Any good raw manga to learn Japanese?

Active member
Joined
May 31, 2019
Messages
27
こんにちは!
I'm learning Japanese and have already learn to read the kanas, but still trying to make sense of what is kanji.
I was wondering if you guys know any good raw manga to help my reading comprehension in Japanese.
I'm not too picky with the story, anything works if it's not too complex.

どうもありがとうございます!
 
Contributor
Joined
Jan 21, 2018
Messages
1,083
@AK140
I've heard that https://mangadex.org/title/311/yotsuba-to is a good one to learn Japanese. I haven't read it though (not even the eng tn'ed one). But to be honest with you, anything but seinen or josei is good since they mostly have furigana

For me I went for R18 doujins, cuz they repeat a lot, so it's better for retention
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Sep 1, 2019
Messages
10,563
If I were to give a suggestion, learn Korean first and then learn Japanese as they're both heavily based on Chinese language so, whilst the grammar rules and syntax may be different. Korean is the easiest to learn because it was an artificially created language by one of the Emperors of Korea (Sejong the Great) because he wanted his peasants to be literate and the Chinese system was too complicated. So he made the Korean alphabet to simplify it and reduce the unneeded complexity and so its considered one the easiest lanaguages to transliterate and become literate in. As an entry level to Asiatic languages, it is much easier than jumping into Japan which has three primary writing systems. (Kanji, Katakana, and Hiragana-excluding Romanji)

To demonstrate the similarities, take the honorifics in Middle Chinese, Korean and Japanese
The Japanese word "Senpai"-先輩- shares the same root as the honorific used in Korea-Seonbae/Sunbae-선배-which itself is taken from the Chinese word "Xianbei," pronounced "sin-bui" as "x's" in Chinese make "s" sounds. Similarly, the word "sensei" in Japanese-先生- is shared with similar roots with the Korean "선생 " Seonsang and the Middle Chinese "先生"-"xiansheng."

These are just for example, but the sino-xenic languages tend to share a lot of vocab and so familiarizing yourself with one should help ease you into a few. Its like knowing Latin before taking French and Spanish, not strictly necessary but knowing the origins of words and structures, as well knowing what to look for and how the syntax of the sentences are constructed will help you immensely in easing you into literacy of another language, though albeit it's like knowing Korean will automatically make you able to read and write Japanese in a few hours but will still take hundreds of hours to a few thousand instead of thousands upon thousands of hours to learn.


Here's a guide for the Korean alphabet
tkivkg7gxahz.png
https://i.redd.it/tkivkg7gxahz.png
 
Aggregator gang
Joined
Jan 20, 2018
Messages
1,692
Anything by either Kodansha, Kadokawa, or Shogakukan I guess since most of their magazines use furigana.
Also if there's any isekai shits in the magazine, it's pretty likely they also use furigana.
 
Active member
Joined
May 31, 2019
Messages
27
@axelTHEGREAT
That'll be Indonesian

@Pika
Thanks i'll take a look into it.

@Tamerlane
I'm not against the idea of learning Korean, but is it a good idea to learn a similar language at the same time? Also i already learn how read Hiragana and Katakana (slowly to words i'm already familiar), will learning Korean help my Japanese reading comprehension also?
Sorry for sounding like a doubter
 
Group Leader
Joined
May 6, 2019
Messages
41
You could start off by reading manga aimed at younger readers, like most shounen series. The kanji in those are typically subtitled with the phonetic writing systems.
 
Contributor
Joined
Jan 21, 2018
Messages
1,083
@AK140
Oriental languages have a lot of similarities, so learning Korean first isn't too far-fetched.
I learned Chinese first and then tried Japanese, you don't need to bother with syntax anymore and most words have about the same meaning.
 
Group Leader
Joined
Jan 23, 2018
Messages
614
Hm, I can't think of any specific recommendations, but I do have some suggestions for how to make your choice.

