Osaka ¨C I used to be afraid of reading Japanese books. I know that may sound ridiculous, but the thought of tackling long pieces of text was intimidating. Even though I had an advanced command of the language, my reading was slow and awkward, and didn¡¯t do much for my self-confidence.
So, I would put off trying to read Japanese books. Having too much work can be a pretty easy excuse when it comes to picking up a new habit, but the longer I put it off, the guiltier I¡¯d feel about it. Eventually, I got the hang of it and, for those of you who are looking for a New Year¡¯s resolution for 2022, I¡¯d like to suggest some places to get you started when it comes to reading.
Things changed for me when I picked up ¡°Ä§Å®¤ÎÕ¬¼±±ã¡± (¡°Majo no Takkyubin¡±) by ½ÇÒ°–Ñ×Ó (Kadono Eiko, Eiko Kadono), better known in English as ¡°Kiki¡¯s Delivery Service.¡± What set this book apart from the others I¡¯d attempted was that I wanted to read it. It¡¯s a simple shift but the change from ¡°needing¡± to ¡°wanting¡± helped me finish my first Japanese-language novel from start to finish.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.