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Rainbowhill Language Lab

Learn to Read Manga

Start reading manga today with Rainbowhill

This e-book is for anyone that has dreamed of reading Japanese,

for those of you that believe in getting in deep,
and for those that believe life is the best teacher.

This e-book is free and contains no affiliate

links, and no sales messages. It has been put
together solely for your enjoyment. If you enjoy it
please link to it or share it, acknowledging the work
that has gone into it by its author Brett Fyfield.

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Introduction
When I first landed in Japan in 2003 I knew little more than to count to ten and a
few standard greetings. I was hungry to learn and eager to immerse myself in the
culture. It wasn't enough for me to know enough conversational Japanese to 'get by'. I
was after a deeper appreciation of Japanese culture.

In the first weeks I set myself the task of memorising the kana, because I knew
being able to read would accelerate my learning. Once I'd done that I looked for things to
read.

I turned to manga. It was all around me. On the benches at the train station, in the
bookshop and on the table in the staff room at work. I wanted to understand Japanese
culture from the inside out, and it everywhere I looked people were reading it.

I hope that by sharing a few techniques for reading authentic Japanese you too can
get something out of it. Honestly, it was only when I began to read that Japanese culture
started to open up to me. There is only so much you can learn by listening to
people talk.

In keeping with the style and flavour of manga this guidebook is light and easy to
read. You won't find indepth analysis of esoteric kanji, or a debate on the most useful
tools for stuffing your head full of vocabulary. What I hope you do find is the door slightly
ajar to a room full of frivolous pictures, and an insight to modern Japan.

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Why you need to start reading manga today

If you've downloaded this e-book I think it's fair to say that
you are interested in learning Japanese. I really hope that you
are also interested in learning more about Japanese culture.
The two things are inseperable. Language carries a culture on
its back.

Learning a language is all about getting massive amounts

of authentic input. Contrary to popular belief the type of input
you get is really important. It's simply not good enough to listen to tapes and read text
books. You need to devour the type of input you would enjoy in your own language.

The input you get needs to be contextual. You need to learn about the situations
people find themselves in everyday. The author of an average textbook doesn't bother
building a story around a cast of characters that you can relate to. Authors of manga do,
and they do it visually. They focus on a few central characters, often with multiple sub-
plots just like a television drama.

Because manga tends to focus on developing a story based on the interactions of a

few characters the text is almost 100% dialogue. This way you learn Japanese
naturally by observing how it is spoken. If you compare this to the way that most text
books are written, manga is a much more authentic way to read conversational
Japanese.

With manga you won't see the author addressing specific grammar points section by
section. They are too busy developing a story. You won't see the author trying to
demonstrate a language function through contrived dialogue either. They are too busy
illustrating their characters lives in action and dialogue.

The visual story that develops within manga is supplemented with auditory clues to
what is happening. If you have a basic knowledge of katakana you will begin to see how
the Japanese 'view' the sounds around them.

It doesn't matter what you are interested in either, there's manga for it. From
hospital drama to science fiction and everything in-between. Think of manga as a parallel
universe where anything is possible and you'll get the idea. There is even manga that will
help you study for and pass university entrance examinations.

Perhaps because manga covers almost every subject imaginable it is also one of the
most widely read genres of literature in Japan. Nearly 50% of the Japanese population
have spent time in a manga cafe, 7 in 10 support the delivery of news on manga
websites like news manga and many are paying to read manga on mobile phones. The
Japanese public read it every day, you should too.

Manga is authentic Japanese culture. If you're not including it as part of your study
routine then you are really missing out. In the next few sections I'm going to show you
how to get the most out of this limitless resource. Or, you could just go back to the
reading tired old textbooks and relying on your teacher to fill your head with standard
Japanese. The choice is yours.

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Reading Japanese is easier than listening to Japanese

When you listen to Japanese, what do you hear? If you don't have a strong
vocabulary you'll hear some familiar sounds, but mostly you'll hear gibberish where it's
impossible to know where one word ends and another begins.

