Hi guys so today I want to share my experience in manga reading with my N3 JLPT level (vocabulary and grammar). I have also made reading japanese manga experience when im at N4 level in [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/sdq2qt/first_time_experience_reading_josei_manga_as_jlpt/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3).
The title that I was read in japanese is Chainsaw Man (Furigana), Teasing Master Takagi (Furigana), and Blue Period (No Furigana, More Harder). At my level now I could probably say every casual & daily conversation in the manga that shown I could understand it. Some bubble text also have more longer dialogue than other’s that sometime confuse me because you know when reading in japanese you should translate it into english backward (in your brain) to make the sentence more understandable. In this long sentence sometime’s I found that my translation was wrong, but it’s okay for me, because make a mistake is a part of learning, right.
But when it’s already talk about some history (in blue period) and other common issue’s (CSM & Teasing Takagi), that’s when I use Google Lens (In Google Translate App) helps. I Would say in manga with this kind slice of life / action genre and you’re in (late) N3 level, you can read about 50%-70% of the content without using Google Lens. About this Google Lenses app, for me the translation that generate from this app I could say 75%-95% accurate, because you know japanese have some kanji that had the same reading but different meaning, ex. 聞くin the app it translate as “to hear” but the context of the bubble text is “to ask” and other ex. 才能 in the app it translate to “talent” but the context of the bubble chat is “gifted”. Example like this you’ll see common when reading in japanese especially you’re not a native that only know some of the meaning of 1 kanji. So again don’t be afraid when you’re make a mistake in translating the bubble text, after all it wouldn’t ruin your reading experience.
Also sometimes I encounter a bubble text with a mix of N3 and beyond (N2-N1) vocabulary when I read it, I know what the main context of the bubble text but somehow I feel like I missing something because I didn’t know that N2-N1 meaning yet. But yeah it’s a part of learning and practice when I met with some of vocabulary and grammar that I don’t have any clue about it yet.
I have a little tip’s for this thread reader when start reading japanese manga.
1. Search some light slice of life manga or shounen action genre because it probably have more daily basis vocabulary and grammar that you need (and maybe usefull when talking to native).
2. If you encounter some hard bubble text, ex. In one bubble text you only understand 50% of the content and you already figure it out what the context of the bubble text in general,then search what’s the vocabulary or grammar that you don’t understand and **just continue it**. I bold the **just continue it** because sometime I had condition that after I search the vocabulary or grammar that I didn’t understand and think about the context again, somehow it makes me feel more confuse than before.
3. The most important is whenever you encounter some hard bubble text, just Google Lenses the text, why? Because in my experience when you force your brain to understand some vocabulary and grammar than beyond your level, your eager to read will decrease and your brain think the manga isn’t interesting anymore. So whenever this happen, just Google Lenses, know the meaning of the bubble text, and proceed to continue. By the time if you encounter the same vocabulary or grammar again, your brain will automatically recognize it. or if it have furigana, search it in [Jisho](https://jisho.org/)for more accurate meaning.
4. Last but not least, when you reading japanese manga as a media to learn japanese, make the activity interest to you and feel happy about it, because what’s other way to learning a language without a good mood, right. Remember make a mistake is a part of learning, so don’t be afraid 🙂
If i may suggest, don’t try reading title such as Detective Conan/Case Closed or other mystery/detective genre, Altough in japan it’s for children and have furigana in it, but the vocabulary somehow (for me) is beyond that and it have a lot of text that makes you more depressed in reading it if you’re not good enough in reading in japanese yet.
Anyone maybe have other experience in reading japanese manga for rpacticing reading? you can share in comment below, loved to hear it.
Happy reading and learning \^\^
7 comments
I don’t use google lens. Only Jisho for lookups. But otherwise my experience is similar to yours.
I got to grips with kanji long before I thought of reading manga regularly since I didn’t have access to Japanese ones early on. Now I find it more… not so much harder, but more **distracting** to read ones with full furigana support. I’m still just barely out of the N3 rut but I can relax *and* focus better with seinen manga since I *can’t* feel tempted to look at furigana for vocabulary I should already know.
Indeed. — I cannot stress enough how wrong the idea is that literature for children should be easier for language learners. 8 year old children already speak their native language more fluently and better than many language learners ever will.
Literature for children when it be historical, science-fiction, military, magic, detective, or similar will contain vocabulary that is very difficult for language learners.
I also decided to give Chainsaw Man a go last year when I was preparing for N3. As far as basic conversation goes, I think I was able to comprehend pretty much everything. Only when it came down to more complicated lore stuff I had to re-read the same chapter in English afterwards. But still, a very much positive experience. It’s daunting and tiring at first, but gets better little by little.
The main thing I’d recommend for someone to start reading is to *not* gloss over any grammar you stumble upon that you can’t immediately remember. If it looks familiar, but you are not sure if you’re reading it correctly – mark the page, write it down, look it up as soon as possible, because it’s better to get it right and settle it in your memory. It’s tempting to read faster, but take your time to figure stuff out so that you get a better learning experience.
I’ll just take this opportunity to recommend “Kimi wa Houkago no Insomnia”. It’s easy to ready and it’s soooo good, please don’t miss this one.
If anyone is wanting to ease into reading manga and is interested in shojo (or horror) I recommend the publisher Ciao Comics. They make manga for elementary students. I haven’t read any of their usual shojo stuff but I’m really enjoying their horror comics—I usually read their one-shot collections rather than the longer series. They’re nice easy reads but still provide some challenging grammar and vocabulary
Chainsaw man is great 👍
What I did in the beginning of reading manga (when I was n4-ish) was pretty much adding every unknown for the first vol or two to my srs. Then I could mostly follow what was going on through the rest of the series. Also sticking to stuff with furigana so lookups were easier