#native material

[dokushoclub]

Short Story Collections for Learning Japanese

Short stories are very popular with language learners – and rightly so. Being able to finish even a short tale aimed at native speakers will feel like a great accomplishment.

I had a look at three approaches for intermediate and advanced learners to enjoy Japanese short stories. For each I can also recommend a few matching short story collections:

Short Stories in Easy Japanese

Japanese Short Stories with English Annotations

Parallel Readers

I give my more detailed thoughts on all these short story collections for learning Japanese in my blog post. You can find it here:

[dokushoclub]

The right level is a level at where I can enjoy a book.

Great perspective! This is also my own main strategy when it comes to reading in Japanese and I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on it.

The most important thing for me is to keep going. Books I barely understand only slow me down. That's why I rather try something new at the right level instead of insisting on that one cool series which is far above my current level.

Absolutely! Perseverance is key. I usually talk about this with first-time readers in the book club, but it's probably just as important for those making the leap from intermediate to advanced reading! Keep going and build up a habit of regular reading in Japanese. Choosing a book that is appropriate to your level can make this process much easier and will lead to you enjoying reading in Japanese as well.

Read what you love (and why the right level is still important)

Please note that I write about my own experiences and thoughts. I describe what works for me and what I enjoy. Some things work well for many people, but not everything works for everyone. If something else works better for you, that's fine! I just want to share my experiences.)

Some time ago, I read the following advice:

"Don't care about the right level, read what you love!"

It's funny, because this is what I did before I switched to my current way of reading and although I tried to read articles about topics I'm very interested in I was very frustrated because I needed to look up almost every word (which is no surprise since one of my favorite topics are history and science XD).

It was no fun at all and I didn't made any noticeable progress for months. Maybe it's because the books and topics I really love are much more difficult than the books other people love (certain mangas or light novels, for example).

Does the level matter or not?

This advice is not bad, but it really depends! Even if you love certain topics or series and if you are very motivated to read it in your target language, this is not a guarantee that you will really enjoy it. If it's too difficult to follow the story there's not much to enjoy. At least, this is what I experienced. 

In my case, choosing reading material that is around my level or not too far above was the best decision ever. I made so much more progress since. I don't follow a certain rule, like, "read material you understand to X%" or "read material where you understand X of 10 words".

I'm also really bad at guessing the level of difficulty in general. I'm not familiar with the JLPT levels. I can only describe how easy, normal or difficult it is for me at my current level. When I describe the level of difficulty it's very subjective.

Example:

This is how I describe easy, normal or difficult books:

Easy: 『ペンギン・ハイウェイ』 was the easiest novel I've read so far. I looked up a few words, I didn't understand every detail but I was able to read it comfortably. I understood most of it.

Normal: 『ぼくらの7日間戦争』 was normal. I didn't understand everything and some sentences and paragraphs were difficult, but overall I was able to follow the story well enough to enjoy it.

Difficult: The 『ハイキュー!! 』 novels are difficult at the moment. The story is not complicated but the author used a rich vocabulary to decribe even the simplest things. I'm used to not understanding every detail, but this writing style made it difficult for me to understand what is going on. I really love 『ハイキュー!! 』 and I will definitely come back to these novels, but I will expand my vocabulary by reading books that are easier to understand, before I try it again.

Tips:

I recommend to read the excerpt of a certain book (if available) and see for yourself if this book is at the right level for you.

I always try to read the first chapter or two to tell if I understand enough to enjoy the book. I follow my gut feeling, not strict rules. The right level is a level at where I can enjoy a book. So in that sense, level does matter in my opinion.

If your favorite books are too difficult at the moment, try to find books at your level. Easier books can be interesting, too. Maybe you'll find your next favorite book.

Be flexible

Let's say you want to read this one light novel series in Japanese, because you enjoyed the anime in your native language (means, you are sure that you will love the light novel, story-wise).

But when you only understand fragments (a few words or sentences here and there) so that it's very difficult to follow the story, it might not be so enjoyable as you thought. You won't get much out of the book at this stage. At least, this is how I feel. 

