and time. Probably not Demon Slayer though, because I want to really enjoy it. Anyway, I'll benchmark myself on one series, and I'll just focus on enjoying myself in the other series.
I think that is a great idea. I might even go a step further, and suggest doing what I did to test my time at the end of the video. Get a regular book that you maybe ONLY use for benchmarking your speed. You don't even have to care much about it, it can just be something you try to read for 30 minutes 1 time per month or something and see how far you can get each time. Timing myself on Dorohedoro probably did a HUGE disservice to my enjoyment of it, so I definitely understand what you mean. If there was a part at the end that was supposed to be funny or something, and had a ton of difficult words, instead of enjoying it, I'd end up feeling rushed and that sucked. I hope that you can continue to enjoy Kimetsu like this! =) Thank you for watching!
I definitely wouldn't recommend it for someone starting out. But I did find the vocabulary to be much easier than what was in some Shonen Manga. Probably even easier than Black Cat, although at least BC has furigana. But yes, if you find it too hard, probably best to find something a bit easier to start with. =) Have you tried reading or watching some other stuff in Japanese?
Wow. Lots of Manga, lots of variety! While it may feel like a pain, it actually looks fun to see all different manga! (Excited for more immersion things! Any other ones involving Japanese games? These are cool!
You should also just try to enjoy the manga instead of forcing yourself to understand it. There’s so many you have to read, so you should try to relax and enjoy the variety of worlds and stories
I definitely enjoyed it in the end! Timing myself was a mistake, because I stopped enjoying it. As soon as I stopped timing, it was fun again! =) The next project I'll be doing Visual Novels! That video should be out sometime in Early to mid December. =) Have you played any VNs recently?
Congrats on the Half Marathon! Your insights on manga reading are helpful. I am currently in the N4 range and am reading Yotsuba To. Have you read any books other than manga in Japanese? If so how did that go?
Thank you Robert! I had a blast on the marathon. I have read quite a few other regular books as well. I think I personally have an easier time focusing on regular books for some reason. I'm not sure why. I'll likely end up doing a similar video on regular novels one of these days. Is that something you'd be interested in?
@@ToKiniAndy I'm all up for more videos about immersion for beginners, especially N5 level when finding something that doesn't have new kanji or grammer might be harder than expected
That was really interesting to watch. Congrats on getting back at it and not just stopping mid way! haha. Some parts really echoed some of my experiences (though your Japanese level is way ahead of mine haha :D ). The voice of the author can really help with light novels (probably visual novels too) as it does make things easier over time haha :D. Good luck with the next challenge!
"The voice of the author" That's it! That's the term I was looking for. Thank you. =) And thank you for watching! It seems those language struggles can be really universal, can't they. =) Is there anything in particular your struggling with these days?
@@ToKiniAndy Thanks for the reply! Without realizing over a few months, I started to gravitate to only reading manga for a while .... Normally I try to have a mix of light novels + manga + games.... The light novel volume that I was reading was not fun ( I knew the story / its not a fun read per se...Mushoku Tensei volume 3, maybe its lightly above my level too haha) so I started to avoid it .... I should have stopped mid way and continued another light novel series haha
Ah yes. I've done the same thing many times. I tend to be a completionist, but I've slowly learned to just put a book down when I'm not enjoying it. Nothing wrong with reading lots of manga if you're enjoying it! =)
I like reading so I tried to read some mangas in Japanese even tho I’m still a beginner it’s kinda overwhelming but I realized the more I read the easier it gets to read
Ooo, Spy x Family is good. I just started watching Chainsaw man and it seems fun. Both are pretty difficult for just starting out, but I hope you had some fun with it!
I was extremely excited for this video to come out and like always the quality is top notch and the content is really entertaining. I can definitely relate to your struggles in this video because I used to time myself and think that it was the key to learning but all it really comes down to is enjoyability. Can't wait for the next video!
Thank you Dash! I agree! It's SO much easier to continue if you actually enjoy what you're doing, instead of just trying to power through things you don't enjoy. =) Any things that you're hoping to immerse with soon?
@@ToKiniAndy Well after your quartet streams I've been really into J-Dramas and using my kindle to (attempt) reading Japaense novels. It's definitely been very enjoyable.
