thank you so much! 
I now have the correct version and will start reading again. It makes me happy to see some N2 grammar in action, although I am very far from outputting on that level. I love bunpro too much to ever stop adding new things^^And it does come in clutch for immersion.
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Finished chapter two ! There were a few things I didn’t get based on the summary but at least it was a faster read than chapter 1… both because of the heavy dialogue and my starting to learn how to let go and accept I can’t understand everything. Manga aside this is my first real book so I guess it’s a natural thing to struggle with at first.
I’m still lagging a bit behind due to starting a week later, hopefully I’ll catch up soon 
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I’m behind too, still haven’t done chapter 2. I’ve put Japanese into maintenance mode for a bit cause I wanna learn Spanish but I’m still planning on doing my best to keep up with the book.
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I am also still on chapter 2. But catching up 
After I understood what ほうき meant it suddenly became more clear. I do have to translate quite a few sentences, but I don’t have the patience to do that with every sentence.
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How many pages (roughly, I appreciate) is Chapter 3 in general? I might just push on and read the whole chapter if it’s not ridiculous…
Was there anything in particular that you remember missing when comparing with the summary? I can try to point to where it happened in the reading, if that’s helpful.
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Ah that sounds like a bit too much then 
Thanks for checking!
Thanks a lot for the offer 
There were a few details it’s also possible I just forgot about, from reading this chapter in multiple sessions (like the parents going shopping or Kiki’s friend wanting to be an hairdresser) but the main thing was the new broom.
Summary
The part that confused me is our first introduction to Kiki’s mystery broom. I understood that it was a secret broom and some of the talk around it, however I didn’t get whom the secret was kept from until we got to the discussion with the parents. My first assumption was that Kiki found the new broom her parents were planning to gift her or something. It wasn’t until she presented said broom to her parents and her mom went “you can’t use that” that I understood it was the other way around
Finished the reading for the week. I admit this beginning of chapter 3 was not the easiest for me. All the exposition came through expressions that were hard for me to follow.
Had to reread a few times to finally get all of it
Hoping the next bit of chapter 3 will be a bit easier
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Understandable! In terms of the new broom, there’s a few key sentences I’ll call out below that may make the context more clear.
Summary
「ねえ、ジジ、あれを見てみようか、ちょっとだけ。かあさんいないから」 Translation: "Hey, Jiji, let's go look at that/it for a bit. Since mum isn't here." This is the first reference to the broom and who it's being kept secret from, although at this point we don't specifically know what Kiki is talking about since she just refers to it as あれ or why it's being kept a secret.Jiji responds by asking, 「どうして、コキリさんに秘密にするのさ」
Translation: “Why are you keeping it a secret from Kokiri?”
This sentence makes it even more clear that Kiki is specifically keeping something secret from her mum (Kokiri).
Kiki replies with, 「だってさ、かあさんはひとり立ちのことになると、大げさにさわぐんですもの。それになんでも口をはさみたがるでしょ…」
Translation: “Because, whenever coming-of-age comes up she makes such a big fuss out of it. And she always has to put in her two cents/make a comment…” From this, we now know why Kiki does not want to tell her mum about whatever secret she’s keeping. (At this point, we still don’t know she’s talking about a new broom.)
The next part if a bit more tricky and involves picking up on more subtle clues. Referring to the new broom, Jiji makes two specific remarks, 「…でも、あれはたっぷりお日さまにあてなくちゃいけにんだよ」and 「…また抱いてねたりしたら、かびがはえちゃうよ」
Translations: “But, make sure it gets lots of sunlight” and “if you (hug and) sleep with it, it’ll get moldy again.” Again, we still don’t know what they’re talking about at this point, but we do know it’s something Kiki has been looking after that needs sunlight and has the ability to go moldy.
A few sentences later, the chapter reads: …細長いほうきが一本、ぶらさがっています and seeing it, Kiki says, 「あんなきれいになったわ。もうだいじょうぶね」 and Jiji responds with, 「こんどは、うまくいったらしいね」
Translation: “A long, thin broom was hanging”, “It’s become so beautiful. It should be okay now, right?”, and “It looks like it went well this time.”
So, we finally know now that they’re talking about a broom. We aren’t actually specifically told that it’s a broom Kiki made until later in the chapter when she shows her mum (「柳の枝を川の水でさらして、そのあとお日さまにもさらしてつくったの。」- “I rinsed willow twigs in river water and then bleached it in the sun”), but I think at this point we have enough clues to know it’s something that Kiki has been working on and isn’t a present from her parents. We can deduce this from the use of words like また、こんど、あんなになった etc. which show that various attempts may have been made and that progress has been made.
Hopefully this makes that section a bit more clear! If you have more questions, let me know 
Read our assigned lot for this week. Definitely think the fact so much is in hiragana means I miss out on a lot of details because my brain is too caught up in trying to work out what’s vocabulary 
I really appreciate the summaries since even tho I get the jest, it does help fill in some blanks!
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I am suuuuper behind on the book right now, but I look forward to catching up on everything and reading everyones comments!
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Reading excessive hiragana with no spaces and omitted particles is quite an experience.
For example, みないそがしく makes me parse 見ない first and then double back when the rest doesn’t add up. You’d normally expect みんな in hiragana.
