Manga: Saiunkoku Experience

Right after I finished reading Hakuoki I resumed reading Saiunkoku.

Day 1.5
I read 15 pages. It was really fun to read.
 I also understood when Ran says 
"The second meaning of the flower is 'protect my flower', meaning Shurei".
This felt like a huge achievement because it is an abstract idea.
I usually can only understand when speaking about physical things. For example, she went to the store and bought coffee. 

 



Day 1.6
I broke my days streak!
Read 10 pages.
I have less than 20 pages left to read.
I feel like I'm understanding more and more, bits and pieces.
This time it was about Ryuki receiving a gift for the first time.

 


Day 1.7
Read 7 pages of Saiunkoku. 
Understanding more and more.

Day 1.8
Read 18 of Saiunkoku. 
I finished it!
I can't believe it!
I remember when I first started it. 
It was stressful and tiring. 
It was so hard to read just 2 pages. 
And I didn't fully understand. 
Now what should I read? Wah I still can't believe I finished it >\\\<

Day 1.9
New manga!
I Had a hard time choosing between Hakuoki and Saiunkoku. 
I want to read them both!
But I figured Reimeroku has less volumes but... Maybe I should read DBZ? 

薄桜鬼黎明録vol②
Read 12 pages
Quickly got into it. 
Really must start transcribing. 

Day 1.10
Read 18 pages
It's not a chore to sit down and read anymore. I want and need to read. 
Made it to 10 days!
20 more to go!

Day 1.11
Only read 2 pages. 
Really didn't want to read. 

Day 1.12
4 pages. 
Really didn't want to read.
Going to change to Saiunkoku or sailor V.

And~ here is where my streak ended for a couple of reasons. 
Firstly, I didn't feel interested anymore.
My interests was going elsewhere. To some English entertainment. (*Le Gasp* Blasphemy!) 
Secondly, school became very busy and my grades are top priority. 
I am however very proud of my progress and how long I stuck with it. Now when I return to reading it won't feel like a challenge. It will be a habit. Next time I hope to beat my 12 day streak. 

Instead of trying to compete with other learners,  I try to beat my own personal record.

My April Fun Study Materials

April was a very busy month for me because of school, so I didn't do any focus studying for Japanese. I did not have the time to sit down and study grammar, kanji, etc. I thought I wasn't doing anything Japanese, but I realized it's because I immersed so much that it feels normal. I really enjoy listening to drama CDs now and podcasts. I love having it in the background. I can understand a little more of the dialog each time. 

1. What are you watching?

One of my favorite English shows, "My Little Pony Friendship is Magic" has been dubbed into Japanese. I watch it live and raw every Monday when it airs in Japan. Since I know the plot I don't have any need for subs.    

2. What are you listening to?

I got my hands on the Saiunkoku Monogatari fan book which comes with a drama CD. I believe the book has the tracks scripts written down, but I have not looked into it. The first track is really hilarious with all the main characters. The second track is very sad and I cry each time I listen to it. I'm not entirely sure what is going on, but I am guessing a death. 

I also listen to Daily Audio Bible Japan podcast. I have mentioned it before but I will mention it again. It's definitely different time of listening material. The drama CDs are pure entertainment and voice acting, but this podcast is an audio book. It's short and sweet and I can guess which story they're reading from the Bible. 

Manga: Experience with Hakuoki

After the achievement of reading 35 pages in one sitting, I challenged myself to read everyday without breaking the streak. I wrote my thoughts down after each sitting. I thought it'd be interesting to share my experience with you. 

Day 1:
I read 14 pages. So excited to read but I had to stop.

Day 2:
Only read 5 pages.
But at least I read!
I wanted to keep going back and re-read scenes of my favorite character. (Saito Hajime)

Day 3:
I read 13 pages during my break at work.
For some reason I had difficulty pronouncing the words. 
It might have been because the characters in the scenes had a different speech pattern.

Day 4:
Only read 4 pages.
To be honest I didn't really feel like reading. I was getting bored.

Day 5:
I read 8 pages in the car. Slightly more interesting then the day before, but not as excited. 
Not sure why.

I broke my streak on the 6th day. I wasn't interested anymore, and became busy with school work. Felt a tad disappointed that I didn't last even a week. Every time I picked up the manga I couldn't get myself to resume reading. 

Sometimes you have to give yourself a break if it stops being fun. 

After a while I resumed.

Day 1.1:
Read 14 pages. 
I stuttered a lot. I figured it was because it had been awhile since I read, 
but again, it might have been the character's speech pattern.

Day 1.2
I suddenly felt like reading Saiunkoku instead. (I was re-watching the show)
I read 12 pages. 
I aimed to finish the chapter, but started to fall asleep. 
That's the negative of reading in bed. 
I did understand some stuff though.