When they're not dumbing it down for you, the Japanese speak very quickly. They
often change pitch, tone and speed with out warning, and there are very few pauses.
Sometimes they'll omit words your textbooks say should always be there. They won't
stop to repeat themselves if they think you've missed something, even if you ask in your
most polite Japanese.

Now consider what happens if you decide to read manga. You have a lot more time
to read each word carefully and guess at the ones you don't quite know. When you're
struggling you can follow the story through the illustration. As long as you aren't
overwhelmed by the kanji on the page, you can make out a few words that you recognise
and the rest you underline so they can be looked up in a dictionary a little later.

Learning to read has to start somewhere.

Reading manga is easier than reading any other Japanese

Hold on, but what about textbooks? Learners should use textbooks right?

If you only read textbooks the number of words you are exposed to is pretty low.
Textbooks have a very narrow focus and use only vocabulary you should know for the
level you're at. The dialogue is 2 dimensional and the exercises are repetitive. Why
bother?

Likewise if you are picking up anki decks, or goals in smart.fm, I question the value
of learning chunks of language without any context. Where did those items come from?
Spaced repetition software can be a useful tool, but would you hand a six inch sushi knife
to your kid brother?

When you don't have enough vocabulary reading a Japanese newspaper is difficult
thing to do. Even if you could, you would find that only a fraction of it is interesting and
the rest of it more useful wrapping fish and chips.

Why not read something you also find interesting?

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How to source authentic Japanese manga

Tachiyomi (standing read) is a Japanese tradition. For
millions of Japanese in their spare time each day a portion of it
is spent at the book store or convenience browsing the shelves
for their favorite manga. The weekly manga magazines are
passed between friends and family members before eventually
finding their way into the recycling.

Second hand books line the shelves of vast warehouse size stores across the
country, and popular titles change hands many times before they fall apart. Because you
may not have the luxury of living in Japan, or having the in-laws being able to send you
manga. We'll investigate a few ways to source manga from wherever you are.

Get to a book store.

I'm told that major cities in the United States and Europe have the same big box
book stores that are everywhere in Japan. Book Off and Kinokuniya are two. There is a
Kinokuniya in Australia, but I've never been (it is too far away!). There is a local comic
book store in Brisbane that sells translated volumes, they'll even get the originals in for
me if I ask and I'm prepared to wait.

Use your friends.

You may be in a remote location, but you are reading this e-book written by a guy in
Brisbane. We've been brought together by the wonders of the internet. You're into social
networking right? And you've probably amassed hundreds of Facebook friends, maybe
some of them can help.

I usually ask my in-laws to bring manga with them when they visit Australia, it sure
beats getting dodgy souvenirs. If you're shy I'll understand.

The internet is your friend.

Let's go shopping. To get to the good stuff on Amazon.jp and Yahoo! Japan Auction
you're going to have to know a little Japanese. Ebay is another good place to look if you
haven't reached that level of confidence. I've done a few quick search scenarios for you.

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4 Online-shopping scenarios
Sourcing good manga can be a challenge, so let's step through a couple of scenarios
to see what could work for you. For the following exercise let's imagine that you live on
the West Coast of the U.S.A. and want to buy 6 volumes of some manga you've seen on
Rainbowhill Language Lab.

Scenario 1: Yahoo! Japan Auction + Tenso

Six second-hand volumes on Yahoo! Japan Auction will set you back about ￥1,200
plus postage, but they only ship to Japanese addresses. Tenso will provide you with a
Japanese address, plus a handling and shipping fee to get it back to your home town.
They also take PayPal. Shipping to North America is around 2000￥ plus the service fee of
around ￥490 for a total of about ￥3600 including the books.

Scenario 2: Kinokuniya BookWeb

Kinokuniya BookWeb will ship brand new Japanese versions popular manga for you
from any of their 8 stores in the United States for around $9 US plus postage. If you
were to buy 6 volumes this would come to about $65 including $8 postage providing you
live in any of the first 48 states. Apologies to those in Anchorage and Honolulu, you'll pay
three times the postage.