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That one definitely got me stumped too
Happy Saturday/Sunday again! It’s crazy to think we’re already halfway through January.
How did everyone find this week’s reading? I thought this section was interesting, as we get to learn a bit more about the history of witches and how they’re perceived.
This week’s reading is about nine and a half pages in the Fukuinkan version. As always, if you’d like to confirm start/end sentences, please reference the Pace section at the top of this post.
For those wanting to double check their comprehension after reading this chapter, please feel free to read over the summary below:
Week 4: Chapter 3 - Part 2 Summary (SPOILERS)
After saying goodbye to her mom and everyone else, Kiki finally sets off on her broom. Shortly after taking off, Jiji pesters Kiki to decide which way they're going to go. She decides they'll fly south, as she's heard that if you go that way, you'll eventually reach the ocean, which she wants to see at least once.The two start flying south, and we are given a description of the landscape they’re flying over, which is mostly dark mountains with the occasional gray field and flash of light between mountains. Eventually, the sun starts to rise, and Kiki is moved by the beauty of world now that the once grey scenery has been painted with colours. With the sun now up, she notices a steadily growing river winding between the mountains and decides to follow it, as it’s sure to lead eventually to the ocean. Turning on her radio and humming along, she catches a good tailwind and continues to fly on.
Kiki and Jiji start discussing what kind of city they want to live in. Kiki says that despite what her mum says, she doesn’t want to live in a small town. Instead, she wants to live in a city with tall buildings, a zoo, a station with steam trains coming and going, and an amusement park. Jiji calls her greedy and says all he needs is a sunny roof, a sunny bay window, and a sunny hallway. This prompts Kiki to ask if he’s cold, to which he admits he is. Kiki reminds him not to be shy about asking for things/speaking his mind, as it’s just the two of them now.
After awhile, they two fly over a plate-shaped (round) town surrounded by pretty green hills, with roofs that look like carrots and green peas in a soup. Jiji asks what Kiki thinks about this type of town. While discussing it, Kiki notices a small black speck below them, which as it gets closer, she realizes is actually another witch who’s flying with a black cat on her shoulder. However, this new witch’s flying is very jerky and it looks almost as if she’s riding an out of control horse.
Kiki decides to get closer, flying down towards the other witch. The other witch notices her and the two strike up a conversation. The other witch, who seems older than Kiki, asks her where she’s coming from and whether today is her coming-of-age day. Surprised, Kiki wonders how the other witch can tell, to which the other witch replies that of course she knows since Kiki is all dressed up and looks kind of tense.
The two continue to chat. Kiki learns that the other witch is a fortune teller of sorts, and it’s been almost a year since her coming-of-age day, so she’ll be able to go home and visit her parents soon. She’s also bad at flying a broom, which is why her flying is so jerky. However, she’s currently on her way to a job on a farm over the mountain where she’s been asked to see to a bad tempered cow. Before parting ways, the other witch assures Kiki she’ll be fine, as even though she seems like a bit of a tomboy, she’s cute and smart (like the other witch), and good at flying.
After saying goodbye, Jiji comments in a low voice that the other witch seemed a bit full of herself. Kiki disagrees, saying that the other witch complimented her. Jiji adds that the other witch’s cat seemed to be putting on airs because he was older and didn’t even say hi. Kiki rebukes this and tells Jiji that if he wanted to talk to the other cat, he should have said something. Snorting, Jiji says he didn’t particularly want to. Kiki finishes the conversation by saying she needs to consider her own things. The two fly on, continuing their search for a town.
Hope everyone has fun with this week’s section! No spoilers, but this week Kiki finally starts her journey and we meet an interesting new character. I’m curious to hear what people think about this new character! I have a few thoughts about this week’s reading, which I’ll add in a separate post later.
Here’s a picture from the intro scene of Ghibli’s version of Kiki’s Delivery Service, which shows Kiki flying on her coming-of-age day:
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Up to page 30 in my version and seriously considering giving up on this book club as someone else did and trying again in 6 months when I am a bit higher level… but also… persevering… waaaaa
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I’ve noticed it in earlier chapters before as well, but noticing it more and more now: aren’t politeness levels too inconsistent?
When Kiki and Jiji talk to each other, they alternate tameguchi and keigo. But they are pretty much family, wouldn’t tameguchi all the way be normal.
And in the conversation with お姉さん魔女, Kiki even works in an いらっしゃる. Normally I’d consider it to be some sort of irony or dig, but both seem to think it’s fine.
Have perhaps sensitivities changed since the book was written.
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I’ve noticed from living in Japan a while now that I always hear colleagues and friends mix up their speech all the time. Some things are more formal, some are more casual.
I don’t have a good answer for why this is or the correct times to use keigo or tameguchi are though 
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Nooo, ファイト！
But in all seriousness, do what’s best for you. If you feel like it’s too much, no pressure to keep going.
That being said, I do wonder if it will get a bit easier the further we get into the book as you get a bit more accustom to the writing style. I think someone in the other thread (book rehab) mentioned, you can also just skim read the first time and then come back and re-read it at a later point to see how much progress you’ve made.
Either way, I’ll continue to write the summaries each week which you can refer back to whenever you decide to read Kiki
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