Instead of forcing yourself to read something you "should" enjoy but which is too difficult at the moment, I think it may be a good idea to try something else for now. If your favorite light novel or manga series is too difficult at this stage, don't hesitate to try something new and broaden your horizon — you may discover your next favorite book, who knows?

It's not a shame to admit that some books you are interested in are too difficult at the moment. If you are open minded and curious and also try books other than the popular manga and light novels you already know, you may discover even more books that are interesting.

I've read books which seemed not so interesting in the beginning, but in the end I was so glad that I've read them. Don't judge a book by it's cover!

The most important thing for me is to keep going. Books I barely understand only slow me down. That's why I rather try something new at the right level instead of insisting on that one cool series which is far above my current level. I learned so much by reading books that are around my level and I enjoy this process much more than before! 

When I choose a book, the content is not the only important factor. The better I understand a book the more I can enjoy the content. It is very motivating if you read a book in your target language and realize that you can follow the story without too much trouble. This can give a language learner a lot of confidence! There may be countless books you can't understand, yet, but it is a great feeling when you read something you can understand well (enough).

Mixing the level of difficulty

As I wrote above, reading books which are not too difficult are very important in my opinion. However, in order to improve I don't avoid difficult texts completely. I'm experimenting with reading books at different levels. Reading something difficult is hard but challenging yourself is beneficial:

Difficult texts are not scary anymore If you are mixing different levels of difficulty you'll get used to reading difficult texts. It's still difficult, of course, but you won't develop the habit of only reading easy texts and avoiding everything that is more difficult than what you are used to. You'll gain confidence with every challenge. In my experience, the first few chapters of a new book are usually the hardest. After you are used to the story and writing style it often gets easier. If you are used to difficult texts you won't give up on the first few pages.

A more realistic feeling for your real level Reading only things at exactly your level can lead to the impression that your language skills are at a higher level than they really are. If you read things at different levels of difficulty you'll get a more realistic feeling for your current level. You'll learn in which areas you need to improve. Are you lacking vocabulary? Or is grammar your weak point? If you know where you stand you can choose your language learning activities accordingly.

Keep learning something new Leaving your comfort zone regularly makes sure that your progress won't stagnate. At some point, some texts are so easy that you won't learn much from them. It's absolutely fine to read easy books, of course, but I think it's a good idea to mix them with a bit more difficult books so that you'll keep learning new things.

Tip:

My main focus is on easy/normal books, but I also regularly challenge myself by reading at least a few pages of a more difficult book. I'm mixing extensive and intensive reading, so to speak. This way I don't get overwhelmed by the difficult book, where I need to look up much more words to understand what's going on.

If there's an interesting but difficult book you can't wait to read, this strategy may be a good compromise.

[da3drat]

remember this one😶❓(wip)

[startedwellthatsentence]

Murderbot 1.06 spoilers

I love that when Leebeebee asks how the Preservation Alliance deals with allocating resources for childcare, Baradwaj begins to go on about community support and shared responsibility, and Gurathin just bluntly states “debt”.

Neither is wrong, but the perspective is important. The Preservation Alliance does not have the material resources to support its population. It has to import them. And once they’re in the Preservation system, then yes, Baradwaj is right, the resources are allocated equitably to those who need them.

But Gurathin is also right, in that in order to acquire the resources in the first place, the alliance has to go into debt. And it has to do missions like the current PresAux mission in order to pay toward those debts.

The community resources are GOOD, but they aren’t FREE. Gurathin, who comes from outside of the system, is better able to see that reality. It’s not as if Baradwaj doesn’t know this, but it isn’t how she conceptualizes it, and she has to be reminded that the goods that are communally shared do have to originate OUTSIDE of their system.

[heedra]

cant really begin to care too much about 'de-extincting' mammoths (by making proxies out of elephants) as a real thing tbh bc the ppl behind it are not gonna convince me that engineering a proxy mammoth has any actual intended utility to them other than "being on display for money".

