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?

Reading Challange: Day 2 week 2

What a week!
I´m currently in Brazil visiting my family after 14 years.

I thought that I´d have plenty of time here to sit back and read.

I brought all of my Hiragana Times magazines.
I thought wrong.
I´m used to a quiet home but here it´s full of life, (not to mention noise).

My family wants my attention every second of the day.
And when their not I´m taking a nap.

I love that here everyone takes naps.

Of course I´m putting my family first.
I´m enjoying spending time with each of them,
but I alo realize that 2 weeks without ANY Japanese will hurt my progress greatly.

My family loves to watch novelas.
So I take the chance to read.
There was some topics I read about in the magazine.

Sign Language
There is a musical playing Tokyo that is using Japanese sign language.
I thought it really cool that they´re making more entertainment for a different demograph.

Exhibitions, babysitting, kimono book, baseball

I read it for practice but I wasnt interested in it.

Little Star

There was an article about a growing star named Ashida Mana.

It was interesting because she seems mature for her age.

I want to watch the shows she´s been in now.

Joshikai

I really dont understand this phenomenon.

Its basically women hanging out, eating, shopping, and chatting without men around.

Its a boom these days and women seem to be happy without the company of men.

Um... women have always hung out together. So why do they act like it´s something new...

Someone please explain it to me.ta

I think it´s just companies trying make something up to make more money.

i.e valentine´s day

I sadly don´t have a dictionary with me, so I can´t look up the words I´m reading.

I can´t have the interent on all day either. I think i´m missing out alot because of this.

I´ve been taking my time reading each sentence.

Pausing at particles, because I tend to fly through without much thought.

Now I´m paying attention to each part I read.

I´ve also noted sentences that end with a noun. A grammar point I´ve been studying in

my lessons.

I´ve also payed attention to easy phrases made more complicated.

I read 9 pages, but one was too short so I will count it as 0.1.

9=4.1pts. 3+4.1=7.1 pts in total.

 

Reading Challenge: Day 1 report

Day 1 (Monday, 8th):
This was the start of a very busy week.
I went to work with my mom, so since she was driving I took the chance
and read in the car. I will admit I was not in the mood to start my day reading Japanese.
Usually I rather listen to my music while I daze off during the car ride.
But it hit me. So many advice blogs about learning Japanese always mention studying when you have idle time.
There's not many times I have the chance to be the passenger.

I picked up a children's book my teacher gave me before she moved away.
「さるかにばなし」"The monkey and the crab".
I knew the story before. This book is bilingual so I enjoyed knowing what I was reading.
I also found interesting how phrases were translated.
When you've come know a phrase to the point of being natural it feels kinda weird to see how it would
be translated. I think that's a good sign when you're learning a language. It means you don't need things
to be translated word for word.

Since each page was half English and half Japanese I counted two pages as one.
So out of 12 pages I read 6. So my total points is 3. ^^

Packing up my luggage today is making me wonder what should I take to read on my trip.
I'm definitively taking my Hiragana Times magazines.
But I'm not sure how many I should take. ^^;;
I'm worried about packing too little or too much.

Have you entered the challenge?
Share your progress!
Don't know what I'm talking about?
Click here 

Reading: CHALLANGE

One of the important things when learning a language is to keep motivation.
With motivation you enjoy practicing.
So here's a fun motivation for all of us!
My friend has started a "Summer End Reading Challenge"!
I like this idea to get into the habit of reading different materials in Japanese.
I also like that you're doing it with others so we can cheer each other on.

Once a week I'll be blogging my progress and experience.
I'll also try to tweet a daily progress.

I'll be going on a 2 week trip but I'm gonna take some reading material with me.
I'm going to try and stuff as much reading as I can while getting from point A to point B.
Especially since I'm going off to Brazil and will be practicing Portuguese.
I don't want my Japanese ability to fall behind again.

Come join me!
To enter: click on the link