🔉 🎙 Listen Every Day Challenge (Summer Edition) 🏖

Japanese Language Listening
10

I listened to 3 hours of TV Japan last night. That included some news programs I had recorded and a 2-hour program on the local food of Tokyo.

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This is a great idea for a challenge :slight_smile: Thanks for arranging it @KJules!
Count me in!

I’ve really needed something to push me to do more listening as its definitely my weakest skill - I try but then get frustrated when I can’t understand much and end up stopping.

I’ve decided that since I have the JLPT early next month I’m going to have a more relaxed month afterwards to recover from studying so hard this month, so I probably shouldn’t be joining another challenge… :sweat_smile:
So for July at least my listening will probably mostly be fun and simple stuff like watching anime with the support of subtitles rather than pushing myself to do something that relies solely on listening.

Jul
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04 05 06 07 08 09 10
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18 19 20 21 22 23 24
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Aug
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
Progress Report
July
  • July 1st
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 4-7
  • July 2nd
    • Fruits Baskets (Eng Subs) - S2, E1-4
  • July 3rd
    • JLPT!
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 8-10
    • JapanesePod101, The 800 Core Words and Phrases - Lesson 11
  • July 4th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 11
    • Fruits Basket - (Eng Subs) - S2, E5-7
  • July 5th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 12-13
  • July 6th
    • Fruits Basket - (Eng Subs) - S2, E8-11
  • July 7th
    • Fruits Basket - (Eng Subs) - S2, E12-14
    • JapanesePod101, Upper Beginner Season 1 - Lesson 3
  • July 8th
    • Fruits Basket - (Eng Subs) - S2, E15
  • July 9th
    • JapanesePod101, The 800 Core Words and Phrases - Lesson 12
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 14
    • Fruits Basket - (Eng Subs) - S2, E16-19
  • July 10th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 15
    • Fruits Basket - (Eng Subs) - S2, E20-23
  • July 11th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 16-17
    • Fruits Basket - (Eng Subs) - S2, E24-25
    • Fruits Basket - (Eng Subs) - S3, E1-2
  • July 12th
    • JapanesePod101, The 800 Core Words and Phrases - Lesson 13
    • Fruits Basket - (Eng Subs) - S3, E3
  • July 13th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 18
    • Fruits Basket - (Eng Subs) - S3, E4-6
  • July 14th
    • JapanesePod101, Upper Beginner Season 1 - Lesson 4
    • Fruits Basket - (Eng Subs) - S3, E7-10
  • July 15th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 19
    • Fruits Basket - (Eng Subs) - S3, E11-13
  • July 16th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 20
  • July 17th
    • JapanesePod101, The 800 Core Words and Phrases - Lesson 14-15
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 21
  • July 18th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 22-23
    • Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens - (Eng Subs) - Episode 3
  • July 19th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 24
    • Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens - (Eng Subs) - Episode 4-5
  • July 20th
    • Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens - (Eng Subs) - Episode 6
    • The Bite size Japanese Podcast - Episode 1
  • July 21st
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 25
    • Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens - (Eng Subs) - Episode 7
  • July 22nd
    • Nihongo Con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 26-27
  • July 23rd
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 28
    • JapanesePod101, The 800 Core Words and Phrases - Lesson 16
    • JapanesePod101, Absolute Beginner Japanese for Every Day - Lesson 21
  • July 24th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 29
    • Madoka Magica - (JP subs) - Episode 1
  • July 25th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 30
    • Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens - (Eng Subs) - Episode 8
  • July 26th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 31
    • JapanesePod101, The 800 Core Words and Phrases - Lesson 17
    • Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens - (Eng Subs) - Episode 9
  • July 27th
    • Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens - (Eng Subs) - Episode 10
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 32-33
    • JapanesePod101, The 800 Core Words and Phrases - Lesson 18
  • July 28th
    • Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens - (Eng Subs) - Episode 11-12
  • July 29th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 34-35
  • July 30th
    • JapanesePod101, The 800 Core Words and Phrases - Lesson 19
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 36
  • July 31st
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 37
August
  • August 1st
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 38
    • Shirokuma Cafe - (Eng Subs) - Episode 6
  • August 2nd
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 39
  • August 3rd
    • JapanesePod101, The 800 Core Words and Phrases - Lesson 20-21
  • August 4th
    • Hajimete no otsukai - (Eng Subs) - Episode 3-6
    • Terrace House: Boys and Girls in the City - (Eng Subs) - Episode 6-9
  • August 5th
    • Hajimete no otsukai - (Eng Subs) - Episode 7-9
    • Madoka Magica - (JP Subs) - Episode 2
  • August 6th
    • Hajimete no otsukai - (Eng Subs) - Episode 10-12
    • 竜とそばかすの姫 - (Eng Subs)
  • August 7th
    • Shirokuma Cafe - (Eng Subs) - Episode 7
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 40
  • August 8th
    • Shirokuma Cafe - (Eng Subs) - Episode 8
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 41
  • August 9th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 41 (Again)
    • JapanesePod101, The 800 Core Words and Phrases - Lesson 22-23
    • Bubble - (Eng Subs)
  • August 10th
    • Hajimete no otsukai - (Eng Subs) - Episode 13-16
  • August 11th
    • JapanesePod101, The 800 Core Words and Phrases - Lesson 24-25
  • August 12th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 42
    • Hajimete no otsukai - (Eng Subs) - Episode 17-20
  • August 13th
    • JapanesePod101, The 800 Core Words and Phrases - Lesson 26
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 43
  • August 14th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 44
    • キョコロヒー
    • Teasing Master Takagi-San S01 - (Eng Subs) - Episode 1-6
  • August 15th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 45
  • August 16th
    • Teasing Master Takagi-San S01 - (Eng Subs) - Episode 7-9
  • August 17th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 46
  • August 18th
    • The Bite size Japanese Podcast - Episode 2
  • August 19th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 47
  • August 20th
    • JapanesePod101, The 800 Core Words and Phrases - Lesson 27
    • Teasing Master Takagi-San S01 - (Eng Subs) - Episode 10-12
  • August 21st
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 48
    • Teasing Master Takagi-San S02 - (Eng Subs) - Episode 1-3
  • August 22nd
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 49
    • Teasing Master Takagi-San S02 - (Eng Subs) - Episode 4-6
  • August 23rd
    • Teasing Master Takagi-San S02 - (Eng Subs) - Episode 7-9
  • August 24th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 50
  • August 25th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 51
    • Teasing Master Takagi-San S02 - (Eng Subs) - Episode 10-12
  • August 26th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 52
  • August 27th
    • Teasing Master Takagi-San S03 - (Eng Subs) - Episode 1-3
  • August 28th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 53
  • August 29th
    • Teasing Master Takagi-San S03 - (Eng Subs) - Episode 4-6
  • August 30th
    • Nihongo con Teppei for Beginners - Episode 54
  • August 31st
    • Teasing Master Takagi-San S03 - (Eng Subs) - Episode 7-9
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Natalie’s Home Post! :blossom:

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Background

Yay this is super exciting!! :tada: Hopefully having something like this will help me be more consistent with listening. I think my baseline goal is going to be to watch at least an episode of something every day, so we’ll see how that goes :man_shrugging: It’ll probably be at least mostly with Japanese subtitles as well because I want to but it’s still a different balance than like voiced VNs you know? I’m at a point now where I feel reasonably confident watching most things with subtitles and understanding them a satisfying amount so I’m looking forward to watching some cool stuff! :grin:

Progress

Currently Watching:
ハイキュー！！

Finished:

I haven’t been nearly consistent enough with anything for this to make any sense lmao, it’s just a day by day adventure :laughing:

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That sounds great! Fun content you enjoy is the way to go, absolutely

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Going to start with tentatively committing to just the remainder of June for now! When the read every day challenge starts back up, I’ll reevaluate and see how I feel about doing both.

