Learn Japanese With Novels: A Beginner's Guide

[@Glatier]

Almost halfway through the video, while watching this I'm suddenly reminded of having heard someone saying that "Reading is technically its own SRS", I'm certain that that is the mindset you're trying to convey, and I actually do agree with it, though the only problem I have is that I think you're more likely to forget some of the more uncommon words that just don't show up often in daily conversations, and I feel like pretty much the only way out of that is to have a separate flashcard deck for those words in particular (even though there are wayyyyy more uncommon than common words).....

[@Tamagotochannel]

I think there's no need to overstress it. It's totally ok to forget more uncommon words. Nobody knows all the words anyway. I think enjoying the book you are reading is far more important than wanting to add every uncommon word to anki or something to not forget it. If you read enough and it's important it'll appear again. I read a lot of novels, and I only stop to check a word if it really catches my attention. For instance, I remember seeing it before. Some words "click" in a way that when I notice i actually incorporate them into my speech, and some words I know I already checked a bunch of times but for some reason they don't stick. But anyway, I know it will if it keeps appearing.

[@elude3808]

The core of this advice is to consume content that you like. That’s how I learned English, by reading song lyrics, videogames, forums and books.

[@Tamagotochannel]

Yes, of course, that's why we're learning in the first place, right 😄

[@elude3808]

@@Tamagotochannel totally right!

[@costelinha1867]

おれのいぬ Which assuming i typed this correctly (since I'm still nearing how to use the JP keyboard mode on windows), is a phrase that translates to "my dog". おれ = "Me", or in this context "My". の = I'm not really sure how to translate it to a single word, but it's very often used to connect words in a way the word "of" is used, as in "x of y", in this context, it's probably best to remove the "of" in the translation as it makes no sense, but in Japanese it would still be used to connect おれ and いぬ. いぬ = "Dog", I mean, even by sheer process of elimination you could probably guess, but yeah "inu (いぬ)" is dog. Ore no inu (おれのいぬ) "My dog"

[@sdrklx]

Its reassuring to see a fellow Brazilian that also fell in love with such beautiful language! How was your process of gathering kanji over the years, did you use tools like flashcards?

[@Tamagotochannel]

Hi! Thanks so much for watching :) Yeah, I used Anki for about 3-4 years, though I don't use it anymore. I try to go into more detail on that in my first two videos, so feel free to check them out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZaTfZyLqKlpiJY kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6WnloqfrbetbNU

[@Nighteye88]

I recommend the かいけつゾロリ kaiketsu zorori series for Japanese kids it has Furigana even for Katakana so you only need to know Hiragana to start reading it. Yeah some words are connected to others with hiragana but it'll help identify grammar points connected to it too. Also it introduces I think up to 2nd grade Kanji. Lots of pictures to help with comprehension too but more words than a manga would have. I regret not starting to read sooner in Japanese honestly so I agree with what he has to say but I would not pick up a straight novel and exhaust myself with that first even if it's just random looking for words/sentences (or manga personally because they use some really hard words in manga too) unless your interest in the manga keeps you going. Pick something you feel comfortable with and feel like you can continue more easily. The more stress you feel from trying it the more it will push you away from reading. (at least that was my experience) Also search online for the free tadoku japanese graded readers they will help a lot as well.

[@Tamagotochannel]

Thanks for your recommendation! Yes, I agree actually . Starting with materials at your own level, and if you do have a novel/ manga , whatever you would like to be able to read someday, and it's too much stress to even browse it, just casually leave it there , no need to do anything else. As you progress one day you might feel like it's time to take a look. In the beginning it's more of a remainder of your ultimate goal 😃.

[@maximebrajkovic7738]

I don't usually leave commentaries on videos but I just wanted to post one on this one because I find that it's a really helpful one. Sure the content is not the best video quality or the sayings clear in one go every time but it speaks from true experience and I think this is one of the best "how to master japanese" videos. I do read almost everyday nhk Web made easy but it lacks difficulties some time. The eye catches too easily the furiganas. I still gave konbini women to finish. I think I'll restart it thanks to this video. I'll let you know when it's finished and how it helped me. If no answers for me it surely is because I didn't follow my challenge all the way. Either way thanks for the video 🙌

[@Tamagotochannel]

Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! I'm really glad to hear that you found the video helpful. It's great that you are planning to restart konbini women (I didn't know about it sounds interesting and I think I want to read it too), and I'd love to hear how it goes! I also appreciate your honest feedback regarding video quality, etc. Everything is very new for me, and I will definitely work on improving these aspects in future videos. Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts 🙏

[@sagaronyoutube]

Looking forward to booklists, ideally sorted by level would be v helpful. thank you!

[@Tamagotochannel]

I will try to sort by level as you say. Thank you for the suggestion! :)

[@sagaronyoutube]

@@Tamagotochannel awesome, arigatou gozaimasu!

[@titan146]

I would suggest a website called learn natively, it has a bunch of books sorted by difficulty, it also includes manga, novels, light novels and childrens books to give you a variety no matter your level.

