I’m 99% this is some vocal abbreviation of 'どうするかな’, which is kind of like asking ‘what should I do?’
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As @mbuck867 has said this is an abbreviation of どうするかな! This abbreviation is another example of a 役割語（やくわりご）and it makes the character sound like a ‘masculine young boy/cool kid’.
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I noticed that I was at risk of falling behind yesterday, as I hadn’t even started chapter 4 yet, and ended up reading the whole chapter that evening. As charming as Yotsuba is, this is more in line with my interests. It’s going to be hard not to blast through the whole thing.
Looking forward to the first gym battle.
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Phew, I fell behind due to the FFXIV expansion releasing the other week, but I’m finally starting this now! Just wrapped up chapter two. It feels like a small step up from Yotsuba, but reading aloud has helped me figure out most of the colloquialisms. This is super nostalgic, too. I grew up on the first couple of Pokemon gens so I’m glad the vote settled on this one.
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Hello, I was wondering, on pg. 59, does とかなきゃ carry a special nuance? Or is it just another way of saying ‘have to’?
明日朝一番にポケモンセンターに行って、勝負の前に弱ったモンスターの体力を完全回復させとかなきゃな。
Thank you!
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Hey @SnowTale934 !
とかなきゃ is an abbreviation of ておかないといけない, which means ‘I have to do…inadvance’!
Hope this helps!
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Just posting that I am caught up on the reading. I definitely am not ready to read and understand most of this yet, hoping I understand over 50% with the vocab lists and everything… Have quite a few questions but I figure a lot of them will be answered once I finish N4 grammar, lol. Anywho, I have actually been keeping up with the reading this far, which is a new first for me. Thanks everyone for all of your questions, helps me know which parts are a little more… difficult to understand than the rest.
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I’ve just finished chapter 1 today, so I’m waaaay behind 
I hope I will catch up soon - I try to add everything from chapter deck to my review queue first, so it will take some time to sort everything out, since I get to reading only after I’m done with reviews.
By the way, 琴 lost in the vocab deck made me smile 
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I didn’t end up getting any reading done while I was on vacation last week, so I’ve got two chapters to get caught up on. I should be able to get some solid reading time in during the second half of this week.
This manga is making me want to play one of the videogames and draw a picture of my character/team. 
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Hello, on pg.75,
“助だちするぜ、おねえちゃん.”
What does だち mean here? Chatgpt’s given me a different answer each time lol. It’s said it means standing, a plural suffix, and a colloquial word for ‘help’.
And on pg. 78,
水系の攻撃は草ポケモンにゃ効かねーぜ。
Is にゃ a colloquial form of に?
Thank you!
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Hey @SnowTale934 !
This だち is not 立ち as chatgpt suggests, but instead it is 太刀 which is a type of katana. 助太刀 is a phrase that is used to mean ‘to give a hand’. This word was used when someone would join a battle with a 太刀 for assistance.
にゃ is a colloquial form of には！
I hope this answers your question!
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I had a lot of this series in English years ago, so I’m surprised that I don’t remember a single page of it, haha. It definitely falls in a sweet spot for me vocabulary wise but my grammar is so poor a lot of the time I feel like I’m just taking a random guess at the greater meaning of sentences haha. Maybe I’ll save a few that I can’t quite parse and ask about them later
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@Asher
Could we get the pacing guide corrected? I think it should be something like this:
| Week | Start and End Dates | Chapter(s) | Page Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 6/17/2024 - 6/23/2024 | Chapter 1 | 5 to 18 |
| Week 2 | 6/24/2024 - 6/30/2024 | Chapter 2 | 19 to 32 |
| Week 3 | 7/1/2024 - 7/7/2024 | Chapter 3 | 33 to 46 |
| Week 4 | 7/8/2024 - 7/14/2024 | Chapter 4 | 47 to 60 |
| Week 5 | 7/15/2024 - 7/21/2024 | Chapter 5 | 61 to 74 |
| Week 6 | 7/22/2024 - 7/28/2024 | Chapter 6 | 75 to 88 |
| Week 7 | 7/29/2024 - 8/4/2024 | Chapter 7 | 89 to 102 |
| Week 8 | 8/5/2024 - 8/11/2024 | Chapter 8 | 103 to 116 |
| Week 9 | 8/12/2024 - 8/18/2024 | Chapter 9 | 117 to 130 |
| Week 10 | 8/19/2024 - 8/25/2024 | Chapter 10 | 131 to 144 |
| Week 11 | 8/26/2024 - 9/1/2024 | Chapter 11 | 145 to 158 |
| Week 12 | 9/2/2024 - 9/8/2024 | Chapter 12 | 159 to 172 |
| Week 13 | 9/9/2024 - 9/15/2024 | Chapter 13 | 173 to 186 |
| Week 14 | 9/16/2024 - 9/22/2024 | Chapter 14 | 187 to finish |
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Thanks! Didn’t notice the over lap in the middle! Updating now 
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I am all caught up with the readings. I feel like I am getting a lot better at parsing through what the characters are saying. For some reason, this part was tricky to me:
I think this is what it means, but someone please correct me if it is wrong.
“Did I just hear something… or is it just my imagination?”
Breakdown:
- 今 (ima): Now
- 何か (nani ka): Something
- 物音 (monooto): A sound or noise (usually indicating a small or subtle noise)
- がした (ga shita): (Did it) happen/make a noise (past tense)
- ような (you na): Seems like, appears to be
- 気のせい (kinosei): Just my imagination
-
か (ka): Indicates a question
Pretty easy once you look at it all broken down that way, but for some reason the よ-な… 気のせ-か. really threw me off.
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How is everyone doing? I found the last two chapters (12 and 13) to be a lot easier than the earlier ones (or maybe I am getting better??). For some reason the two boat chapters were the hardest for me, not sure if it was the pirates or Red talking to himself but it seemed way more difficult.
Seems like the last chapter is going to be pretty exciting!
End of Chapter 13 Spoiler!
The fight we have all been waiting for!
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I was really excited at the beginning, but pretty soon after I started I realized that it was harder than I thought it was going to be (harder than Yotsuba, that’s for sure). Also, after returning from Japan at the beginning of summer I was REALLY motivated to get better at Japanese and to start tackling my giant pile of manga that I brought home. I don’t know when it happened, but I crashed into a wall and a lot of my motivation fizzled out. I had all of these plans (start reading more, moving on to Quartet) and it just never happened. This of course includes reading Pokémon: I’m nowhere near where I want to be at.
No, I’m not quitting. I’m just not moving as fast as I would like. Oh well. It’s not like my physical copy of manga is going anywhere or I’m in a class and I have to finish it before the end of the semester. I’ll let you know when I finally finish.
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If a lot of people feel the same way (and I know I would like something a little easier next) I would suggest we do ちいさな森のオオカミちゃん next. While Yotsuba was a 16 and pokemon a 21 on natively, ‘The Wolf of the Small Forest’ is only a 14 https://learnnatively.com/series/ff8581837d/. Not the most interesting story, but I think it seems more interesting that Chi’s sweet home, and should be a pretty easy and quick read at only 7 chapters.
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That sounds like a good idea. Honestly I’ve just been really busy with personal stuff, so I’ve kinda just been chugging away at SRS instead of reading.
I do plan to binge read the rest of the manga though next week, plan to get in just before the deadline. <3
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