:sound: Jun 月 火 水 木 金 土 日
Week 22 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・
Week 23 ・ ・
Week 24
Week 25
Week 26

= Japanese
= Japanese and Spanish

I’m also aiming once again for practicing both Japanese and Spanish! I’ve been working on my Spanish listening practice pretty regularly already, but I’m going to try to commit to practicing it every day.

Just like with the read every day challenge, I won’t be posting daily updates here, though I’ll be posting about it in my study log and in the pro-wrestling thread. I’ll try to check in every now and then, though!

What I'm listening to in Spanish:

The main thing I’ve been listening to is Duolingo’s Spanish podcast. It’s very doable for my current ability level, and I can listen to it while exercising, which is awesome.

I want to try watching more TV in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. Netflix has a good amount of shows. I already tried Nailed It! Mexico months and months ago, and I could follow it fairly well without needing to look anything up (it helps that there isn’t a strong incentive to understand every detail in order to follow the “plot” of that show haha).

I also recently found out about Señorita 89, which is not on Netlfix, but it looked interesting, so I might try to track it down, assuming I can find it with Spanish subtitles.

Besides those things, I occasionally watch lucha libre shows (mainly AAA, but I’ve watched a little CMLL), so that’s another possibility for listening practice.

What I'm listening to in Japanese:

As far as actual dedicated listening practice goes, I’m considering trying out some of these children’s stories that are available on this website. I’m also considering Nihongo con Teppei, which has been on my radar for a while, but I haven’t even tried it, so I’m not sure if it’s suitable for my level or too easy or what.

I already watch quite a bit of Japanese pro wrestling, haha, so that will probably be the majority of my practice. Lately, I’ve been watching Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, DDT Pro-Wrestling, a little bit of Pro Wrestling NOAH and ChocoPro, and a fair amount of indie joshi wrestling. Besides just watching shows, there’s also loads of other audio content, like backstage interviews, press conferences, random twitter videos, etc.

TJPW also has a new show that’s sort of a small scale competition with four candidates who are all women with different backgrounds in the entertainment industry. The women are trying out different wrestling things, and the winner will get to achieve her dream of becoming a wrestler. I talk a little more about it (and link to the first episode) in this post here.

The first episode has Japanese subtitles, so I’m hoping the rest do as well. I’m planning on watching the whole show if I can, though mostly just for passive immersion without aiming for full comprehension (my Japanese is just not good enough yet for that without it taking a whole lot of extra time). I am going to try to learn at least a few words every episode if possible, though.

With Japanese listening practice in general, most of my immersion will probably be passive rather than active.

Part II:

I’m back again for the off-month, after finishing the read every day challenge!

Sept 月 火 水 木 金 土 日
Week 35
Week 36
Week 37
Week 38
Week 39

= Japanese
= Japanese and Spanish

What I'm listening to in Spanish:

I’ve been listening to the Duolingo podcast and watching La Casa de las Flores on Netflix with Spanish subtitles. I largely fell out of listening practice over the past couple months when I was focusing on reading, so I’m more or less picking back up where I left off with the podcast and the show at the end of June.

What I'm listening to in Japanese:

Like last time, almost all of my listening practice will be Japanese pro wrestling related. I might watch some more episodes of 夢プロレス - dream on the ring -, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s new series on youtube, which I started watching during the first portion of this challenge. I’ll also do a lot of passive listening while watching wrestling shows and such.

The other thing main thing I’m going to be listening to this time are the post-match comments from the TJPW wrestlers. Since my last attempt at this challenge, I have acquired almost-complete transcripts of these videos, which I have been translating into English for a small audience on twitter :sweat_smile:. Since I have full transcripts now (thanks to subscribing to the shupro mobile site), listening is much more productive because I can get a lot more out of it by following along with the transcript, and it’s also really useful for improving my translations because it helps me have proper context for the lines.