[@sagaronyoutube]

@tamagotochannel any chance there’s one coming out soon? :D

[@davirochaaulasonline8224]

thank yoh for the advice. I will read the 新世界より novel. I am also trying to read everyday a bit of my japanese biblingual new testament

[@Tamagotochannel]

Ah! science fiction! That's a genre I like but don't remember reading Japanese authors before (for some reason I tend to read mystery) . I will add 新世界より to my reading list too! Good luck in your readings 😃

[@Jake-zd8xw]

Hello, KZbinr. It was good to get insight from your video. From the next video, I would like to know about the experience living in Japan.

[@Han-ww5oz]

Thank you for sharing your experiences, I understand that same advices I gave to people to understand english is now repeated in Japanese as well. Encountering repetitive words unlike when I’m reading Japanese in manga to further understand the language and patterns.

[@Tamagotochannel]

When it comes to language learning most advice is also true for other languages. For Japanese the unique writing system requires additional advice , :) . Thanks for watching

[@ginomctony6773]

as someone who taught themselves how to read, i can agree that this is good advice, reflecting back this is pretty much exactly what i did when i was a kid (i could read pretty good when i started school not like genius level shit or anything) ill elaborate a little bit here, i didnt just start reading novels, i started reading video games and like signs, and the comics in the newspaper, nothing super heavy or anything but stuff i enjoyed, which i think is also important.

[@Tamagotochannel]

You learned Japanese as a kid? Wow ! That's awesome. Video games was me with English. But as a kid I didn't even realize I was practicing in the best possible way.

[@RLL-45]

I like this video! I am going to follow you around for more

[@Tamagotochannel]

Thank you!

[@sebastienmailbox]

Wanted to say thanks for sharing your experience and perspective. I definitely need to read more. I have access to some seriously basic level books, but my ability is so low, still, that I struggle so much, I still burn out. So I'm working on listening and simple exercises to gain more vocabulary before I tackle that. I figure, as long as I'm enjoying learning, it doesn't matter how I'm doing it, or what I'm consuming. I am more heartened by my progress with what I've managed so far. I enjoy your time-lapse edits! Very nice music choices, too, I think. Grateful for your video!

[@Tamagotochannel]

Thank you for your nice comment! 😊 Enjoying the learning process is crucial to succeeding, in my opinion. I'm glad my video resonated with you, and I hope it can help you move forward, even if just a little bit. :)

[@sebastienmailbox]

@@Tamagotochannel Definitely helps to see the way you and others go at this language learning thing. Keeps me inspired to keep listening and reading what I can. :)

[@bon12121]

Thanks man

[@Tamagotochannel]

I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

[@Glatier]

Sorry for leaving multiple comments but would you recommend reading multiple books at a time? Since I have a feeling that I'd get bored out if I were to spend almost a year on a single book (even if it's my first one or it's one with a premise that draws me in) tbh

[@Tamagotochannel]

Feel free to leave as many comments as you want :) . Hmm...I never read multiple Japanese books at once. But why not? It's actually good because you can notice a difference in style from different writers. Not really related, but when reading in Japanese was very challenging for me I'd read that book but also other books in other languages I was more comfortable with, because it can be exhausting.

[@Glatier]

@@Tamagotochannel On that note, would you also recommend reading the translated version of a book that was translated to a language you're fluent in before reading the original Japanese version of the book? I figured you'd have an easier time going through the book in Japanese if you're already fully aware of the plot beforehand.

[@Tamagotochannel]

Yes! Never did that with Japanese but did with Chinese and it indeed helped. Of course, choose a book you really like and would actually enjoy reading again, or it'll just feel like studying and the point is to have fun reading it

[@ungorlgorl]

I think this is great, the only thing for me is that I find myself not knowing how to look up kanji I don't know (if furigana is not used). What do you suggest? I just use apps and dictionaries, but it tires me out because I might spend so much time searching:(

[@Tamagotochannel]

I feel you, that sure takes more time than we want :(. You can use a Japanese handwritten keyboard if you haven't yet, but if that doesn't work for you, you can try to take a picture of the page and have it changed to text, this way you can copy the relevant part and check in Google (or bing, whatever) really quickly. I use Android and Google lens does that very well. I don't know much about iPhone but I'm sure there are apps that do that too. I hope that helps !

[@MilwaukeeWoman]

This is useful to me. I'm not interested in most manga and now I have another reason not to keep trying to force myself to like it.

[@Tamagotochannel]

I'm glad it's useful :) . I like manga, but I like novels more because I like to read and imagine what's going on

[@m.wilkinson9559]

Interesting video with some useful tips. I'll say that the progression that you talk through is not very useful (interacting with the book). I can understand why interacting with a book or written japanese can help us focus in on the words since when you see a jumble of characters your eyes automatically unfocus and don't look at the characters much. But personally I've found reading actual japanese sentences from anime or manga or textbooks to be helpful in getting familiar with reading japanese. Like everyday I read some japanese in Tae Kim's grammar guide and I find it useful in improving my readng fluency. Then also learning sentences from anime or manga sentence by sentence also helps. I really think a more direct approach here, even using romaji to help to start reading japanese s useful (after all the chinese kids use pinyin to help them read chinese in their first years of school). The tip I found helpful was "to read 1 page a day". I think this is a good speed and a good pace to maintain for consistency. Japanese learners, myself included, have a tendency to want to do too much at once and then quitting or leaving it for a while. It's better to a little everyday rather than a lot on some days.