Day 1.3
I read 7 pages of Saiunkoku to finish the chapter.
Then I read the same chapter in English to compare how well I understood it.
(I can't do this with Hakuoki)
I understood the plot about 80%, but the other 20% I was WAY off!

Day 1.4
I returned to Hakuoki.
I was running errands and waiting.
It was a new challenge because there was a lot of distractions.
There was the TV with American programs on, people on the phone, etc.
I've never had to read in a loud English environment before,
and focus on Japanese.
I usually read in seclusion. It was hard to focus and understand the manga.
I read 33 pages!
I finished it!
My second manga!

Now I will resume Saiunkoku and finish it.
I need to finish transcribing DBZ before I can do that for Hakuoki. 

What's your experience like trying to read Japanese?

Searching for a Tutor

It can be hard learning on your own. 
I'm not a fan of language classes, but I do find a tutor to be very helpful.
It's 1-on-1, your pace, your needs.
It's nice to have someone to ask for help.
Not everyone has a Japanese-speaking friend.

I thought I'd just quickly share a website that I used to find my new Japanese teacher.

I hope it can help some of you. 

My experience has been very good so far. I get to shape the lesson on what I really want to focus on. I've told my teacher that I want to focus on reading and Genki II. So that is what we base our lessons on. She brings out her own materials she has prepared to help me. The nice thing too is that my teacher makes sure to stay on track, and not waste any minute. We also are able to schedule around our busy lives. I go once a month.

I was very lucky to find a tutor near me. She has passion for teaching, and experience in teaching all kinds of different students with different needs. She makes sure I understand the vocab and the readings. She doesn't rush through. 

I feel I really benefit from these sessions. It helps to make sure I don't fall into bad habits that are hard to unlearn afterward. It also gives me speaking practice and someone to correct my pronunciation.

It has also given me a new friend I would have not met otherwise. We clicked the moment we met, and she makes me very excited for our lessons. 

My February Fun Study Materials

On JALUP's website there is a series where you share what materials you've been using during the past month. I thought it was a fun idea, and wanted to answer them here:

1.What are you watching?

 I'm still watching しろくまカフェ and アムネシア, but I also began watching マギ. It's a fantasy adventure story with some fun characters. (and a strong kick-ass female character!) The main character kinda reminds me of Goku. Sweet personality and great power.This is a show I would definitively not understand without subtitles. If you like shows that let you explore the world and interesting character I would recommend it.

I also started watching たまこまーけっと. It's a cute slice-of-life anime with a talking bird, mochi, and a friendly market. If you liked K-On, you'll like this. 

2.What are you listening to?

I got another drama CD of one of my favorite 乙女games: Pirates in Love. It's hilarious with some very funny phrases. ⌐_⌐ Some of the CV include Morikubo Shoutaro and Kousuke Toriumi♪

What fun stuff have you been using?

Manga: Improving Little by Little

In my previous posts I have mentioned that I've started reading manga and have moved from children's books. While I still like using kid books, I felt it was time to try something harder.

I hesitated for a very long time to graduate to manga.
I still am not able to understand sentence by sentence in a children's book, and so I figured I wouldn't understand whats going on in a graphic novel. I would get tired at first after reading a few pages. (I try to read aloud to exercise my mouth muscles) After sometime, I was able to finish a children's book in a few minutes. So I felt it was time to take a step forward.

At first I began reading Saiunkoku. One aspect of reading that I had to get over is to stop worrying about what each word meant. Looking things up would make the progress slow and boring, and take me out of the story. And then I'd never want to read!It felt frustrating and taking the time to read felt painful. But after a few weeks I could I could understand the gist and even some jokes! Instead of feeling frustrated, reading made me feel relaxed. But the story felt a bit overwhelming. So I stopped half-way. 

I finished my first manga, DBZ, and it boosted my confidence. It's an easy read since it's mostly action. After reading it, I went over and started transcribing all the words I didn't know and making an Anki deck. Once the words become familiar, I hope to go back and re-read and see how much I'll comprehend.

Since January I've been reading Hakuouki. I feel very excited to read. Usually I can only read a few pages every sitting.

I reached another accomplishment: I was able to read 32 pages in one sitting! I can see myself slowly progressing. Even if I still don't understand everything I am improving. Slowly but surely.   

My January Fun Study Materials

 

On JALUP's website there is a series where you share what materials you've been using during the past month. I thought it was a fun idea and decided to answer them here. 

1. What are you watching?

I've been watching しろくまカフェ (Panda cafe), and I really enjoy it! It has talking animals going through mundane life. Slice-of-life genre with a lot of jokes. The characters are funny and the show is light-hearted. The Japanese used in the show is very basic and I can understand a lot of the words and sentence structure. Each episode is cut into 3 parts so the stories are short and easy to follow. There's also a lot of puns!They also talk very slow compared to other anime. This is a great show for beginners, and come on... cute talking animals! 

