Website: The Bite size Japanese Podcast on YouTube Format/Episode Length: Monologue / 10 minutes Genre: Daily life / Japanese for learners Difficulty: Beginner / Intermediate Transcript availability: Yes, on Patreon
5 weeks puts us at the end of the year. I suggest that we do this for 5 weeks and then see if we want to continue in 2026 or if we want to do something different.
I originally built the schedule starting from the first episodes, but @Lisaveeta said in the Podcast club thread that: “The Bite Size Podcast is great but I would definitely recommmend you start a good way in once she’s actually worked out what she’s doing and who she’s talking to. At the start, she keeps using English (which I personally find really irritating) when I’m wanting to listen to Japanese.”
Therefore I picked a few ot the recent episodes, rather than the first episodes.
Thanks for setting us up Marifly! Wow this podcast is at 600 episodes plus! I like the idea of starting with recent podcasts. More likely to be up to date topics. Although I might pop back and listen to the short episodes 1 and 2 where she does her initial self introduction.
I wonder if it is worth having a participation poll in the OP? Might attract more people to join in if they can see several are planning to be involved.
I listen to bite size pretty much every day as part of my listening rotation, so I’m not sure if I’ll be following the exact schedule posted but I’ll likely poke my head in at least
December 2nd, time time to listen to Bite Size Japanese!
I’m in the middle of the first episode now, the one about winter in Japan. I want to go to Leila’s grandmother’s house and sit under the kotatsu! I loved to sit under the kotatsu when I was in Japan many years ago.
I love that the podcast has subtitles too. So many words from the last few Wanikani levels that I recognize! Listening and reading at the same time is the perfect way to study kanji for me right now
I listened to episodes 1 and 2 just to see her initial intro and self introduction. Really struggled to understand her description of which kanji make her name - I think she was describing 怜良. She used the word 立心偏 to describe the left hand part of the first kanji. That level of describing kanji is probably way above my level!
Anyway, I enjoyed her introduction. Now to skip ahead to episode 641!
Thanks for picking a schedule that has us listening to recent podcasts. This was a perfect podcast to listen to coming into winter. I also want to visit Leyla’s grandmothers house although I’m not sure I like the idea of those futons and pillows.
Nice level for me. Understood a lot and didn’t find it difficult concentrating on this for 20 mins while driving. Might try and find time to watch it on YouTube and have the subtitles on.
And done! I really liked this episode. She talked about her wedding ceremony, how and why they are married in Australia but not in Japan, and she mentioned a few episodes from her married life. When she told the story about how Jack showed his friend their appartment, while her stuff was all over the place and she was still in her pyjamas, and how angry that made her, it really resonated with me. We may have had the same discussion in our house How about you, did you like this week’s episode?
Another fun thing for me was that I recognized so many Wanikani words in the subtitles. I found myself reading and listening at the same time, and there were some words that I didn’t understand when she said them, but I recognized the kanji and understood the word through them. Confidence boost!
(combo breaker)
I have only listened to the first episode of the club. I wasn’t too drawn in by the episode so I dropped the club. Therefore, I cant say anything about this weeks episode
Hi Marifly. Thanks for keeping the club moving! I did listen to last week and enjoyed it. I think I hoped I would try and watch it again with subtitles like you suggested but time got away from me.
The story of Jack bringing his friend home unexpectedly was definitely the highlight, that was a funny story!
I love Bite Size Japanese, I began listening to レイラさん recently so it was cool to see this thread.
In this week’s episode about her married life, she was talking about times she got recognized and said 一番気まずかったのは… and described a situation where a guy talked to her and her husband for an hour on a plane.
I think she’s great but maybe I miss cultural context. Like that’d certainly be annoying! But she never follows the story up with a statement like “so yeah he annoyed me” or “and that was kinda sucky” like I might in english. Sometimes I’m left wondering if I missed something or misheard!
Thanks for the reminder! I just went and listened on youtube.
私も毎日のようにエアフライアーで野菜を１５分焼いて、本当に美味しいからわかります！！
The tea discussion was funny, I hadn’t realized how different tea drinking practices are across the west and Japan. I don’t know that I’ve had tea without milk in years? Green tea for sure but I don’t have that super often
Enjoyed week 3 episode 635 but found it harder than previous weeks and understood a lot less, especially in the first half. Did better in the second half. Had hoped to find some time to listen again on you tube but it never happened. But still achieved the main goal which is listening to some Japanese each week!
Love this podcast, it’s one of my favorite go-tos for listening practice! I try to listen to Japanese podcasts almost daily, but lately haven’t gotten around to it as much. Happy to join in on this challenge and get back into the habit of daily podcast episodes!
Enjoyed week 4 episode 632. Thought I was listening to this weeks episode but I must be a week behind!
The part that really struck me was Japanese people waving goodbye until you disappear into the distance. That was my exact experience in my first ryokan stay in Kanazawa. The host kindly left the ryokan, followed us out into the street and continued waving and bowing until we were far away. I don’t think I had ever experienced anything quite like it!
How about you, did you like this week’s episode?