The October Tadoku Contest: Because I Am So $%!*@#^ Sick Of “What To Expect When You’re Expecting”
Yes, there’s a reason my twitter stream suddenly went from chatter about Japanese to sporadic complaints about how tired I am: I’m pregnant! I’ve known since mid-August, but the chance of miscarriage drops off significantly after twelve weeks, so I wanted to keep it quiet until then (although at least one person did guess from my tweets, it seems). So far things are normal, but as it turns out, what’s “normal” in the first trimester can actually be pretty weird – I’ve been exhausted, horrendously nauseous and have developed aversions to food, prenatal vitamins, toothpaste and other useful things. Even better, I’ve had trouble concentrating on anything more challenging than “Dancing With The Stars” (yes, seriously) and so Japanese – along with most of the rest of my life – has been right out. Glory hallelujah, the first trimester weirdness is supposed to fade in the second trimester, and I have indeed been feeling better recently.
So I’ve been hitting the baby books, but I miss Japanese, and I’m feeling alert enough to read at least a little bit this month! I got another glorious package of books from Emmie the other day, and it includes some from my favorite series and some that I’ve been dying to read for months (or even years, for a couple of them). I’m most excited about some of the タイムスリップ探偵団 series, which is apparently some sort of time-travel detective series for kids around 4th or 5th grade where a group of kids encounters famous personages from Japanese history. They’re more complex than other books I’ve read so far, so I’ll have to work up to them with a little Zorori first.
Happy reading, everyone!
3 Responses to The October Tadoku Contest: Because I Am So $%!*@#^ Sick Of “What To Expect When You’re Expecting”
- Extensive reading is known as 多読, or tadoku in Japanese. To try it, start with very easy books (ones with no more than two or three unknown words per page), and follow these principles:
1. Don’t look up words in the dictionary while reading.
2. Skip over parts you don’t understand.
3. If you aren’t enjoying one book, toss it aside and get another.
Find something to read!
Hundreds of free books and stories online
Local bookstores and libraries
Buying new and used books online
For more information, read "What Is Extensive Reading?" and "Classification System."
To learn more about Kunihide Sakai, who developed the three principles of tadoku and has worked to popularize it in Japan for years, read this interview with him.
Finally, for more than you ever wanted to know about why I believe extensive reading is worth your time, read my tadoku manifesto. Currently reading:
Superfluous Stats
Books read: 303
Word count (since starting the blog): 380,500Categories
- About Myself
- Adventure
- Books from my own collection
- Classification System
- Detailed Reviews of Graded Readers
- Detailed Reviews of Level 2 Books
- Detailed Reviews of Level 3 Books
- Detailed Reviews of Level 4 Books
- Detailed Reviews of Level 5 Books
- EhonNavi Books
- Extensive Reading Basics
- Extensive Reading Materials Online
- Extensive Reading Paper Summaries and Notes
- Extensive Reading Resources
- Illustrated Reference Books
- Interviews
- Japanese Language Learning Resources
- Mini Reviews of Level 1 Books
- Mini Reviews of Level 2 Books
- Mini Reviews of Level 3 Books
- Mini Reviews of Level 4 Books
- Mini Reviews of Level 5 Books
- Mini-Reviews of Level 6 Books
- Nikkei Bunko Library Books
- Non-Fiction
- Picture Books
- Pierce County Library Books
- Reading in a Foreign Language
- Seattle Library Books
- Short Stories
- Society and Culture
- Tacoma Library Books
- Tadoku Contest
- Weekly Updates
- 多読材料
Extensive Reading
- Extensive Reading group
- Goodreads Tadoku Group
- Overview of the "Start with Simple Stories" method
- Read More or Die
- Reading in a Foreign Language
- Tadoku Livejournal Community
- tadoku.org (in Japanese)
- Talk to the Clouds
- The Extensive Reading Foundation
- The Extensive Reading Pages
- 日本多読研究会 (Japanese Graded Readers Research Group)
Japanese Language Learning Resources
So glad your starting to feel better, and that you’re finally feeling able to get some Japanese in. I wanted to mention a friend’s blog to you: http://mikotoneko.wordpress.com/table-of-contents/ . She managed to continue her Japanese studies during her pregnancy and with a newborn, and has some posts with tips on preparations you can make while your pregnant so that you can still squeeze in some Japanese once the baby comes. A lot won’t apply, because she writes a lot about SRS, etc, but she also has a lot of good stuff about immersion/reading and things you can do in japanese with the new baby that might be of interest. Anyways , just thought I would mention that.
And, once again, おめでとうございます！！！！！！！！！Life will never be the same, but I mean that in a very good way.
Wow, I just found your site. It’s very cool. I’m a big fan of reading in Japanese, and I wanted to mention the one thing that I enjoy reading: a Japanese encyclopedia written for kids at the elementary/middle-school level.
It’s pretty geeky,I know, to read an encyclopedia, but it’s full of all kinds of really fundamental information: the planets, the human body, weather, geography. Best of all, they have tons of pictures and are laid out beautifully. The articles are short and have full furigana (at least the one I recently purchased does).
It’s probably a step up in difficulty from what you’re reading now,but maybe worth a look.
PS. I hope your pregnancy is proceeding well. All the best.
Really good blog! :) I will be checking the Children Books!