Scenario 3: Amazon.co.jp

Some of the best prices for new volumes is on Amazon Japan. The site is partially in
English which makes navigation a little easier if you're not entirely confident. Shipping
prices seem to be the most expensive here at ￥2700 for international, but if you buy 6
volumes at ￥550 that comes to ￥6000 which is about equivalent to the same books
bought from Kinokuniya BookWeb.

Scenario 4: eBay

If you're after manga and you don't mind it being pre-loved, eBay is probably the
cheapest and easiest way to find it. You might spend a little longer searching for it, but
it is possible to come across large collections and hard to find items. The advantages are
low postage costs and much lower prices on popular manga.

There are some other places around the web that stock manga, but either their
collections are limited or you have to scroll through pages of hentai manga which isn't
particularly interesting. Most of the manga I have bought has been second hand, and
when you are just getting started it's probably the best way to go. You can always start
trading up if you start to develop a passion for it. Someone I know has built a huge
collection almost exclusively on eBay.

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5 Essential tools for learning to read manga

In this section you'll learn what kinds of things you'll need
to have around you when you are reading manga. My
preference is for a combination of tools, online and offline, to
support you where ever and when ever you decide to read
manga. Keep things light and mobile, so it doesn't take much
effort to switch into a manga focussed study session.

1. Hiragana and katakana charts:

When you are learning to read Japanese start with hiragana and katakana, skip
romaji all together if you can. Romaji is a crutch and will distract you from the real
purpose of reading authentic Japanese. You won't find romaji anywhere in manga,
because it simply isn't Japanese. You will find hiragana and katakana charts in the back
of most Japanese phrasebooks.

2. A basic grammar reference:

Phrasebooks are good for grouping vocabulary and sentences around situations
you might encounter whilst traveling in Japan, but they rarely cover grammar in enough
detail. Textbooks cover grammar in plenty of detail but scatter it from cover to cover
amongst exercises and dialogues. What you need is something that focuses on the
structure of the Japanese language and presents it in a logical way that is easy to
reference.

3. Bilingual dictionaries:

You need dictionaries that go both ways, and contain definitions in English. They
don't need to have the largest number of entries, but they do need to have example
sentences. Lighter volumes often work better when you are startng out because you are
more likely to carry them with you. The most compact dictionaries are electronic, and
choosing the right one can eliminate a lot of excess clutter from your life.

4. A Learners kanji dictionary:

Learning to read Japanese is all about the kanji. You'll never get to full
proficiency in the language without a solid grasp of kanji, so why not tackle it head on? A
good investment at this stage will prove its worth to you over and over again. Try to find
one with multiple indices by stroke number, radical and reading. Better dictionaries
contains clear guidance on using radicals to identify and locate kanji.

5. Kanji study aid:

You may not want to hear this, but learning how to read goes hand-in-hand with
learning how to write. Having a physical connection with the character on the page
through a brush stroke-after-stroke is one of the most effective ways to learn kanji. It's

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not just the repetition that's important but the muscle memory developing with your fine
motor skills that enhances your understanding of kanji. It makes for fun back-of-the-
napkin tricks to impress your friends also!

Don't worry if you don't have a lot of these things yet. I have a full list of resources
that I use and recommend for improving your reading skills on my blog. In the next
section we'll cover how to read manga for enjoyment, which doesn't require anything
apart from an open mind.

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How to start reading manga from scratch

Reading manga must be enjoyable for you to learn
anything. Regardless of what your reading level is now, and
which manga you choose to read, if you read with a sense of
purpose you are sure to gain something from the experience.

You may hear a nagging internal dialogue telling you "it's

not possible, you can't read". Cut it out. As you'll see, beyond
the surface of the page, manga should come alive.

Direction, movement and rythym

Look at the following layout of cells. Let your eyes follow the lines on the page. What
direction are they moving in? What does the movement tell you about the pace of the
story? Read out loud in Japanese if you can. What sounds do you hear?

