october 1 
home post
Aaaand I almost forgot about this challenge again, and on day one no less 
but I remembered at like 6:30 this evening. I listened to a Comprehensible Japanese video, understood basically all of it which was a nice surprise.
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I listened to 2+ hours of the audiobook for 変な家 today while traveling. It’s got to be the second easiest audiobook I’ve ever listened to, with コーヒーが冷めないうちに being the only one easier. The story is mildly interesting but honestly the writing is kind of on the junk side. I do enjoy a mindless read/listen though, so it’s all good.
I need to see if I had energy left tonight to read. Such a long day 
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Fall is here! I have some listening goals to aim for so here I am.
| 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 |
| Nov | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
I’ll be working through Tango N5 and N4 decks during this challenge.
As well as attempting to finish all Pimsleurs Japanese Level 2 lessons.
Finally starting to listen to podcasts (Sakura Tips)
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October 1 
I listened for several hours yesterday (wasn’t counting), with the TV on in the background while I took care of some chores. For the longest time I couldn’t find anything that satisfied me, even without paying it my full attention. Mysteriously all anime on Netflix got on my nerves after a few minutes, and watching a movie was too frustrating with comprehension being so low. In the end I rewatched a few episodes of Erased (easier because I’ve already watched it before with subtitles on), but soon got bored with it too.
In the end I got out some old dvds I had forgotten I had and had somehow never watched: Tatami Galaxy (四畳半神話大系). The art was amazing, and it somehow held my interest for several episodes, even though the narration was so incredibly fast that I could only catch a word here and there. For some reason, watching something that I knew I had no hope of following properly (while still enjoying the visuals) felt better than watching something where they spoke shorter and slower sentences. I guess it took away the pressure of feeling I had to understand more?
Anyway, here’s a sample I found online so you can enjoy the super-fast narration too:
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softlyraining’s leaf pile listens
Oct 1st:
- SPY X FAMILY (1 episode)
- Ranking of Kings (2 episodes)
I watched these with my partner, so we had the English subtitles on. I have to be frank, it’s kind of hard not to just read the subtitles. I really tried to avoid looking at them during the second episode of Ranking of Kings, but I still found myself glancing down at them, particularly when I had trouble understanding the dialogue. Something for me to keep in mind next time we watch anime together.
Love Tatami Galaxy! Gosh, I remember having enough trouble just getting through the subs back when I watched it. The show would probably make for a good litmus test to see how much your listening comprehension’s improved.
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Day 2, 2nd of October
Today was a simple repeat of yesterday’s material. Why? Even when people speak very slowly and clearly I still struggle understanding them. But that isn’t just the case with Japanese, every kind of spoken language input is liable to getting scrambled. Learning disabilities yay! So I went through material I already knew and had read transcriptions of to maybe absorb more on the second go through. Now I know how the words were written and can notice the places where contractions or sound eliminations were happening.
Phew, that was exhausting. Maybe I’ll listen to something without trying to learn from it next.
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October 2nd!
Just a little bit of listening today, as I spent more time than I originally planned on reading, and I have a friend’s wedding party to attend this evening!
I listened to episode 57 of Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners. I didn’t have any difficulty understanding anything today, which was nice 
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October 2
Three more episodes of Tatami Galaxy today. Still don’t catch more than a dozen words per episode. Still liking it regardless. 
Ah, thanks for confirming it really is super fast. I was actually wondering if it would sound any slower in English. And yes, I too thought it might be interesting to revisit in a year (or ten) to see how much more I (don’t) understand.
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Thanks for starting this thread! I’ve been in a real wanikani slump so I’ve barely been on the forums at all, but I love seeing what everyone is listening to and getting advice for myself. Tatami Galaxy sounds really fun, I wonder if I can watch it not on DVD.
I’ve been listening like crazy in the 2 months since I basically stopped doing any wanikani, and I am pleased to report that my listening has noticeably improved! I was watching that clip you posted and I’d say I got about 30%? Not enough for any deep comprehension, but I feel pleased! I’m motivated enough to reset wanikani this morning and maybe I’ll catch back up with my reviews here as well 
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October 2nd
What did I listen to?: Ouran High School Host Club Ep 1
How much time did I spend listening?: 22 min (? however long an episode is)
And we’re off, a day late 
I’ve literally never mentioned this anime before, so you might be wondering, how did I choose this. What was my thought process. Uh, none. None was my thought process. Someone somewhere (in the Read Every Day thread?) mentioned that this was on Netflix like a day ago, so the title was in my brain, and I was already watching something else on Netflix so it seemed like an easy transition in the moment I am saddened by the lack of Japanese subtitles. I tried to watch it with no subtitles, which in retrospect may have been a mistake because I have literally no idea what’s going on. I feel like I understood the first couple sentences somewhat completely but then I metaphorically tripped over the next sentence and never caught my balance again, I just kept stumbling through the rest of the episode catching some words here and there. I didn’t even catch half the character’s names, but the smol one is adorable, I like him the most I don’t know if I will continue this or not, I will see how I feel when I’m listening next lol. Honestly I might be material-hopping a bit for a while because my brain’s kind of…off in the fields right now (is that a saying? that’s not a saying, is it. idk, I made it up, hopefully you know what I mean )
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softlyraining’s leaf pile listens
October 2nd
Watched this vlog before bed. The channel is run by Rina, who’s the drummer in the band SCANDAL. I’ve liked their music for some time, and though I’ve been subscribed to her for a while, I haven’t watched many of her videos lately. This one focused on the group heading to Toronto for their world tour. Apparently it’s been four years since they’ve been there, and they had postponed the show twice due to the virus.
