How to Read Novels in Japanese

When it comes to language learning, and reading in general I suppose, people tend to mention two different reading styles. You can either read intensively or extensively.

Intensive Reading

This is the slow way of reading. A person who uses this style would focus on understanding the passage 100%. This is someone who looks up every single word and taking notes. This style can help you examine new information that is presented to you in the passage.

The focus in on grammar and vocabulary learning.

Extensive Reading

This is the faster way of reading. A person who uses this style would work through the book without supportive resources like a dictionary. Using the knowledge that they currently have, they go through the book and try to guess/infer meaning. These readers focus on trying to achieve overall understanding. This style can help increase your reading speed and reinforce previously studied knowledge.

The focus is on enjoying and reinforcing the language.

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My *New* Japanese Goals for 2020

Pre-COVID goals 2020:
– Read 50 books
– Use textbooks to tighten up my language knowledge
– Pass N2 to December of 2020
– Finish N2 review by July and start on N1 studies

In the beginning of this year, I set the high goal of reading 50 books in Japanese this year! While I knew that it would take time to get my reading speed up since I was starting from scratch, it seemed reasonable since most Japanese novels seem to be around 200-300 pages. I thought that if I was able to read 20-40 pages a day on average, then I would be all set. Looking back, while it seems perfectly possible math wise I don’t think it is going to work out to work out anymore.

This year I started a new job in a new specialty. This was a huge change for me and required a lot of self study on my part to adapt to my new role. I now work longer hours, meaning that it would be impossible for me to read on the days that I work as I only have time to shower and sleep between shifts. I don’t even have time to eat at home. I toyed with the idea of reading on the bus, but due to COVID I thought it would be best to not use any personal items while riding public transportation. My job has also become much more busy and difficult due to COVID which has decreased my ability to concentrate on my days off. Sometimes due to low staffing, I am forced to stay late and don’t even have time to sleep.

I am also not confident about being able to take the JLPT this year. While it is not officially cancelled yet, things are not looking good and I assume that it will not be held in the states this year. I am a little disappointed by this turn of events as this sets my professional goals back by a whole year. I was planning on moving back to Japan in 2021, but again I am not sure that that is going to happen either. I am just going to continue doing my best while being kind to myself in regards to what is possible with current global events and my life style. I think that considering everything that has been going on, I am happy with the amount of progress I have been able to make this year.

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Japanese Novel Review: Penguin Highway by Tomihiko Morimi

I just want to say that I think this would be a great first novel for any beginner or intermediate Japanese learner.

Why did I pick this book?

Sometimes I lurk on the subreddit ‘LearningJapanese’ for inspiration and to find different media or resources that are out there. I saw that Penguin Highway was recommended as a great beginner novel, I looked into the author more and realized that I have other novels by him and decided to purchase it.

I didn’t really look too much into the story line before buying it, but I was interested in it mainly because it was labeled as a SciFi novel. I used to enjoy that genre when I was younger, and the idea of reading a science fiction novel in Japanese aimed for adults seemed a bit intimidating so I thought this would be a good place to start.

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Japanese Novel Review: 『夏の庭 ・The Friends』 by Kazumi Yumoto

The review is for the novel 夏の庭(なつのにわ)・The Friends by 湯本 香樹実(ゆもと かずみ). This is her first and most popular most novel.

I will give a quick over view on the story line, but my main focus in this review is accessing the book as a language learning tool. I want to share my experience of reading the book and share with others what I feel the approximate level is and who this book is suited for.

Before I start, I just want to say that I think this would be a great first novel for any intermediate Japanese learner.

Why did I pick this book?

I was recently inspired to finally pick up and read this book thanks to a recommendation from someone on the Japanese book based social media platform, Bookmeter. Before I started reading a novel, I was reading a different one that turned out to be a hard read for me due to cultural references and random topic changes. I decided that I needed a break and asked online for novel recommendations. I have recently discovered that I tend to gravitate more to books that are set outside with descriptions that are more nature based. I just haven’t really been into reading passages describing Tokyo. I used to work there and didn’t really find it a visually appealing city. I was pretty excited when this book was recommended to me as I already had it on my book shelf! I do not remember my reasoning for buying this book, but I am really glad that I had it. I used to pick books at random to purchased based off of the cover or books that stood out to me based off of the amount of times I have seen them in prominent areas of libraries and bookstores.

I used to be worried about having too many books as I wasn’t really making use of them, but now that I am unable to get new books easily due to COVID, I am extremely happy that I have a small library of books waiting to be read.

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