• If you haven't already done so, make sure you read the contest guidelines. We need to all be aware of what counts as a "page" for this contest.
• Again,,, it's whatever # you're gotten to by the end of Wednesday night (whenever that is for you). If it's not yet Wed/Thurs at midnight where you live, and you plan on reading more before then, wait until then to report your progress.
• If you choose to spill the beans, leave a comment with your name (the same one you used to enter the contest) and your number of pages. Additional comments/questions/concerns/points of discussion are also welcome. ;)

This is a bit late, but I just wanted to wish everyone happy reading :)

If you haven't already done so, please check out the contest guidelines.

 Last but not least, I will post a new entry in this blog on the morning of April 8th (Eastern Standard Time) inviting everyone to share their progress up to that point.

See you guys soon!

We're now only a few days away from the start of the contest, and I thought it'd be timely and appropriate to talk a little bit more about the contest itself. I'll be addressing a few key issues in this post, but if I leave anything unanswered, feel free to leave me a question/comment!

Anywho:

What counts as a page?

Essentially, a page can be any of the following:

• 1 page in a regular book or novel
• 10 pages of a manga/comic/graphic novel
• 1 newspaper article
• 1 blog post on the internet
• 1 webpage*

  For a webpage to count as 1 page, it must have roughly the equivalent of 2 paragraphs worth of text, give or take a sentence. On the other hand, if the page is unusually long (eg. a long wiki article), you may count it as more than a page.

• 1 page in a magazine
• The lyrics of 1 song
• 5 minutes of subtitles in your L2*

  For example, if you're watching a movie in your L2 that also has subtitles in that language, and you read all of the subs, 5 mins of doing that counts as 1 page.

• 2 pages of a script/play
• Etc

• 1 page = 2-3 paragraphs
• 1 paragraph = 5-8 short sentences OR 2-4 long sentences

How do I keep track of the number of pages I read?

This is up to you to decide, but basically, I can think of 2 main ways:

1. Keep a log/list of what you read

This can be done in MS Word or on paper; it would basically be something like:

• [Book Title], pg 1-30, 65-140 (# of pgs: 105)
• [webpage] (# of pgs: 1)
• [Manga], pg 1-180 (# of pgs: 18)
• [name of newspaper article] (# of pgs: 1)
• Etc

If you choose to do it this way, I'm NOT going to ask to see your list, nor will I figure out for you how many pages you've read. That's your responsibility.

2. Keep a tally

This is straightforward, I think... each time you read another 'page,' add a tally.


I personally intend on using the first method for myself; I think it leaves less room for error... but it's up to you how you want to do it. You could also do it another way that's not listed here.

How do I report my weekly/monthly progress?

Once the contest begins, I will put up a new post after each week, inviting people to report on their progress. You will be able to give updates on your progress by leaving comments for those posts (just make sure you include your name somewhere in your comment, otherwise I won't know who you are).

PLEASE only give me updates this way OR via twitter. DO NOT: e-mail me, expect me to find your blog somewhere on the internet detailing your progress, have a detailed essay about your progress flown to my house by helicopter, etc. Just a quick comment in the appropriate post, with your name and # of pages.
 

I think that's about all for now. Again, if you have any questions/comments/concerns... let me hear 'em! :)