[his-dark-materials-trilogy]

The Golden Compass of Our Linguistic Intuitions

From hakoret-harishona . com

October 30, 2018

One of Philip Pullman's loveliest ideas in his book The Golden Compass (1995) is an instrument called "an alethiometer". The alethiometer resembles a golden clock or compass, but instead of the hours in the clock, there are 36 little pictures – an anchor, an hourglass, a beehive and so on – around its rim. The instrument has three hands that can be arranged to point at any of the pictures, and a fourth, longer hand that can swing freely. The image above is a photo of the alethiometer from the film version of The Golden Compass.

The book's protagonist, a girl called Lyra, receives such an instrument, and later on hears an explanation regarding the origin of its name. The word alethiometer is derived from aletheia (ἀλήθεια), "truth" in Ancient Greek; an alethiometer is thus a "truth-meter".

"All these pictures round the rim … they're symbols, and each one stands for a whole series of things. Take the anchor, there. The first meaning of that is hope, because hope holds you fast like an anchor so you don't give way. The second meaning is steadfastness. The third meaning is snag, or prevention. The fourth meaning is the sea. And so on, down to ten, twelve, maybe a never-ending series of meanings … I know some, but to read it fully I'd need the book. I seen the book and I know where it is, but I en't got it. … You got three hands you can control … and you use them to ask a question. By pointing to three symbols you can ask any question you can imagine, because you've got so many levels of each one. Once you got your question framed, the other needle swings round and points to more symbols that give you the answer.'

'But how does it know what level you're a-thinking of when you set the question?'

'Ah, by itself it don't. It only works if the questioner holds the levels in their mind.'"

Choosing a Meaning

As a rule, then, the readers of the alethiometer use books to look up the relevant meanings of the symbols. Lyra doesn't have the books, and in any case, she's an uneducated child. However, as she plays around with the alethiometer, she soon realizes that without any books, she can read it, ask questions and understand the answers. The longer she uses the alethiometer, the better she gets at it. When asked "how do you know where these meanings are?" she answers "I kind of see 'em. Or feel 'em rather, like climbing down a ladder at night, you put your foot down and there's another rung. Well, I put my mind down and there's another meaning, and I kind of sense what it is. Then I put 'em all together."

I recently read Pullman's new book, a prequel to The Golden Compass. And as I read it, I realized that the alethiometer can be seen as a metaphor to the process of speaking, comprehending and even acquiring language.

Words, like the symbols in the alethiometer, have many meanings, often related. Some of them have dozens of meanings – as we can see by considering a few examples, or looking them up in a good dictionary. When we speak (or write), we must choose words that have meanings suitable to what we wish to say; when we decipher what has been said to us (or what we read), we must understand, like the readers of the alethiometer, which of a word's meanings is now relevant. Does since mean "from that time on" or "because"? Does wave indicate the rising of water, the movement of a hand, an oscillating electric field, or something that football fans do at a stadium? The relevant meaning of a word, like the relevant meaning of one of the alethiometer's symbols, is chosen or made clear by the complete message.

The process of choosing the relevant meaning happens when we phrase a message – speak, or ask a question of the alethiometer – as well as when we decipher one. In the quotation below, Lyra explains how she's asking the alethiometer "what's Mrs. Coulter doing now" (Mrs. Coulter is Lyra's mother).

"Well, the Madonna is Mrs. Coulter, and I think my mother when I put the hand there; and the ant is busy – that's easy, that's the top meaning; and the hourglass has got time in its meanings, and partway down there's now, and I just fix my mind on it."

Similarly, when we speak, we choose words that express the message we wish to deliver, i.e. words that one of their meanings suits what we wish to say. In the sentence "I called her but the line was busy", for example, there are several words with multiple meanings; if I say this sentence, I must have chosen called because one of its meanings is "phoned", and busy because one of its meanings is "currently in use". Once the message is created, we hope the person who receives it will decipher it correctly – will recognize, from among the different meanings of each word (or combination of words), the meaning we are trying to convey; that they, as Lyra put it, put their foot down and find another rung, put their mind down and find another meaning, and then put 'em all together.