As has been said already, furigana (the hiragana guides written next to kanji) is going to be a big help, and it's pretty common unless the manga is specifically aimed at older audiences. Furigana helps with looking words up in a dictionary, if comprehension practice is your aim, although reading with a dictionary is going to be very slow (still worth it if that's what you want).

4koma-manga are usually decent choices, because they don't rely on too much continual context; failing to understand a couple pages isn't going to make it impossible to follow what's going on, because most of the strips stand largely on their own and establish their own subject/context. Although some comedy 4koma might have puns and references in them that could be difficult to grasp through casual reading.

Lastly, I think it's a great idea to choose something you've already read before in a language you do understand, so that you go in already understanding some of the basic character dynamics, plot direction, and other things that you can fall back on. You usually don't remember every line from every chapter of manga you've read as long as it wasn't very recently, so it'll still be relying on your reading comprehension, just with some added help from the familiarity you feel.

Dunno if any of that helps, but I hope you find something that works for you!
 
Group Leader
Joined
Feb 11, 2018
Messages
16
My Japanese teacher at school recommand us to read Doraemon to learn the language, as it is quite easier
 
Active member
Joined
May 31, 2019
Messages
27
Also where's a good source to read raw manga? Unfortunately i can't either buy them officially or digitally.
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Sep 1, 2019
Messages
10,563
I'll give you a somewhat comical example of why learning multiple languages at the same time is operationally helpful.

I've been a Latin student for about four years now. In vulgar Latin, (ie the informal Latin plebians/commoners spoke) the word "Merda" means "shit." The French word "merde," the Italian "merda," the Spanish "mierda" and the Portuguese "merda" all mean the same thing-"shit." Because of Roman hegemony and the subsequent use of Latin as a tool for writing in the church, Latin has a solid root in all the languages of Western Europe to some extent, with German and the Scandinavian languages being the exception. The Chinese were similar in their conquests, being the regional superpower that was able to conquer and spread its culture, as Chinese culture and Confucianism specifically emphasizes the value of the native vs the foreigner and that those of one's nation who can read and speak the language are superior to outsiders, and so a great emphasis was placed on teaching newly conquered people how to read and write in Chinese, which spread to the surrounding areas that were not under Chinese control such as Japan, Uighur, Mongolia and Vietnam. Thus, languages evolve and spread in the same sense the organisms do, and understanding one will help you with understanding another. Hence why Danes, Norweigans, and Swedes can typically all understand one another pretty well. (Iceland being an exception because its the closest modern language to old Norse and Finish is closer to the Slavic languages)

@Ak140
 
Aggregator gang
Joined
Jan 20, 2018
Messages
1,692
@AK140 Most publisher have manga app which let you somewhat read for free. Sunday Webly probably a good start since their freebies are abundant and also have furigana.

@Tamerlane Doesn't sounds practical for written learning imo. Especially with language that have wide writing systems like chinese and japanese.
 
VIP
Joined
Feb 11, 2018
Messages
375
@AK140 Yeah, as @421cookies mentioned, most official manga sites these days are structured so that the first several chapters and the several most recent chapters are freely available.

Some examples:
- Pixiv Comic: https://comic.pixiv.net
- Mangabox: https://www.mangabox.me/
- Manga-Park (not that Mangapark; this one's actually owned by Hakusensha): https://manga-park.com
- Comic Walker: https://comic-walker.com
- Sunday Webry: https://www.sunday-webry.com
- Gangan Online: http://www.ganganonline.com/
- Comic Meteor: https://comic-meteor.jp
- Kurage Bunch: https://kuragebunch.com
- Dengeki Daioh: https://dengekidaioh.jp (e.g. here's Yotsuba! https://dengekidaioh.jp/product/yotsubato/)
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Sep 1, 2019
Messages
10,563
It's more operationally helpful than you'd think because of overlap in structure and shared characters. Its easier to be literate via learning multiple languages than it would be to pronounce them correctly in conversation, however, because of differences in pronunciation and dialect.

@421cookies
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top