Manga has direction, movement and rythym. The author carefully arranges these
elements to determine the pace of the story.

Manga has direction

Manga has movement
Manga has tempo

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Sounds like...? Katakana

One of the first things you learn to read in Japanese, also happens to be one of the
most consistently used written elements in manga. If you have dedicated yourself to
learning katakana for at least a few days and at most two weeks, you will be able to
'hear' the sounds drawn on the page.

What sounds do you hear? What effect do they have on the level of tension created?
Do you feel any emotion? If so, what?

The introduction of sound creates another layer of meaning wthin the story. Just as
the layout of cells creates movement, the illustrated sound effects brings texture and
depth to the storyline. And this is all before we have encountered a single kanji.

Manga has sound

Manga has air
Manga breathes

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Dealing with dialogue and diving into the unknown

One of the attributes of manga that makes it so accessible to the Japanese is

dialogue. This is to your advantage. Following the Pareto principle more than 80% of the
dialogue you encounter will come from 20% of vocabulary in common use. You have
probably heard that you only need to know a core vocabulary of around 1500 words to
be fluent in any language. That leaves you with about 200 words to learn before you can
start to make sense of a typical conversation.

What time of day is it? Where is he waking up? Who is the first person he meets and
how does he greet them? Have they met before?

Not one word from this morning chat in the park is beyond the reach of someone
attempting the Japanes Language Profiency Test N5. Look a little closer and you will
notice that there are some differences from standard Japanese. Great! A departure from
the textbook. The diversity of Japanese reveals itself and we haven't even gone passed
this morning's greetings.

Manga is accessible
Manga is dialogue
Manga is diverse

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Deeper reading and marking passages for later

Once you have found your rhythm and you are confident with short passages of text,
it's time to go a little deeper. Split your reading in to two sessions, the first where you
focus on the manga and the second where you process the new vocabulary with the aid
of the tools I mentioned earlier.

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5 ways to enhance your enjoyment of reading manga

today
Reading manga can be an enjoyable escape. It might be tough at first but with
persistence and a few simple guidelines you should be able to make progress quickly.
These tips work just as well for reading things other than manga, so please try them out
today.

1. Don't read what you don't know: Spending too much time agonising over
something you haven't learned isn't going to make reading any easier. Now is
not the time to reach for a dictionary, it's only going to slow you down. The idea
is to gather enough from the context to get a general idea of what is happening
in the story.

2. Recognise something? Read it again: There may be some kanji that you
recognise but perhaps you are seeing them for the first time in a different
compound or used in a different way. Read it again, but the moment you start to
get hung up on getting it right, move on. It's alright to come back to it later, and
chances are you'll see it repeated again somewhere else.

3. Re-read before reaching for a reference: The first time you read something
you'll be reading for gist, and not spending any time looking things up. The
second time you may want to know a bit more detail based on the contextual
clues you've picked up in the first reading. Before reading a third time try re-
telling the story in your own words, as this helps prime you to pick up
information that you would have otherwise missed. Only after the third reading
should you reach for your dictionary.

4. Keep your sessions short and fun: If it isn't fun, stop doing it. You can make
things more fun by letting your imagination run wild, over short stretches.
Choosing something you enjoy is just as important as choosing something of
the right reading level.

5. Save the best for your SRS, later: This is where you will need the most
discipline, along with tip 3, if you spend too much time taking notes and note
enough reading it will limit your flow. Only after you've completed a few passes
should you choose a few expressions for your Spaced Repetiton Service. If
you're not sure what you should be choosing to SRS, keep it simple and
relevant.

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Choosing what to study with intent

People often ask me how to select books that are the right reading level. I usually
answer that what you find interesting is usually more important than what reading age
it’s aimed at. Reading Chibi Mariko Chan or Sazae San is not just for kids, it’s important
social commentary. Although, if it doesn’t interest you it’s not going to hold your
attention for very long.