[@Tamagotochannel]

Thank you for your insights. Absolutely, I agree with you that reading actual Japanese sentences is super important to get familiar with reading Japanese. I just also think that for those that want to be able to read a whole novel aimed at natives, you don't need to wait until you are fluent to finally touch the book, it's kind of a mindset thing, I guess :) . Tae Kim's grammar guide is awesome! I owe him so much. Everything you need to get started is there, right? I'm not sure I agree with using romaji though. There's no real Japanese that uses romaji, and even if Chinese kids start with pinyin, Japanese kids start with hiragana. Hiragana is not that difficult, anyway. Thanks again for watching my video :)

[@m.wilkinson9559]

@@Tamagotochannel I agree that starting with hiragana is quick enough that we don't need to use romaji. However to fluently read hiragana quickly requires either reading a lot of it, or in my case writing a lot of hiragana sentences. At least that's how I was able to read katakana and hiragana comfortably after spending hours and days writing kana sentences

[@unseparator]

i know like 800 kanji and have average grammar. intermediate level i suppose. any good book recommendations? i probs would enjoy history or mystery books the most. bonus points if i can have them ship to Australia

[@Tamagotochannel]

Hi ! I don't know about history, but for mystery I really like Higashino Keigo. I'm not sure if intermediate, but I think he uses very straightforward Japanese. The last 2 I read from him were プラチナデータ (about the use of DNA data by the government) and utsuro na juujika (虚ろな十字架, about the death penalty in Japan) . Not sure about where to buy books that ship to Australia, but found there's a kinokuniya there that has lots of Japanese books, also this bookstore called Hondarake? It seems they even have a copy of プラチナデータ in stock. Hope you can find and enjoy these novels!

[@unseparator]

@@Tamagotochannel thank you so much!

[@leusuzuki763]

ちいさこべ - “Chīsakobe” by 山本周五郎 (Yamamoto Shūgorō); 風の中の子供 - “Kaze no Naka no Kodomo” by 坪田譲治 (Tsubota Jōji) - “A Child in the Wind”; 田舎医者 - “Inaka Isha” by 田山花袋 (Tayama Katai) - “The Country Doctor”; 火の杯 - “Hi no Hai” by 山本周五郎 (Yamamoto Shūgorō) - “The Cup of Fire”; さぶ - “Sabu” by 山本周五郎 (Yamamoto Shūgorō) - “Sabu”; 青春 - “Seishun” by 伊藤整 (Itō Seiji) - “Youth”.

[@fakenoobe2610]

Good video.

[@Tamagotochannel]

Thanks!

[@bigboomer1013]

My enemy whenbit comes to reading will akways be kanji

[@Tamagotochannel]

Oh, if it's ok, I want to suggest you this video them :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/h2WyeZ6abLitp7M

[@Crock-n8i]

Sorry, but do you have a script? You voice is trembling and you always pausing, But i appreciate your content, I'm not trying to offend you, it's just try to be better, good video overall

[@Tamagotochannel]

Don't worry, I'm not offended. I'm aware of everything you mentioned :). Not that it matters, but making videos and talking to the camera is a completely new thing for me (and plus, I'm not a native English speaker, but I don't like to use that as an excuse, so my excuse is only 'new to creating content' ,ok?:)). Some people seem to have talent and are really good from their very first video, that is not my case. But I do believe that I am improving little by little, as you suggest, trying to be better. Thanks for watching !

[@siahfishin5295]

actually the realness of the video (turning on camera and just talking) was kind of refreshing to me.

[@JohnM...]

This is nonsense. You CANNOT do this if you’re a beginner - it’s mentally exhausting. You have barely (or zero) knowledge of vocabulary, plus there’s kanji (with furigana admittedly), and EVERYTHING just looks like one entire word because your knowledge is non existent. Ridiculous idea.

[@Tamagotochannel]

Thank you for your honest feedback. Perhaps I failed to convey my message properly and for that I apologize. But I never intended to propose that total beginners should start reading books (it's mentally exhausting as you say, I know from experience), but rather than you can use them for something, even if it's just to review kana, for example. I believe this 'interaction' phase with books is important, which is why I suggested ways beginners can try using them :).

[@jondo3817]

lol

[@theg0yschannel386]

It took me 10 years to build the confidence to grab and read a book and I regret it. We need more people encouraging others to read and practice conversational japanese as soon as they can.

[@Tamagotochannel]

Yeah, if you want to learn guitar nobody will tell you you should not touch a guitar until you are ready, it's the same thing..😬