So far it makes sense. Pullman's alethiometer can be seen as a metaphor, beautifully and poetically made, for symbolic communication. In the terms used by the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, every sign is composed of a signifier and a signified; the alethiometer's symbols, like words in a language, are signifiers, and each one of them can, and indeed does, stand for several signified objects. Identifying the right meaning, in human communication as well as in reading the alethiometer, is a task that requires thought and an act of choosing.

How Many Levels? Perhaps a Never-Ending Series: Meanings, Register, Connotation, Context

Using words, however, entails much more than choosing one of several possible meanings. Words have not only meanings, but also a register: the words child and kid have a common meaning, but one is much less formal than the other. Words have not only a denotation, a primary and literal meaning, but also a connotation – the cultural and emotional associations that they carry with them; thin and slender have a similar meaning, but thin is basically neutral whereas slender has a positive connotation. Some words are commonly used in certain contexts, which can be very specific. Ginger is used to indicate a reddish color, but only for hair or fur (we wouldn't usually say "a ginger sunset"). Blonde is used even more specifically – only for hair: we say "a ginger cat", but we don't normally say "a blonde cat".

All these characteristics of words and their usage – the different meanings, the register, the connotations and the typical context – are somewhat similar to the "levels of meaning" in Pullman's alethiometer. There is the “first level” mentioned by Lyra, the level of the most common meaning, which will probably be the first meaning we learn as we acquire the language; but every word has multiple layers. This is most easily felt when someone uses a word in an unusual context or manner, or misinterprets a word when it is used to indicate a less common meaning. These kinds of mistakes are typical of non-native speakers – people who learned this particular language as second or third language, but have a different language as their native tongue.

The Alethiometer as a Mother Tongue

We thus reach another layer in Pullman's lovely metaphor. Most of the alethiometer's readers are scholars, meaning – adults. To them, using the alethiometer is a skill that requires learning, from books or from another scholar, and they need a book detailing the meanings of the symbols in order to phrase questions and comprehend the answers they receive. The child Lyra, on the other hand, acquires the ability to communicate with the alethiometer without requiring a book or a teacher. She toys with the alethiometer, looks at the pictures, moves the hands and follows the movement of the needle, and soon intuitively comprehends the meanings of the symbols: "I kind of see 'em. Or feel 'em rather". Her communication with the alethiometer is so fast and intuitive that this ability becomes a huge asset to her side in the war described in the book: by the time the enemy's adult reader has asked a question and deciphered the answer, her side has gained precious hours.

Does this difference remind you of something? I was reminded of the difference between mother-tongue and second-language acquisition. Children acquire their mother tongue easily and naturally, with no need for formal teaching or a dictionary. All it takes is for people to use it in their presence (and later – to talk to them). Adults, as a rule, require formal teaching. Even then, and after many years of practice, the second language is still a second language, and its deeper levels might still be missing, resulting in misunderstandings or peculiar phrasings.

Towards the conclusion of His Dark Materials trilogy, of which The Golden Compass is the first volume, Lyra has grown from a child to a young woman, and is horrified to realize that she has lost her ability to read the alethiometer. How did this happen? An angel explains to her that her ability to read the alethiometer has been given to her "by grace", and is now gone. Pullman does not explicitly indicate Lyra's growing up as the reason for this loss of grace, the ability to read the alethiometer intuitively; but she's told she can re-learn it "by work" – patiently, formally, with the use of books, and she decides to do so.

All of us, like Lyra, enjoy a period of grace in our childhood. One in which we can acquire a language effortlessly, just by hearing it. All of us, like Lyra, lose this ability as we grow up. Yet like Lyra, we can still learn a new language, and delve deeper and deeper into it, with hard work, patience and books.

