I just wanted to ask a quick question.

Background:
Currently going through core 2k step 7. I will finish core 6k.
I will work through All about particles and understanding the difference between Japanese particles when I finish core 6k.
I'll also probably flip through Genki 1 and 2 just to get a sense for grammar.

Here is the question...

Will this be enough for me to be able to comfortably read the Goosebumps books in Japanese? Meaning without having to look up most word, just being able to pick things up from context with minimal breaks to look stuff up and so. With relative ease so I can enjoy it.

I read a lot of those books when I was learning English and I just remember that they were really fun.

I was hoping to duplicate that experience with Japanese.

So thoughts on this, will that be enough? could I start earlier? maybe I need to add some other stuff before I'm ready?

What do you think???

Seeing as Goosebumps is a 9-12 range, I think you'd be able to read at least 80% of a 9-12 book in Japanese. If you want to bump it up to young adult level though, which would be most light novels, you'll see that change a bit, maybe 60-70% depending on the author.

Going through the Core6k will give you a strong handle on words in kanji, but maybe not as strong of a hold on the word as a word (ie: Knowing the meaning of the word without the kanji). Many authors for light novels like to use secondary (sometimes tertiary) writing for words, these are kanji compounds not used regularly but still mean the same thing as the common word. I can't think of a good example off the top of my head. (EDIT: Just to clarify, these alternate writings only appear every now and then, they are not all over the place)

Authors do this to be stylistic. Usually these unknown words have furigana next to them and kids can read these kanji and understand it fine, but if you learned your words as kanji, you might find these a big rough. Its at least easy to look up though.

[Zgarbas]

Your problem won't be words (doubt most words from core3k and up will pop up, and instead you'll have a plethora of random katakana and words which aren't as common but would probably be in a horror story), but with grammar. I'd focus more on basic grammar than anything else if that's your starting point.


Edit: By the way, to make the encountering new things less intrusive, remember to check out your local yomichan and Dictionary of Japanese Grammar.

Yeah, I agree that grammar will be hard if you only intend to take a small time going through Genki 1 and 2. I imagine there will be a fair amount of grammar beyond what is included in Genki, longer sentences than what Genki prepares you for, as well as things like slang in character speech that will make understanding more difficult.

However, I think trying is a good idea. Especially in the beginning, it might be pretty slow going, but hopefully it will be somehwhat in range of your ability so you can power through. I don't think it will be quite as leisurely as you're hoping, while at the same time not impossible.

Actually, to be honest, I bought a Goosebumps book in Japanese a while back but I never read it in favor of Matilda. If I remember, when I'm at home I'll look around and see if I still have it. If I look through it I'll have a better idea about what will be difficult.

I haven't read the Goosebumps series in Japanese, but based on my experience with children's chapter books I think you shouldn't have too much trouble with vocabulary, although you will have to look up specific content words. Grammar will give you more difficulty.

Nothing is going to perfectly prepare you for reading native materials except just jumping in and doing it. You've gotta start somewhere.

By the way, in the genre of easy-to-read scary chapter books for younger kids, I will recommend the 怪談レストラン series (http://www.doshinsha.co.jp/longsaler/res...index.html).