I kept spacing out as I watched, and it was hard for me to follow. I didn’t sleep much at all last night, so that probably didn’t help. I might rewatch it again tomorrow and see if I do better.
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Tested the waters (in the shallow end) today.
Listened to Nihongo con Teppei for the first time and liked it.
Got curious searching Netflix for Japanese content. Stumbled into filtering as Japanese dubbed and subbed. Found the show I currently watch at night for brain shutdown, Dahmer, and rewatched the first episode. Slow, clear dialogue, and familiarity with the material allowed me to maintain a fairly high comprehension level. Most of the time. I like this approach too. I have plans for the Men In Black movies.
So yeah, found a bunch of listening material, thanks everybody for sharing!
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October 3
SuperNative today. I listened to several clips until I grew tired. It’s not an activity I can keep up for long. Score was 2363 when I started, and I got it to 2416, whatever that means. Some I heard correctly but typed wrong, some I didn’t hear but deduced from the rest of the sentence, some sentences I didn’t get at all but the missing word was something super easy like a よ at the end. I suppose it all evens out.
Thank you for starting this challenge in the first place! I never would have made myself start listening without it.
That’s truly impressive, you should be very proud of yourself! May I ask what you have been listening to? I still haven’t found any content that will make me passionate about listening.
It doesn’t seem to be available on any streaming service in my region, but yours may be different. Not sure about the legality, but it’s also on youtube.
And I just found out that it has been adapted from a novel. 
No! I don’t need more novels! I need more listening material. Stop looking at those books, omk3!
Edit: But it’s on sale too! And has 50% coinback! It’s fate, surely?
Must… resist…
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I’ve been listening entirely to Netflix shows. I live in Japan, so I have quite a bit of access to Japanese shows with Japanese subtitles. I became completely obsessed with a specific Japanese drama that I watched repeatedly, both reading the subtitles and just listening as I did other things, and watching that several times really helped me adjust to listening at native speed. And I noticed every time I re-listened, I picked up more and more. I’ve got a bit of an obsessive brain though, so when it latches on to something I find i don’t get bored repeating it a bunch of times.
I’m going to see if Tatami Galaxy is on Netflix!
Edit: update, it is not 
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I totally get that. I do that too, sometimes, and I know it’s very beneficial in language learning. I just haven’t yet found something to watch/listen to that I can be passionate about. Things I like, sure. Things I’m casually interested in, sure. Something that I love so much that I’ll listen to it obsessively till I know it by heart, no. I’ll keep looking though
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Yeah those types of things are hard to find. I happened upon this one entirely by chance, it popped up in my Netflix recommendations, actually.
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Day 3, 3rd of October
No energy today, so intensive listening will have to wait for another day. Have just been listening to a few episodes of Nihongo con teppei. Not sure how helpful it is for learning, will have to try it out again when I can actually concentrate. But for now, the way he keeps repeating phrases makes me zone out in a pleasant way and I certainly needed that today.
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I didn’t do any listening yesterday so made sure I got it done bright and early today.
Not sure why I love watching people talk about their past relationships so much, but I guess this is more or less the sort of thing I’d listen to my friends talk about in English so practicing it in Japanese doesn’t hurt.
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Oct 4, Tue of Week 2 of Fall 2022
So, I finished yurucamp S1 yesterday. I’d say that the biggest part of the series is 絶景. It’s about tourism too after all.
Otherwise, the food and the explanations, but those just got over my ears.
Unlike books, I don’t have a convenience place to summarize in Japanese, and read reviews, like Bookmeter.
There was someone mentioning JoJo up to Part 7, so I have to check out, beyond the fact that I have read Part 2, and watched a little of Part 3. Well, I can watch Netflix without any additional cost (while I have to buy manga and novels), and JoJo mysteriously has JP sub on Netflix (and for over 200 episodes in total too).
So, I watch JoJo Part 4 Episode 1, story about a normal? man - Koichi (who has a similar feel to Smoky in Part 2). Otherwise, it’s not only 生意気, but also 爆笑.
I also continued watching HUNTER x HUNTER (1999), and it is approaching the auction (競り). I will need to read manga further now. (I failed to finish a count of 1 volume of any series last week.)
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October 3rd!
2 more episodes of Nihongo con Teppei today. They were both about food so I was able to understand them fairly easily
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