[grand-theft-carbohydrates]

the writing in animorphs is general very relatable and speaks of the universal teenager experience, but occasionally i get struck by moments of "wow an american wrote this" and let me tell you it's not the stuff u think, like pop culture or politics. it's the attitudes towards animals. i always felt like american ecologists are just totally different from kiwi ones. cassie is an animal lover who became distraught because she killed a termite colony once. meanwhile this is a real convo i had in the biosci building last month:

classmate: i ran over a baby bunny yesterday

me: yay! great work! thank you for your contributions to the environment!

classmate: i didn't have a plastic bag otherwise i would have taken it home and fed it to my dog :(

[malinowaj]

coworker asking me why i translated a set of instructions myself and didn’t just use chatGPT. i’ve never wanted to say ”fuck you” to someone more than i did then.

[rigelmejo]

@earlgrey--tea you asked who learned French just by watching TV shows and I'm thrilled you asked.

Here is the paper Peter Llewellyn Foley published: Picking up a second language from television: an autoethnographic L2 simulation of L1 French learning. Looking over the paper again now, he did 1500 hours of audio-visual French material for native speakers. He read toward the end of that period for some hundreds of hours, and he talked to people in French similarly toward the end of that period for some hundreds of hours. I read the whole thing, and I recommend anyone else who's curious reads the whole thing. Because my takeaways may not be the same as another person's. The paper includes what he did, how he studied, how he tracked his study, what study materials worked best (he found children's cartoons with a lot of visuals of what is being talked about were the easiest to learn from in the first few hundred hours - and adult television where they talk about things not directly visually shown as some of the hardest stuff that he used once he had more understanding of the language).

His paper shows at least 1 person could learn French by watching shows (with children's cartoons being best at the beginning stage until you learn more words), and trying to figure out what each thing means as you hear it. He did a lot of puzzling out the sounds he heard, using context and guessing what was being talked about (for curiosity's sake he did the opposite of what ALG Automatic Language Growth articles tend to suggest people do). He did not do any reading later sometime after 1000 hours, and it's fascinating how different he imagined French spelling was based on his guesses from the sound, compared to how it is actually spelled. He did use some graded readers for learners once he was reading.

He did not look any word translations up when watching all those shows. He personally makes the guess that if he HAD looked up words, if he HAD used French subtitles, and if he had focused entirely on children's shows at first, his progress might have taken less time. But his experiment did not do that, so it's only a guess, and actual success of people who've looked up words should be referenced instead for how successful or not it is (people like r/Refold learners look up words while watching shows), and he did not use any video materials made for language learners but my personal thinking is that Comprehensible Input type lessons at the beginning stage may have worked even better than children's cartoons.

To me, his level of understanding and ability to do things lines up fairly well with Dreaming Spanish's roadmap estimated hours to do X things. That makes sense to me as Peter basically studied with stuff made for native speakers, which eventually became more comprehensible. And Dreaming Spanish is designed to be fully comprehensible to a learner, until they can comprehend stuff for native speakers. I imagine Peter had a harder time initially, but as an English speaker learning French, with all the cognates, maybe he didn't have to learn as much to cross the threshold into comprehending children's shows as someone learning a language with no cognates.

I wrote my in depth thoughts about his paper here but it's mostly just rambling.

[bonefall]

...Something's kinda hitting me, guys. I think something just clicked.

So we all know that BB!DOTC is the arc I'm not staying faithful to, right? A lot of characters are getting total overhauls? I'd actually been dancing pretty heavily around the pro-colonialism themes in the original text, simply because I don't really feel comfortable handling them (same with certain sexual themes, it's not great for my mental health to force myself to engage with certain elements that are triggering)

So I'd made it so there was Park Cats (Wind Coalition and River Kingdom) who arrived relatively recently, and Tribe Cats (Sky's Clan, Shadow's Clan) who nestle into an unclaimed spot in the forest. All groups roughly equal in power until Thunder's Clan which was existing in defiance.

But Clanmew isn't JUST comprised of Parkmew and Tribemew-- there's a third contributor. Old Townmew, which mixes with Parkmew and forms Middle Townmew, mixing again with Clanmew to create Modern Townmew.

