Is it normal to not understand while reading?

Japanese
#21

I was cautioned ‘don’t translate it. Let Japanese be Japanese’
so instead of pulling apart each word and putting it back just keep going. And ask ‘what happened’ instead of ‘what does it mean?’
This is the first page of かがみの孤城:
カーテンを閉めた窓の向こうから、移動スーパーの車が来た音が聞こえる。

せかいじゅう どこだって
わらいあり なみだあり
みんな それぞれたすせあう
ちいさなせかい

ディズニーランドの、こころの好きなアトラクション、イッツ・ア・スモールワールドの曲。『小さな世界』が車についた大きなスピーカーから響き渡る。
こころが小さい時から同じ曲で、車はやってくる。
曲が途切れて、声が聞こえる。
『毎度、お騒がせしております。ミカワ青果の移動販売車です。生鮮食品、乳製品、パンに米もございます』

Then think ‘what happened?’

read Japanese first

A car drives by playing it’s a small world afterall.
she loved that ride at Disney land.
The car plays an ad for a supermarket

4 Likes
#22

I mean in terms of length. A normal novel is a single story that’s very long, but because it’s multiple stories in one book and each one is self-contained, it’s more a matter of getting through a story rather than reading a full-length novel to get to the end. Maybe it was just the couple I had that were like that, though? I don’t actually have them anymore or I’d get the titles. I do know that the ones I read matched the TV show, so maybe it was because it was telling certain episodes (though I always thought it was the other way around and the books came before the show). It’s been a long time since I’ve read them.

#23

Ah yeah, I googled and there are 5 Detective Galileo short story collections, but there are also 5 complete novels. Only the novels have been translated into English it seems.

1 Like
#24

Yes. Absolutely. Often it’s that I don’t know the words, or the grammar is too long to decipher.

Using Bunpro’s reading mode has helped my reading improve a lot. It provides immediate feedback and a lot of the example sentences are quite involved, and helps build up confidence to understand sentences with words you don’t know yet.

#25

I think the goal is to ultimately just passively understand the language, cus I would think that once you get into more complex japanese that translating into your head just wouldn’t work anymore; there would be too much nuance, a lot of grammar particles/structures, etc. But honestly for me, I just kind of let the words hit my brain and then even if I don’t understand exactly what’s going on, my brain can fill in the blanks, like a puzzle piece. I’ve found that if I try to understand it all and actively translate in my head, then I just get more tired out and learning Japanese feels more like a chore than a hobby lol. So I just kinda let the words hit my brain or hit my ears and let my brain connect the dots. Maybe not a good strat tho, js my two cents :sweat_smile:

2 Likes
#26

I got into jlpt reading practice first and now I’m reading かがみの孤城 which is my first book. It is quite hard but the website “Learn natively” is quite good.

I don’t know you’re ease with immersion but I would say to start with Anime/Drama to get used to then to go into reading. Jlpt reading are way easier in my opinion because the vocabulary is limited so you can also start reading it and you can review your understanding by doing the exercises.

#27

Me too. Maybe we should make a かがみの孤城 book club?
Definately pick up the corrisponding anki deck from the mediafire folder. It’s near the top.

#28

I don’t understand anything when reading, but if asked i can explain what is happening in different words albeit missing some detail (mostly words/phrases that I’ve not yet studied)

Like the sentence 仕事のためとはいえ、家族と離れて暮らすのはやはり寂しいものだ。 (correct sentence)

My explanation: 仕事に行くことは寂しい。なぜなら、家族と離れなきゃ。 (I know the nuance is lost, but it’s the best i can do lol.)

It’s apparently a good exercise to rephrase sentences, but I am just not good at rephrasing it.

There are times especially when watching anime too where I “understand it” but I don’t know why I’m understanding it. it’s quite frustrating because I can’t reproduce it, but I just take it as I’m learning.

#29

Never done it before, so why not? If others are into it, it looks fun.

I read with Manabi Reader, but I couldn’t find an Anki deck for the book.

#30

FYI you wrote なられて instead of 離れて. Had me questioning everything for a second :joy:

#31

Ah, I see, yeah just a typo. N and h keys are right next to each other. At least you can see what I meant when reading my “interpretation” section lol.

#32

Sorry for the late reply! I really appreciate you’re breaking this down in a logical order of, essentially, what to expect in different stages of learning. Your post makes a ton of sense and in the end, I suppose I just need to expose myself even more. Thank you for your time and help!