Let’s imagine you have something you really want to read, it’s important to select
vocabulary for further study with real intent. One of the biggest mistakes you can make
is trying to read too much in one go. Other mistakes that will slow you down are
selecting too many items for review or words that are too far out of reach.

Keep the passage you intend to study short and use the 5 techniques above. Before
you pull out your dictionary or start stacking your SRS decide what vocabulary you’re
going to study.

• Finish reading: Only after you have finished your reading session should you
start to go back and find vocabulary you want to study. Keep these two sessions
separate as much as possible, punctuate them with a short break if necessary.
Make sure you have come to a point in your reading from which you will go no
further.

• Choose things you understand: If you’ve seen something before but in a

different context it is going to be useful for you to get a real fix on it through
further study. You know these items are going to be useful because they just
keep popping up. They may also be used different ways, so learn them well.

• Choose things you partially understand: In a new context things may look a
little different, you may be able to infer meaning but you’ll need a bit more
study to come to a full understanding. Choosing words you almost have a handle
on is going to be much more fruitful than taking words completely out of
context.

• Don’t choose more than you can commit to memory: Short term memory
typically holds no more than seven items. For words you want to learn no more
than five a day is a good rule of thumb, particularly if they are new and
complex. You should spend as much time on these five items as you did in
reading the passage of text you selected.

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Taking the next steps

Thanks for making it this far.

I know I've given you a lot to think about. Now take that knowledge and combine it with
your passion for learning and go for it! Have fun! Here are a few final thoughts I'd like to
share with you before I finish up.

How much you learn is up to you.

You know what they say, "life is the best teacher". If you have the right attitude you can
learn from anyone. Don't rely too heavily on one method or master. Manga is only one
way to put yourself in control of your learning.

Don't be too hard on yourself.

Language learning is a habit that takes time to develop. You'll sound silly, and won't
understand much for the first part. This is normal. Surround yourself with people who are
supportive and you'll go a long way. Most of all, quit the negative self talk. You can do it!

Give your self time to succeed.

If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well. To get to the point where you feel that you
have reached your goals is going to take some time, and you will face setbacks. If you
see each one of these setbacks as a opportunity to learn, then you will be one step closer
to your goals. Go for it!

Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Most people are more willing to help than you might expect. If they can see you are
making a genuine effort they'll get behind you when the going gets tough. Ask for help
when you need it and you might just find that someone has faced the same difficulty as
you are facing now.

Have fun!

Most importantly, serious fun. Learning about another culture opens the doors to so
much opportunity. You've come a long way already. Enjoy yourself!

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Thank you so much!

I hope you've enjoyed reading the e-book as

much as I have enjoyed writing it for you. This
e-book really belongs to all the people that have
attended my classes on eduFire, have
commented on my blog, liked my stuff on
Facebook and followed me on me on Twitter.

I really appreciate the time you've taken to read

this e-book and would love to hear what you
think about it. Please leave a comment on the
blog or send me an email, I read every single
comment and email.

If you know someone who might benefit from

this book please email this to them, or better
still send them to http://bit.ly/learn-to-read-
manga

All the best!

Brett Fyfield

Acknowledgments

Koichi from Tofugu (@tofugu on Twitter) got me started on eduFire where I really
developed my passion for helping people learn Japanese.

Natsukigirl (@natsukigirl on Twitter) inspired one of my first posts on the subject, and
was gracious enough to join us on eduFire to share her expertise.

My students on eduFire have been awesome, you all had a role to play in helping me
develop the classes and the content for this e-book.

And you! Thank you for downloading this e-book.

Image Credits

All of the images in this e-book, with the exception of the scanned pages from manga,
were sourced through creative commons, click through to my blog if you are interested
to know where they came from.

The manga is Pluto by Naoki Urasawa, and Homunculus by Hideo Yamamoto, the
copyright in their work resides with them. I claim fair use for educational purposes and
will respond to any reasonable request to remove them.

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