Language Journal: July 8th 2019
I cancelled Box Of Manga, ordered a ton of stuff from CDJapan and I'm making progress in Harry Potter.
I still think BoM is a pretty great service. It had some weak points. The duplicates and skipped book certainly helped me make the decision sooner rather than later. But, I was already thinking about when I would make my exit. If I hadn't gotten my first skipped book in a series I would probably have still quit in a month or so.
To recap, the service was a great fit for me before because I initially had zero exposure to native Japanese reading materials. I didn't know how I would fare and had no way of determining if something was too far above or below my level without actually ordering it. This allowed someone else to worry about sending something roughly around my reading level. And it worked spectacularly.
It may have worked a little too well. The last few shipments have left me intentionally pacing myself. And even then, I would still wrap up before the next shipment arrived. And that lead me to buying some e-books on Amazon in Japanese. And that only further pushed my reading level and comfort. It also meant I had another place to get resources from.
Now, Amazon isn't great in that respect. There is a VERY limited selection of what I can get in Japanese. But, it was a first step in breaking my dependence on BoM.
I'm about 20% through the first Harry Potter. Which may not seem like a lot until you realize that I'm only reading that when I have nothing else to read, and it is more challenging than most manga and it is a lot bigger than most manga.
I already knew about CDJapan, but I had never actually ordered anything. I took the plunge though and ordered the whole Flying Witch series which is 7 books. So, 175% the size of a BoM order. And the cost was maybe 15-25% more.
You'll notice that while it is cheaper than BoM... it is certainly not a massive savings by any stretch. Which is a part of the reason why I tend to question people who shoot the service down so quickly. If you're asking about how to get manga you're probably not able to get it easily or cheaply enough and thus likely have little to no exposure to actual Japanese reading material. And that to me makes the cost difference worthwhile.
The reason I feel comfortable cancelling is that I'm able to finish the 4 books I get a month in a few days now. And that is a pretty massive problem. I want to keep reading as a part of my routine. And that means I either need enough volume or challenging material to keep me going between deliveries. Now, it is OK if I re-read manga. But, then I kind of need to be in control of what I'm getting so I have things I WANT to re-read as well.
I could go up in BoM, but since I started with Intermediate, it means that the next step is the highest. Which in theory means that anything I'm interested in on my own is going to fall somewhere either within what they would have sent me anyway or within the realm of what I can already read. Which means I no longer need to worry about the complexity of what I'm ordering.
Most of the stuff I was interested in is actually lower level reading material. And I'm no longer all that intimidated by more difficult stuff. I have strategies for deciphering new words if I happen to get stuck on words in harder materials. So, after I get my Flying Witch delivery I'll probably queue up a few volumes of the original Shield Hero light novel, or Violet Evergarden. I can also finish up my collections for some of the anime I have like Erased and Silver Spoon. And once I've exhausted ideas like that I can move onto manga for various other anime I've enjoyed.
Truth be told... I'm already kind of considering my exit from being heavily into the reading. After a few of these larger self-driven orders I'll probably start mixing shows and movies into the shipments as well. My reading is going along well, and I certainly want to maintain that. But, my listening skills are where I really need to focus. I just need to find the right medium.
And that is what I've been pondering lately.
I still think BoM is a pretty great service. It had some weak points. The duplicates and skipped book certainly helped me make the decision sooner rather than later. But, I was already thinking about when I would make my exit. If I hadn't gotten my first skipped book in a series I would probably have still quit in a month or so.
To recap, the service was a great fit for me before because I initially had zero exposure to native Japanese reading materials. I didn't know how I would fare and had no way of determining if something was too far above or below my level without actually ordering it. This allowed someone else to worry about sending something roughly around my reading level. And it worked spectacularly.
It may have worked a little too well. The last few shipments have left me intentionally pacing myself. And even then, I would still wrap up before the next shipment arrived. And that lead me to buying some e-books on Amazon in Japanese. And that only further pushed my reading level and comfort. It also meant I had another place to get resources from.
Now, Amazon isn't great in that respect. There is a VERY limited selection of what I can get in Japanese. But, it was a first step in breaking my dependence on BoM.
I'm about 20% through the first Harry Potter. Which may not seem like a lot until you realize that I'm only reading that when I have nothing else to read, and it is more challenging than most manga and it is a lot bigger than most manga.
I already knew about CDJapan, but I had never actually ordered anything. I took the plunge though and ordered the whole Flying Witch series which is 7 books. So, 175% the size of a BoM order. And the cost was maybe 15-25% more.
You'll notice that while it is cheaper than BoM... it is certainly not a massive savings by any stretch. Which is a part of the reason why I tend to question people who shoot the service down so quickly. If you're asking about how to get manga you're probably not able to get it easily or cheaply enough and thus likely have little to no exposure to actual Japanese reading material. And that to me makes the cost difference worthwhile.
The reason I feel comfortable cancelling is that I'm able to finish the 4 books I get a month in a few days now. And that is a pretty massive problem. I want to keep reading as a part of my routine. And that means I either need enough volume or challenging material to keep me going between deliveries. Now, it is OK if I re-read manga. But, then I kind of need to be in control of what I'm getting so I have things I WANT to re-read as well.
I could go up in BoM, but since I started with Intermediate, it means that the next step is the highest. Which in theory means that anything I'm interested in on my own is going to fall somewhere either within what they would have sent me anyway or within the realm of what I can already read. Which means I no longer need to worry about the complexity of what I'm ordering.
Most of the stuff I was interested in is actually lower level reading material. And I'm no longer all that intimidated by more difficult stuff. I have strategies for deciphering new words if I happen to get stuck on words in harder materials. So, after I get my Flying Witch delivery I'll probably queue up a few volumes of the original Shield Hero light novel, or Violet Evergarden. I can also finish up my collections for some of the anime I have like Erased and Silver Spoon. And once I've exhausted ideas like that I can move onto manga for various other anime I've enjoyed.
Truth be told... I'm already kind of considering my exit from being heavily into the reading. After a few of these larger self-driven orders I'll probably start mixing shows and movies into the shipments as well. My reading is going along well, and I certainly want to maintain that. But, my listening skills are where I really need to focus. I just need to find the right medium.
And that is what I've been pondering lately.
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