Welcome to the Summer 2026 edition of the Listen Every Day Challenge. If you’re in the Northern hemisphere, you’re probably (not?) looking forward to hot, sweaty days and lots of watermelon. Here in the South, we’re wearing our puffy jackets and cursing the darkness as we leave work (except for Tasmanians who are joyfully jumping naked into the surf). Anyway, like the title says, this is a challenge to try to listen to something in Japanese every day. Officially, it runs over two months from July 1st, 2026 - August 31st 2026. But, of course, you can (unofficially) continue through to the end of September or just do a week-long challenge, a 10 day one or a single month - it’s up to you. And it doesn’t matter if you miss a day (or several) or start late - what’s important is that you build a regular listening practice over time - one you can enjoy! How long do I have to listen each day? That’s up you, but probably a minimum of 10 minutes is a good place to start (ie the length of a short beginner friendly podcast or short YouTube grammar video). What counts as “listening”? Podcasts, YouTube videos, movies, anime, documentaries, audiobooks, games, grammar videos, news reports etc. Can I use subtitles.? Hell, yeah. You can use subtitles in any language - Japanese, your native language or (if you’re a polyglot) any one of your other languages. There are advantages to all variations. Some important things to remember Just because you can read novels doesn’t mean your listening skill will be at the same level. Listening and Reading are synergistic skills but they need to be worked on independently. As with reading, it’s okay not to understand everything as long as you are getting the gist of what you’re listening to. If you’re struggling with a particular section of a recorded material, you can always stop and repeat it or check the closed captions. You can also adjust the speed of the recording. One great advantage listening has over reading is that once you have a base line competence, you can do it anywhere - while commuting, doing chores, walking, running, exercising. There is no need to “find time” to do it - it can just be stacked onto another activity. History of the challenge: In summer 2022, @KJules started the first listen every day challenge. Then in autumn, @omk3 took over, and hosted for a while. Eventually @omk3 asked for someone else to take over and @hotdogsuplex stepped up. The Autumn 2025 was their last challenge and so I volunteered to host. I’ve participated in quite a lot of past listening challenges and my listening ability has steadily improved as a direct result. I’ve also come across a lot of good material and been inspired by reading other people’s posts. お互いに頑張りましょう！ Will you be participating? poll Past Challenge Threads :speaker_medium_volume: :studio_microphone: Listen Every Day Challenge (Summer Edition) :beach_with_umbrella: :speaker_high_volume: :studio_microphone: Listen Every Day Challenge - Fall 2022 :maple_leaf: :speaker_high_volume: :studio_microphone: Listen Every Day Challenge - Winter 2023 :snowflake: :gloves: :speaker_high_volume: :studio_microphone: Listen Every Day Challenge - Spring 2023 :blossom: :seedling: :speaker_high_volume: :studio_microphone: Listen Every Day Challenge - Summer 2023 :beach_with_umbrella: :sun: :speaker_high_volume: :studio_microphone: Listen Every Day Challenge - Fall 2023 :maple_leaf: :fallen_leaf: - Volunteer needed to keep the challenge going! :speaker_high_volume: Listen Every Day Challenge - Winter 2024 :snowman_without_snow::snowflake: :speaker_high_volume: Listen Every Day Challenge - Spring 2024 :cherry_blossom: :rainbow: :speaker_high_volume: :studio_microphone: Listen Every Day Challenge - Summer 2024 :sunflower: :beach_with_umbrella: :loud_sound: :studio_microphone: Listen Every Day Challenge - Autumn 2024 :mushroom: :wood: :loud_sound: :studio_microphone: Listen Every Day Challenge - Winter 2025 :skier: :hot_beverage: :loud_sound: :studio_microphone: Listen Every Day Challenge - Spring 2025 :pine_decoration: :carp_streamer: :speaker_medium_volume: :studio_microphone: Listen Every Day Challenge - Summer 2025 :coconut: :milky_way: :headphone::television: Listen Every Day Challenge - Winter 2026 Threads worth checking out Kurzgesagt Watching Club :globe_showing_americas: What do you listen to for Japanese practice? Extensive Listening Challenge 2022 Podcast masterlist There’s also a list of resources here. Please check it out if you’re looking for advice, and add to it if you have something you think others would like! Calendar Template 7月月火水木金土日 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 8月月火水木金土日 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 9月月火水木金土日 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

２０２６年７月２日(木) :alien: Series Episodes :person_lifting_weights: Satori Reader - Nutshell Grammar 44

