I started learning Japanese in Aug and can now begin to understand simple sentences. I’m joining this challenge because I need more incentive for listening in particular – I find it hard to practice during fragmented time (like when riding a bus or waiting for food) and need to commit a block of time in a quiet space every day.
I plan to listen to podcasts and YouTube videos designed for beginners. Watching anime or drama with subtitles (in my native language) is more fun, but doesn’t really improve my listening skills – I’ll just rely too much on subtitles.
Listening resources
Podcasts:
Oyasumi Japanese with Shun – I appreciate the combination of authentic content and beginner vocab. I also enjoy learning about life in New Zealand. Transcript available with subscription, but auto-generated subtitles also works.
Nihongo con Teppei – Seems really popular so I also tried. There’s lots of repetition, which helps with vocab, and I find Teppei really funny in a Japanese comedy way 
Videos:
ボンボンアカデミー – Cartoon videos with Japanese subtitles. I think it’s mainly intended for children, with mostly hiragana instead of kanji. But the cartoons are cute and well-made.
看動漫學日語～ (in Chinese) – The videos go through grammar used in anime clips. There are not enough videos to follow through an anime but it helps me know the difficulty level of each anime as well as learn new grammar.
JLPT:
全科目攻略！JLPT日本語能力試験ベスト総合問題集N5 – I signed up for JLPT N5 in Dec. I’m using this book to do mock tests.
Daily log
| Date | Name |
|---|---|
| Oct 1 | Oyasumi Japanese with Shun #4 |
| Oct 2 | Nihongo con Teppei #3 – #5 |
| Oct 3 | JLPT日本語能力試験総合問題集 – 第７−９週／１日目 |
| Oct 4 | 看日本動漫『白熊咖啡廳』快樂學習日語！ |
| Oct 5 | Oyasumi Japanese with Shun #5 |
| Oct 6 | Nihongo con Teppei #6 – #9 |
| Oct 7 | Oyasumi Japanese with Shun #6 |
| Oct 8 | JLPT日本語能力試験総合問題集 – 第７週／１日目 (Review) |
| Oct 9 | ¯_(ツ)_/¯ |
| Oct 10 | ¯_(ツ)_/¯ |
| Oct 11 | JLPT日本語能力試験総合問題集 – 第８週／１日目 (Review) |
| Oct 12 | ¯_(ツ)_/¯ |
| Oct 13 | THE CHILD GODS かさじぞう |
| Oct 14 | Oyasumi Japanese with Shun #7 |
| Oct 15 | Nihongo con Teppei #13 – #15 |
| Oct 16 | Oyasumi Japanese with Shun #8 |
| Oct 17 | Nihongo con Teppei #16 – #20 |
| Oct 18 | Nihongo con Teppei #21 – #23 |
| Oct 19 | ♪うたアニメ Finger Plays |
| Oct 20 | Nihongo con Teppei #24 – #26 |
| Oct | ||||||
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| 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 |
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| 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | 日 |
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| 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 |