1. Aaron Pasqual (Japanese)
2. Allekha (Japanese)
3. Ally-chan (Chinese)
4. Amanda S (Japanese)
5. AmandaTakesOff (Korean)
6. Andrew (Korean)
7. Airth (Japanese)
8. Ando (Japanese)
9. Andrew (Japanese)
10. Anno (Korean)
11. Becki (Japanese)
12. biyabiya (Japanese)
13. blarry (Japanese)
14. BlueFinger (Japanese)
15. Caleb (Korean)
16. catch (Japanese)
17. Christian Neff (Spanish)
18. Clayton (German)
19. colasensei (Japanese)
20. crazypuce (Japanese)
21. DarkOmnigamer (Japanese)
22. Elaine (Japanese)
23. Fdsfdaafsd (Japanese)
24. feonixrift (Japanese)
25. Frank (Japanese)
26. Fuamnach (Japanese)
27. Gabriella (Japanese)
28. イギリス人 [Igirisu-jin] (Japanese)
29. James (Japanese)
30. Janne (Japanese)
31. Jaybot7 (Japanese)
32. Jean (Japanese)
33. JessLaw (Japanese)
34. Jonsan (Japanese)
35. Joseph (English, French, Russian)
36. Josh (English, French)
37. Kaiko (Japanese)
38. Kim (Japanese)
39. Kimmers (French)
40. languagefixation (Swedish)
41. Lavena (Spanish)
42. Lee (Japanese)
43. lordsilent (Japanese)
44. Lunatic (Japanese, French)
45. Macca (Japanese)
46. Matarikii (Japanese)
47. Maya (Japanese)
48. Megs (Spanish & Japanese)
49. Mike (Japanese)
50. mjaynec (Japanese)
51. muflax (Japanese)
52. Naruru (Japanese)
53. O (Japanese)
54. Paula (Japanese)
55. Personal Mythos (French, Japanese, Spanish, Hebrew)
56. rcyeske (Spanish)
57. Redeim (Korean)
58. RenegadaBonita (Spanish)
59. Ron (Japanese)
60. sabetts (Bulgarian)
61. Sam Yudo (Japanese)
62. sanbyakuman (Chinese, Japanese)
63. Senli (Chinese)
64. Seppochu (Japanese, Korean)
65. Seth (Japanese)
66. shikantaza (Japanese)
67. Snyblind (Japanese)
68. Syk3 (Japanese)
69. Terazeal (Japanese)
70. Tommy (Japanese)
71. water_moccasin (Japanese, Chinese)
72. WaterNineTree (Japanese)
73. yuzuru (Japanese)
74. Zac (Japanese)
75. zinn (Chinese)

(NOTE: if you came here via AJATT, there's a good chance that you were directed to only this post, but not the rest of this blog. Click on the title of the contest at the very top of the page to be re-directed to more recent posts.)

       Hey, you! Yes, YOU!

            Do you remember what it was like being a kid? Those good ol’ days, when decisions were made by going “eeny-meeny-miney-moe”? When money problems were settled by the banker in Monopoly, and “old” referred to anyone over 20? When having a lunch box plastered with Power Rangers stickers made you the coolest kid in school, and a trip to Toys ‘R Us seemed way cooler than going to the mall? 

            Back then, everything you did in school had some connection to something fun. Y’know, those good ol’ days when “learning physics” really meant “watching ‘Bill Nye the Science Guy’ videos”, and math class involved as many pictures and drawings as it did numbers. Back when fifteen whole minutes of reading guaranteed you getting a big, sparkly sticker, thereby making you the superstar of your class.

            This April, 2010, I (Maya) am inviting you to go back to those times – to get back into the “if it’s not fun, f*ck it” mentality. I’m inviting you to join…

            That’s right – a reading contest. Here’s the scoop:

• The contest is web-based; everyone, regardless of location, is welcome and encouraged to join
• Contest starts April 1^st, 2010 and ends April 30^th, 2010 local time (whatever that is for you)
• Winner = whoever reads the largest number of pages
• One “page” = a page in a book; 10 pages of a manga/comic; a webpage; one newspaper article, etc
• Participants will be encouraged to give weekly updates of their progress (for extra drama J ), but only the end (monthly) results will be considered final
• Winners will be awarded sparkly e-stickers, along with the glory of looking cool on the internet
• Non-winners will be awarded… not sparkly e-stickers
• All participants will get the chance to be inspired to do more reading in a month than they might have done otherwise
• Learners of languages other than Japanese are also welcome to join

That’s all. Participation is (of course) free, and dropping out halfway through is also

allowed. If you’d like to join, please leave a comment under this post with your name (doesn’t have to be your real name) and the language(s) you will be reading in (for this contest, any reading done in your native language(s) will not count).

That’s about all. Let’s get the reading started!