Home Post Count me in on this one! I need to get some more listening practice in, and haven’t been great so far at making this a regular practice, so I’ll join in here for accountability. I’m making a conscious choice to not include anime with English subs, since I watch it daily and have been doing so for years. So instead I’m only going to count a day as “complete” if I have listened to native content without English subtitles (I’ll allow myself Japanese subtitles of course) 7月月火水木金土日 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 8月月火水木金土日 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 9月月火水木金土日 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Total Listening Time: 19h40m (Updated 9/22)

7月9日(木) Pimsleur Level 1:29 30分終電の神様〜オーディオブック第七話ホームドア 58分聞き終わった！v(≧∇≦)v イェェ～イ♪

Keep it up :slight_smile: I think part of listening is dependent on your knowledge of the language. How certain structures are formed, knowledge of expressions, etc. If your brain has those in mind, it can fill in the blank for words that can be unintelligible or predict what comes next.

7月8日（水）ー7月9日（木） Date Title Type Note Progress Duration 08/07/2026 Yuyuの日本語Podcast Podcast Vol.469 タイト文化とルーズ文化の話 00:50:00 09/07/2026 飯田浩司のOK! Cozy up! Podcast 7月9日 01:00:00

２０２６年７月９日(木) :alien: Series Episodes :person_lifting_weights: Satori Reader - Nutshell Grammar 51

I want to try listening more than I’ve done now, so I’m aiming to listen so somethign every day. Doing both reading and listening challenges is gonna be interesting 7月月火水木金土日 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 8月月火水木金土日 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Extension 9月月火水木金土日 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

home post・and that’s what you missed on Glee :octopus::star::octopus: Audio Thing portion :carpentry_saw::man_dancing::carpentry_saw: チェンソーマン第5,6話 I love that each episode has a different ending theme ??? what a fantastic thing for music??? i think i’m gonna (for the moment) give up on understanding everything. part of the fun of listening is that it happens in time. now, i’m definitely gonna go back and rewatch the series to parse out more of the dialogue, but the gist tends to be clear on a first watch, which is kinda crazy to say. the first time we started saying じゅう all of the time i definitely was like “oh, i know this one!! i took classes!!! it’s 十”. obviously it is not 十 but 銃 lol. also, if i’m understanding the worldbuilding a bit, the more fear of a thing X there is in the world, the more powerful an Xの悪魔 will be? マキマ in episode … two? is like yeah a コーヒーの悪魔 would be weak, but maybe a 車の悪魔 would be stronger (since those are the objects nearest to hand in the scene). goated premise, i love. デンジ is such a funny protagonist. kinda triangulates Demon Slayer’s 炭治郎 and Jujutsu Kaisen’s 虎杖悠仁 but then throw in … idk, one of the Jojo’s? or Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes? But I really love the マキマ character, i think for me she’s the real reason to watch, so far.

I want to divide my time between passive (but focused) listening, where I don’t pause and just try to understand whatever, and more active listening where I pause, look up unknown words, etc. Because I still can’t understand much, I want to split them 50:50 July 9th Audio Type of Audio Episode Type of Listening Japanes with Shun Podcast 49 & 50 Passive John and Friends Satori Series 1 Active

7月10日(金) Pimsleur Level 1:30 30分 Finished Level 1 now, but might repeat this last one again tomorrow before moving onto Level 2 シノブとナルミの毒舌アメリカンライフ #411日本のサレ妻投稿が…世界中の注目を浴びてしまったんです 61分

２０２６年７月１０日(金) :alien: Series Episodes :person_lifting_weights: Satori Reader - Nutshell Grammar 52

🥗🎧📺 Summer 2026 edition of the Listen Every Day Challenge🎧 📺 🥗

Japanese Language Listening

Roags July 9, 2026, 2:27pm 78

I want to try listening more than I’ve done now, so I’m aiming to listen so somethign every day. Doing both reading and listening challenges is gonna be interesting

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Topic		Replies	Views
🎧 📚 🥣 Listen Every Day Challenge - Autumn 2026 🥣 📚 🎧 Listening	348	3421	November 9, 2026
🗣️📺🎧 Winter 2026 Listen Every Day Challenge🥾❄️⛸️ Listening	766	6580	April 1, 2026
🗣️ 📺 🎧 Spring 2026 Listen Every Day Challenge🌱 🌸 🤧 Listening	664	7622	July 2, 2026
:sound: :studio_microphone: Listen Every Day Challenge - Summer 2025 :coconut: :milky_way: Listening	379	5365	October 1, 2025
:loud_sound: :studio_microphone: Listen Every Day Challenge - Summer 2024 :sunflower: :beach_umbrella: Listening	536	7054	October 3, 2024

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🥗🎧📺 Summer 2026 edition of the Listen Every Day Challenge🎧 📺 🥗

Related topics

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