I've also been watching アムネシア (Amnesia) which is based on an 乙女 (otome) game. The show is really confusing, and would make more sense if you've played the game. It deals with a girl loosing her memory and every time she wakes up  she finds that things have changed, and time rewinds. Unknown to her she is constantly thrown into different dimensions where she has different relationships with the people around her. Every time she gets into an accident she wakes up in a new dimension. It's not my kind of anime, but I am watching to support the 乙女 industry. 

2.What are you listening to?

I'm still listening to my Hakuouki drama CDs. Every time I think I've picked up all I can understand from them I pick up another word. Little by little I'm understanding the plots a lot more. 

I still listen to Shukan Soine, but I listen to them as I fall asleep. So I'm not picking up much since I'm sleeping through them. I should try and listen to them during the day...

3. What are you playing?

I'm still playing Hakuouki since there's many story lines. When I notice a phrase I write them down in my memo so I can practice. This game is heart-wrenching though. I've had to stop playing many times. For days! It has given birth to the phrase「エモ―ショナル切腹」(emotional seppuku)

 

4.What are you reading?

I stopped reading 彩雲国(Saiunkoku), even though I was half way through it, and started reading Hakuouki. I think it's best to let yourself read what you'd like to instead of forcing yourself to finish another. It's not that I don't like Saiunkoku anymore, it's just that at the moment another series has my interest. 

So that's what I've been using for my fun materials. I hope it was interesting and helpful. Let me know what you've been using! 

My December Fun Study Materials

On JALUP's site there is a series where you share what materials you've been using during the current month. I thought it's an interesting idea and thought I'd answer the questions here.

1.What are you watching?

 I've been re-watching 彩雲国物語(Saiunkoku Monogatari). It's one of my favorite shows and I know the the jist of what's going on without subtitles. The voice acting is fun to listen to, and the plot of a girl trying to follow her dream in a male-world is a bonus too. 

I also began watching (and finished) 薄桜鬼 (Hakuouki). It's a series based on the historical events of the Shinsengumi with an added twist. The thing that I really like about this series is that it branches off to other forms of media. 

2.What are you listening to?

I've started to listen to Drama CDs. Each time I listen to them I pick something else up. What I love about these CDs compared to listening to a rip of a show is that it was made for listening. So no second of the listening time is wasted since there are no visuals. There are 乙女 (otome) CDs like 主観添い寝 (shukan soine). This is probably my favorite series to listen to because it is soothing enough to fall asleep to. It also has my favorite voice actors: Midorikawa Hikaru, Kousuke Toriumi, Morikawa Toshiyuki, Kuroda Takaya, and Morita Masakazu. They also have an app in the apple store where you can listen to clips from the CDs. (Soine Kareshi or sleepy boyfriend) Each CD has a different story and a "free talk" where the voice actor just talks. The free talk section is advanced for me since it's very natural pace of speech.

The other type of Drama CDs are based on anime series or games. One that I have is from Hakuouki. They came in a book I ordered. The dialog is hard for me to follow, but the positive thing is the book has the script. This series is very good listening practice for me, because every character has a different way of speaking. Some of them I can't understand at all, while others I can kinda follow. It also has numerous humorous scenes. These CDs also have a free talk section, but with the whole cast together. This is great to listen to because it's very natural. As in everyone is talking over each other. 

3.What are you playing?

Recently I have fallen into the world of 乙女ゲーム(otome games or visual novels). There are many for the iPhone which I will talk about in another post, but I've been playing Hakuouki. The game is in English but the voice overs are in Japanese. I really like it because I get to see how a line is translated. (And it's translated very differently in my opinion!)

4.What are you reading?

I finished my first manga! （やった！）This one was a nice way to ease into reading manga because there isn't much dialogue, and I knew what was going on since I had already seen the movie. I am currently in the process of transcoding it and adding the vocab into Anki.

I am half-way through 彩雲国 (Saiunkoku) vol. 1. I read it first in English and then in Japanese. But I read the English version so long ago that I don't remember it. This volume ties closely to the anime plot so I know what's going on. Sometimes I even get the jokes!♪

Even though I am reading Saiunkoku right now I really want to start reading Hakuouki. Though I am not sure if it's a good idea to read two series at once or bounce around. Should I go back to reading DBZ then?

I hope this entry was interesting or useful. I want to leave you with some examples of Drama CDs. Enjoy!

A Hakuouki Drama CD

Hakuouki Live Drama CD

Hakuouki Anime Clip

Shukan Soine