Hi there everyone..

I'm looking to enrich my already big Japanese language books collection.. But this time, I want it to be with native resources..

So basically I'm looking for funny, amusing books, preferably with short stories/ segments.. Will you?.. please?

I just ran into this book, and reminded I don't really have books that make me laugh..

http://www.amazon.co.jp/Japanese-made-fu...489684677X

Do you enjoy manga? There are manga which I still get a laugh and feel-good enjoyment out of reading (though, not in their native language, yet) regardless of the number of times I've read them before.

My tastes are probably a lot different than yours, though here are a few I enjoy:

よつばと！
一期ましまろ
ひだまりスケッチ
日常
ヒャッコ
あずまんが大王
みなみけ
男子高校生の日常
私がモテないのはどう考えてもお前らが悪い!
スケッチブック

Funny, amusing, short stories/segments. If you enjoy manga, they fit the bill.

MMM.. manga..

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I can improve my Japanese as much as reading passages.. no?

But thanks a lot for the suggestions! I will throw in one or two of those :-)

死ぬかと思った is available online (that's how it started) or you can buy the books. Hilarious short stories from Japanese people usually only about a page or two long. I've got like 5 of the books and they always make me laugh.

帰ってきたＯＬ萌え萌え倶楽部 always make me laugh too, it's super-short online stories from women (relating to men/relationships) but some of the tales are amazing, haha.

http://wpb.shueisha.co.jp/category/seria...emoe-club/

nwperson Wrote:MMM.. manga..

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I can improve my Japanese as much as reading passages.. no?

Why not? It's still Japanese, and you're still gaining more input. If you find manga enjoyable than it's probably more effective than less enjoyable passages, given that enjoyment means less stress and less stress means higher acquisition.

That aside, your Japanese will improve the more you read, and reading from different sources, with different means of expressing ideas, may provide an interesting insight into how natives can use the language in manners which you may or may not have been aware of.

On the internet, where all of the above are freely available to read, why not just read more? No need to be picky. If you can read; read anything and everything!

Crispy - thank you so much! Definitely going to use it. Though I must admit language wise it doesn't seem challenging enough. But it's a good read anyway - Thanks so much!!

Uisukii - Agree with what you're saying - read what you love that'll make you continue - that's what I tell my students.
I just meant that I'm already highly motivated and my aim is to read higher leveled material, and for that I believe manga is just not enough.... ;-)

Sorry, I wasn't sure what level of Japanese you have and those were the fist two things that came to mind. To be honest I don't know of any funny books that are complicated but I'll see if I can remember any others.

I'd really appreciate if you remember me and post back about funny/ interesting book/ articles :-)

nwperson Wrote:I just meant that I'm already highly motivated and my aim is to read higher leveled material, and for that I believe manga is just not enough.... ;-)

I see. Sorry, I was overzealous and probably a little too emotive in my response. When it comes to at least English and my personal relationship with it; reading tends to be less about the actual level of writing and more about what I can get out of it. For example there are somewhat simplistic comic strips (online and offline) which provide as much and often "more" intellectual stimulus and creative use of language which rates "higher" than maybe higher academic papers such as text-books, etc. with a greater technical vocabulary and usage of correct grammar, etc.

Language usage, often, can be relatively simple in a deceptive fashion. Two decent examples are (in my opinion) the XKCD online comic, the Far-side and Calvin and Hobbs serial comic strips. Simple language yet those with a higher/advanced creative intelligence will gain more from the humour/"wisdom" than a more "advanced" text may suggest.


~~~

Though, I'll keep this thread in mind if I find anything which you are probably after. Are there any more specific areas which interest you? Maybe certain philosophical bents, cultural interests, sports and lifestyle niches, etc.?

Returning back to before, the 四こま漫画スケッチブック tends to focus a lot of it's humour around observational idiosyncrasies, inconsistencies and linguistic nuances of the Japanese language. From a language interest, especially for a learner of Japanese, some of the insights may be relevant. Also, there is an English character (though fluent in Japanese) who exhibits certain "foreign" language usage traits which, once again as a learner, you may find interesting to see how the natives find Japanese as a second language speakers from a native standpoint.

Or not, lol.

nwperson Wrote:I just meant that I'm already highly motivated and my aim is to read higher leveled material, and for that I believe manga is just not enough.... ;-)

A manga isn't any more difficult or easier than a novel....the difficulty level is pretty much the same

for example:

http://s7.postimage.org/6sxgvtxnu/keiji14_0102.jpg

http://s13.postimage.org/aycp3ytvr/ushijima_04_059.jpg

http://s9.postimage.org/9u56tarqm/3_007.jpg

nwperson Wrote:MMM.. manga..

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I can improve my Japanese as much as reading passages.. no?

But thanks a lot for the suggestions! I will throw in one or two of those :-)

Depends. If you find manga easy to read, then no, you won't really improve much by reading more. You'll learn new things, to be sure, but you won't increase your Japanese reading level. The only way to increase your reading level is to read progressively harder material.

If you're trying to get yourself to a specific level (6th grade, high school, adult/college) then you'll need to read books/novels. If you are at a fairly low level (ie manga still offers challenge), then certainly manga will do more for you than novels. The trick is to read something that is challenging, but not so challenging that you are constantly in the dictionary instead of in the book/manga.

amtrack Wrote:

nwperson Wrote:MMM.. manga..

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I can improve my Japanese as much as reading passages.. no?

But thanks a lot for the suggestions! I will throw in one or two of those :-)

If you're trying to get yourself to a specific level (6th grade, high school, adult/college) then you'll need to read books/novels. If you are at a fairly low level (ie manga still offers challenge), then certainly manga will do more for you than novels. The trick is to read something that is challenging, but not so challenging that you are constantly in the dictionary instead of in the book/manga.

Manga isn't any easier or harder than your average Japanese novel. Just look at the examples I posted above, the difficulty level is pretty much the same. I think there is a misunderstanding that manga is somehow easier and more childish than novels, which in my experience has been proven to be false.

I've read a lot of novels (modern stuff, light novels, historical samurai stuff etc..), other than vocab, there is very little difference in difficulty level. And all the "advanced" grammar or vocab or whatever, you see them in manga all the time. Just because Manga uses words with bigger font doesn't mean they use simpler words.

And the OP says that he wants to learn complicated sentence structures, well, they appear in manga too, especially in the narration parts where they will put lots of exposition and stuff like that.

The only exception I would say where a novel would be harder is classical literature, and even in there you will find lots of the same and similar vocab.