kfmfe04
Member
From: 台北
Registered: 2007-10-21
Posts: 487
Manga doesn't interest me much, so I looked into reading some light novels.
I even picked up a copy of 「このライトノベルがすごい！2009」to see what is popular these days. It has listed the following titles:
1. 文学女性
2. とらドラ！
3. バカとテスト召喚獣
4. とある魔術の禁書目録
5. 狼と香辛科
文学女性 looks a little interesting - maybe I will find it in the bookstore.
Meanwhile, I browsed through Book-Off and found 3 non-fiction books that look interesting (to me):
働くということ
性格分析
国語のできる子どもを育てる
I guess I thought it could be fun to learn something (besides Japanese) while I'm reading. The 3 books cost me 315 Yen.
I'm beginning to feel that it is almost impossible to suggest reading materials, because everyone's interests and reading levels are so different. It might be best to go to a Book-Off and find what you like yourself!
haplology
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2008-09-24
Posts: 91
I find this difficult as well. I have never been interested in Manga - or in English comic books / graphic novels. I browse through Japanese bookstores, but it's so difficult for me to puzzle through books that I can't get an idea of what I would like - not how I would in an English bookstore.
Sometimes a Japanese friend will recommend a movie or program - that has been pretty useful. I guess I need to get some recommendations from people who know my tastes.
Unfortunately, I'm not much of a TV person in general, so it's hard for me to stay interested in a series. In the US, I watch a bit of TV, but can easily do without it. It's a bit frustrating, because I feel like my level will have to be much higher before I can find something I can enjoy *and* understand in Japanese.
This is a good topic. It's hard to find appropriate-level reading material when you're still at an intermediate level. For now, let me mention a great source of reading material when you're still struggling to make the transition to "real" books: Bilingual books. These have Japanese and English translations on facing pages. There are tonnes of them in Japanese bookstores (usually in the English learning and/or Japanese learning section) with a range of topics & difficulty levels. Well, anybody living in Japan has probably seen these, but the trick is using them wisely. If you don't have a system, the easy availability of the English translation will actually prevent you from getting better. Here's what I ended up doing: Cover the English side with a sheet of paper. Read the entire Japanese page all the way through; don't check the English side even if there are parts you don't understand (you can underline them if you want) -- just fight through and try to understand as much as you can. Then you can check the English side. Usually the translation is not very literal, but this is generally because it's been done by skilled translators who understand their craft. If you want 1:1 sentence translations, you can go back to your textbooks. Ahem. Anyway, the one-page quota can be adjusted; if you're breezing though without much trouble, you should adjust it to 2, 3 or more pages; if the material is very challenging and you're always getting completely lost before the end of the page, you can use a 1-paragraph quota. Just don't change the rules halfway through!
Personally I've enjoyed some of the traditional kids' stories (mukashi banashi / "once upon a time in Japan") and a collection of Miyazawa Kenji's stories this way. A really good one for JLPT2 prep is the "best of tensei jingo" (English title "vox populi, vox dei"). Short articles very much in the style of JLPT readings, though the vocabulary is sometimes a bit beyond JLPT2.
haplology
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2008-09-24
Posts: 91
I'll have to try that with the books.
I'm also thinking of getting the scripts / cc for some of the few tv shows I like. After watching with no subtitles, just go through the Japanese script sentence by sentence. I imagine with a dictionary, I could understand 80% of the sentences that way - and probably get more used to the grammar structures and commonly used words in that show. It's tempting to use the English subtitles after watching with no subtitles, but I wonder about the real value of that.
QuackingShoe
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2008-04-19
Posts: 721
Did you just call me お前? Someone needs to read through http://forum.koohii.com/viewtopic.php?id=2307 again!
Edit:
Tobberoth wrote:
Etc etc
I was really kidding. I'm a big anime fan myself. That said, despite my anime viewing being really widespread, I haven't actually seen any that aren't cliche-ridden. But to be fair, I've never seen any other media that isn't cliche-ridden either. People forget we use cliches because they work; they're not inherently a bad thing.
Last edited by QuackingShoe (2008 December 08, 4:31 pm)
Tobberoth
Member
From: Sweden
Registered: 2008-08-25
Posts: 3364
QuackingShoe wrote:
But to be fair, I've never seen any other media that isn't cliche-ridden either. People forget we use cliches because they work; they're not inherently a bad thing.
Id say our definitions of cliche are different then. Something being inherently part to the medium isn't cliche, it's just a fundamental peice. Like an anime being animated. Or a book being written with words. When I call something cliche, I mean it's overused to the point of boredom. Not guns being used in an action movie, but girls being very stingy and then lovable on the inside (there's a specific japanese term for this, but I don't remember it).
Using Mushishi as an example, the only thing you could possibly find cliche about it is... hum. I guess that their eyes are big? Which is a part of anime cartoon style, it would be hard to call something an anime if it didn't exhibit such traits... other than that, I really don't know. Possibly how apathy is used to make Ginko seem "cool", that's certainly overused in anime... but again, it's nothing like actual cliches where you know exactly what will happen in an episode because all of the characters are the typical anime "cute girl who looks like a child but is popular anyway for some reason" and the "hyperactive girl who always talks as if she's in a huge hurry". I'm talking about characters you can't relate to because they feel like copies of characters from other animes, you know?
QuackingShoe
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2008-04-19
Posts: 721
albion wrote:
ツンデレ？
See, I'm very familiar with the tundere trope, but it's actually one of my favourite character types and I'm automatically more interested in a series that has it versus one that doesn't - depending on how it's executed (many are annoying). Which is the problem; a cliche had to be overused to the point of triteness and boredom, but that's entirely subjective. I am AWARE of the tropes (and that they may be considered cliches) in every piece of fiction I consume, but I still enjoy many of them.
Edit: And dagnabbit I said I wasn't going to continue with this...
Last edited by QuackingShoe (2008 December 08, 5:29 pm)
rich_f
Member
From: north carolina
Registered: 2007-07-12
Posts: 1708
*Digs up and yanks thread back on topic*
For those who want furigana in their books, and are looking for a relatively easy read, I found a children's light novel series that isn't bad. I mentioned it before in the manga thread:
テレパシー少女蘭 (Telepathy Shoujo Ran) is basically about 2 girls with psychic powers who have adventures, fight evil, and argue a lot. It's a series aimed at advanced grade school/lower middle school, but it's not syrupy.
The novels do have furigana, which is useful if that's what you're looking for, and the specific reason I mentioned the series. If furigana distracts you, then avoid at all costs. Sometimes they'll use kana instead of some common kanji. It's a little weird to read all of that kana, but if you're at that advanced beginner/lower intermediate level, you shouldn't have too much trouble.
The author goes by あさの あつこ (no kanji), and the ISBN for the first book is 4-06-148501-6, and it runs about 580 yen.
