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 :-)

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!

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.

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.


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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:

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.