Since I'm now really thinking about the colonialism themes, especially in my re-read where it starts reaching its narrative conclusion in Books 5 and 6... I think I need to add that 3rd cultural group. I need to make them a player. I think I'm doing a serious disservice by only having the Park Cats, Tribe Cats, and then saying all others mostly lived in the town.

I'm gonna do a BB!Brokenstar with Slash. Previously I'd just cut him completely-- but I think I should, instead, walk him back from being "Pure Evil" like he is in-canon and make him into a real character.

One Eye's a god drawn to the festering stink and rot of the First Battle; Slash is a mortal, leading a group like any other in the Forest Territories.

I think I'm also going to significantly bump up the time the Park Cats have been in this territory. Slash and his cats have been fighting them for years, and until the Mountain Cat influx, were basically spread through most of the Forest.

[dokushoclub]

Short Story Collections for Learning Japanese

Are you ready to discover the fascinating world of Japanese short stories? Reading in a foreign language is one of the most effective ways to improve but doing it for an extended period can also be exhausting, especially when you need to grasp new grammar and vocabulary at the same time. Short stories offer a perfect compromise. With their selfcontained plots and concise length they will sharpen…

[ecogreenlivingessentials]

Sustainable Gardening: How to Grow a Thriving, Eco-Friendly Garden

Gardening is a rewarding way to connect with nature, grow your own food, and create a beautiful outdoor space. However, traditional gardening methods can sometimes be wasteful, relying on excessive water, synthetic fertilizers, and harmful pesticides. Sustainable gardening focuses on working with nature to create a self-sustaining, environmentally friendly garden that conserves resources,…

[mashasxart]

had one of those days where the computers and phone were down All Day so i doodled some things while i was at my desk poses

the top one is basically that 'why does father call you babygirl' meme but i couldn't think of how to reword it so it fit the two of them. natori just 'you'll understand when you're older' and lune retorting with 'i'm literally an adult rn' so natori panics and says 'then you'll understand when you're dead' and Flees

the second was me trying to play around with hospitality!AU but mostly just turned into me drawing natori in something fluffy and warm-looking bc i was cold. i cut out the face tho. it was Bad

aaand then there is my favorite crack ship bc i had Their Song stuck in my head

natori: you can't be that much older than me natori: look at you muta: mind your own business

[swordbending]

I'm over people saying "give the live action a chance before you criticize it" like trailers are mostly a marketing tool to convince ppl to watch smth but they're also there to let viewers decide whether they think smth is worth their time. if people look at trailers & promo and decide they aren't gonna like it based on that that's no one's problem but the marketing team's

[xiangqiankua]

I'd been stressing myself out doing old practice tests that have 50 questions with a 60 minute time limit, when I stopped to consider that I'm taking the TOCFL CAT. Says the official website:

"The TOCFL Computerized Adaptive Test (Listening and Reading) employs Rasch model of item response theory. The test taker does not need to choose the test level or band when registering for the test. The computer selects the test items based on the test taker’s response to the previous items. Compared with other test formats, CAT takes less test items to precisely evaluate the test takers’ competence, as the item selection is adapted by the test takers’ responses." There are actually only about 35 questions per section. Excellent, I thought to myself. I decided to try the CAT practice test (there's no pausing, so if you want to try make sure you have a couple hours free, it gives you a score immediately at the end. There are traditional and simplified versions!)

It was very difficult. I got a lot of questions that were definitely from Band C, which I did not enjoy! Please leave me in my comfort zone in peace! (If there were actually 50 questions I would have given up and started clicking random answers.) I did get Level 4 (B2) at the end, which was my goal, so I can only hope the practice test is more or less on par with the real one.

However, the real gratifying thing was that looking up the bathroom wall graffiti the other day really paid off because there was a whole listening passage on ketamine.

[perikali]

What a change from a concrete plaza to a lush landscaped area.

Kudos to All involved for the transformation of Denver 17th Street Corner Plaza.