Phew...

I think this is the page they got to for history the day before yesterday.

But it's still mostly the same drill as last year. Memorize dates, years, the names of famous people, places and events.

Anyway, that just leaves Modern Japanese and Classical Japanese...

Oh, we have Modern Japanese sooner, so I should probably start looking at that now.

Alright, let's see what the textbook has to say...!

Wow! This essay was so interesting!

It was so well-written and easy to follow. They didn't even use any hard words or phrases at all.

Okay, now to study this essay...

Wait a second...?

How am I supposed to study for this subject again? What actually counts as that...?

Oh, you're not sure how to study for Modern Japanese?

Yeah...

For history, all the important stuff is usually bolded, so it's pretty easy to know what I need to memorize.

Also, for Classical Japanese, I just need to memorize vocab and be able to explain what certain phrases and passages mean...

Yeah, now I see what you mean. Modern Japanese isn't as cut and dry.

Exactly!

That's why I wanna know how you guys study for it!

Well... For essays and stories, I try to see things from the writer or characters' perspectives.

With novels in particular, I feel that it's important to dissect why a character's feelings change and in what way.

Oh, right!

They always ask that on tests.

“Why did the protagonist feel the way they did?” or, “What led them to do what they did?” and stuff!

Yeah. Aside from that, memorizing the kanji and idioms being used might be good.

Lemme jot that down...

Thanks, Haruka!

Next, Airi, please tell me how you study for this subject!

I really don't do anything that special.

Like Haruka said, I try to memorize the kanji, idioms, phrases and...

Oh, pronouns and stuff. You, they, him, her, this and that. Keeping an eye out for who's pointing to what is supposed to be good for reading comprehension.

Yes, I see...!

Then, Shizuku, how about you?

Whenever I'm reading my textbook, I try to keep an eye out for conjunctions.

Conjunctions? Like “but” and “so” and stuff?

Yes. While I like reading stories, I can't say that I'm very good with critical texts...

But I feel that I understand them better when I actively keep an eye out for conjunctions.

Wait, Shizuku, that sounds like a pretty high-level technique.

Hehe. It's not that hard actually.

For instance, when someone says, “I think this or that,” and follows it up with a “because”, that tells me they're about to explain their reasoning.

However, if they were to use a “but”, that likely means they're about to say something to the contrary.

Whoa!

That's amazing, Shizuku!

I'm gonna try doing that the next time one of those essays shows up in my textbook!

I have to agree.

The speed at which someone can digest text would change a ton depending on whether or not they did what you just said.

Did you come up with this technique by yourself, Shizuku?

No, a teacher explained it to me.

As a result, I'm having much less trouble reading and analyzing such texts.

Coming up with your own ways to make studying easier is really important, but so is asking the teachers for help.

After all, that's what they're there for.

Yeah!

I'm gonna try everything we just discussed and ask the teachers any questions that I have.

That sounds like a good plan.

Studying all by yourself can be very difficult at times.

Anyway, now that we've dealt with Minori's problem, let's start our morning practice.

Yeah!

Okay!