Japanese Books

[wind thunder]

are there any books or series I can get that are not altered besides an Eng translation next to it because I'm finding it difficult to learn individual words and basic phrases on a repetitive basis but id like to try changing my method to something more practical in text volume rather than audible...

[shrewd coral]

Manga can serve you well here, but you’ll be hard pressed to find any book that’s both in JP and translated and it wouldn’t be beneficial anyways. Translation often changes words, structures, and sometimes the whole sentence to get the correct meaning and nuance across to the reader. Because of that, it won’t help you learn like you might think.

But if you like the idea of reading and find it more appealing than listening, totally go for it. Just try to do some listening on the side because it makes the internal voice when you read a lot easier to “hear” if you know what the language sounds like from experience.

[wind thunder]

@shrewd coral im not the greatest at memorization but i know its because im not used to it yet however ive tried the app pimslur and it worked great; (ish only because im still so new) but its an expensive subscription, i made an attempt at dulingo but we all know how bad that is, and im gunna try out renshuu but im worried how far the free version will take me...is there an app or website or book for flash card style? id love a dictionary but i hear its not recommended because its either out of date or its not accurate to how the language is actually used now days or something

[shrewd coral]

From my perspective, you’re probably overthinking things and should just do a little trust-fall into the process. I also sucked at memorizing words early on—my retention was abysmal. When everything is new and the readings are sort of arbitrary from the perspective of a new learner, you’re going to struggle with memorizing. That’s why immersion is recommended: the context tells you what a word means, even if you already forgot it. If you don’t like listening, manga does the same thing with pictures.

Ultimately, you know you best. I don’t personally know of tools like you’re describing, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t out there. However, you need to dive in to real native content eventually. There’s only so many flash cards and prep books you can go through before you need to play the game for it to stick.