I’m an visual/auditory learner, so I find that it’s a great way to put what I know into practice just by watching and listening to content. Reading and answering with the correct grammar point on BunPro is one thing, but to hear it in every day use really helps things stick.
What I’m watching currently are:
Kaoru-san and Rilakkuma (Netflix). It has the option for Japanese audio and no subtitles. Every episode is only about ten minutes long, so It’s nice to sit down and watch on my breaks. The story is about a young office worker trying to find her place in the world.
Aggretuko (Netflix) I originally watched this in English, but started rewatching episodes in Japanese. Also about a young OL trying to find her place in the world… but a lot more energetic and humorous.
A.I. Channel (YouTube) Kind of high energy and I don’t recommend this if you dislike high pitched voices and screaming, but honestly I find the videos really funny. A lot of what she says shows up on screen, so at the same time I can read along and see how much of the kanji I can read.
I’m looking for cooking channels and makeup tutorial channels, because these are my hobbies and I would like to learn vocabulary associated with them. If anyone has any recommendations I’d really appreciate them!
Aside from that, I am open to watching/listening to all kinds of new content. Do you have any favorite YouTube channels or TV shows or anime?
Huh, I haven’t watched any of those in a while, but for some reason I remember them having a lot more Japanese… I must be confusing it with another channel…
I felt blessed when I discovered how to setup Netflix to it’s Japanese server so I can watch almost any show they have in Jap with Jan subtitles or English subtitles if I feel it’s too hard for me level.
The other day I was watching Ted in japanese and it was a lot of fun.
When you create a new profile you can select your main language. Then you just choose Japanese as your main language.
It’s interesting that the same shows only give you certain language and subtitle options depending on your main language, that’s my experience atleast.
I never had the Japanese Language option (Besides for anime) until I created the new profile.
Terrace House Hawaii on Netflix is good. Even if you don’t really like reality shows, there’s quite a bit of normal dialogue there and it’s fairly interesting.
Also, if you have a Nintendo Switch, Octopath Traveler is great. You can set the audio to Japanese and try to understand the spoken part before reading the text. Even with my limited knowledge, I could tell where the English text was embellished over the spoken Japanese. The best part is the dialogue doesn’t advance until you press A, so you can mull over the spoken part a bit and go at a slow pace.
Maybe it’s not strictly about cooking, but I really enjoyed listening to these stories. Pity the subtitles are in English, and not Japanese, but it’s still pretty chill to just listen.
If you like reading, I would recommend visual novels. It’s a good way to expose yourself to lots of Japanese text, but at a pace that suits you - 99% of the time the story doesn’t progress until you click something, for example.
There are millions on steam (just search “visual novel steam” or something), so have a look at the ones that have Japanese ticked for Interface and subtitles.
Ooh! Even if there isn’t much talking, I’m intrigued by the recipes and the videos are great quality. Thank you!
I don’t have a Switch yet but I’ve been saving up for one. Hopefully I can get one before the next Animal Crossing comes out haha Thank you for the recommendation!
This is right up my alley. I like listening to stories. I might have some trouble following because not all of the voices are clear, but I think that poses an extra challenge for me to really tune my ears into it. Thanks!
Thank you for the recommendations. I played CLANNAD several years ago and enjoyed it. These are all new titles I haven’t heard of. I will check them out
Not exactly what you asked for, but podcasts are a great place to get extra exposure too.
I particularly like バイリンガルニュース (I hate the news and I love this show, highly recommend), ひいきびいき, and Still Rendering. There are many other great ones too of course.
On the topic of podcasts, George-sensei from Japanese from Zero recommended this podcast on his channel and I’ve been listening to it ever since. It’s called “恋愛・婚活の専門家JURIの『野獣でも美女を捕まえる』テクニック 女性の本音教えます” (Japanese people seem to love long titles). It’s basically a love advice podcast where listeners send emails to the host and she reads them out and gives advice. She speaks very clearly and at a decent speed, so I find her pronunciation easy to understand, and while the advice she gives may not apply to me, it’s an interesting insight into Japan’s dating scene (if that’s the right way of putting it).
岡奈 ななこ 日常 short movie ー She makes very simples everyday recipes but I’ve found that the vocabulary and grammar is easier than most channels. Some videos have english subtitles.
きまぐれクック ー Kaneko specialty is seafood, and he will treat the fish and do all kinds of recipes. He a little harder to follow but there is a lot of visual cues on the videos specially in the step by step preparation.