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:house_with_garden: polv’s Listening challenge of Summer 2022 (Q3) Home Post


My thoughts on the challenge – Any interest in a listening every day challenge? – polv’s comment

I realized it might be better to make it a real Listening Every Day Challenge. I will track a week at a time, although the real goal is Summer’s first 2 months. After all, quantity matters a lot, at this stage.

Rather than ticking only for listening everyday, I would give credits for listening longer, like :headphones: for ≧30 minutes.

Preliminary: 六月

六月 月 火 水 木 金 土 日
実験の11 09 :pushpin: 10 :thinking: 11 ・ 12 :white_check_mark:
実験の12 13 ・ 14 :writing_hand: 15 ・ 16 ・ 17 ・ 18 ・ 19 :open_book:
実験の13 20 :ear: 21 :writing_hand: 22 :headphones: 23 :headphones: 24 :headphones: 25 :open_book: 26 :headphones:
第1週目 27 :writing_hand: 28 :headphones: 29 :headphones: 30 :headphones:

Actual Challenge:

七月 月 火 水 木 金 土 日
第1週目 01 :headphones: 02 :headphones: 03 :headphones:
第2週目 04 :headphones: 05 :ear: 06 :headphones: 07 :headphones: 08 :headphones: 09 :headphones: 10 :headphones:
第3週目 11 :headphones: 12 :headphones: 13 :headphones: 14 :headphones: 15 :headphones: 16 :headphones: 17 :headphones:
第4週目 18 :headphones: 19 :headphones: 20 :headphones: 21 :headphones: 22 :headphones: 23 :headphones: 24 :headphones:
第5週目 25 :headphones: 26 :headphones: 27 :headphones: 28 :headphones: 29 :headphones: 30 :headphones: 31 :headphones:
八月 月 火 水 木 金 土 日
第6週目 01 :headphones: 02 :headphones: 03 :headphones: 04 :headphones: 05 :headphones: 06 :headphones: 07 :headphones:
第7週目 08 :headphones: 09 :headphones: 10 ・ 11 :headphones: 12 :headphones: 13 ・ 14 :headphones:
第8週目 15 :headphones: 16 :headphones: 17 :headphones: 18 :headphones: 19 :headphones: 20 :headphones: 21 :headphones:
第9週目 22 :headphones: 23 :headphones: 24 :ear: 25 :headphones: 26 :headphones: 27 :headphones: 28 :headphones:
第10週目 29 :headphones: 30 :headphones: 31 :headphones:
九月 月 火 水 木 金 土 日
第10週目 01 :headphones: 02 :headphones: 03 :headphones: 04 :headphones:
第11週目 05 :headphones: 06 :headphones: 07 :headphones: 08 :headphones: 09 :headphones: 10 :headphones: 11 :headphones:
第12週目 12 :headphones: 13 :headphones: 14 :headphones: 15 :headphones: 16 :headphones: 17 :headphones: 18 :headphones:
第13週目 19 :headphones: 20 :headphones: 21 :headphones: 22 :headphones: 23 :headphones: 24 :headphones: 25 :headphones:
秋の初 26 :headphones: 27 :headphones: 28 :headphones: 29 :headphones: 30 :headphones:
Progress :pick: (ordering may change)

See more at my all-round topic.

  • Committed
    • (Now at Ep.12) Death Note – Anime on Netflix (no sub) to watch along with manga
      • I won’t watch ahead of manga discussion, nonetheless.
    • (Now at Ep.43) HUNTER×HUNTER (1999)
  • Semi-committed
    • (Finished) やがて君になる – Anime on Netflix (with sub)
      • I think I got somewhat hooked with the series.
    • (Now at Ep.2) 進撃の巨人 – Anime on Netflix (without sub)
      • mariodesu さん made a reading topic with vocabulary Google Sheets
    • (Occasionally) Podcasts on Podbeans
    • Singing with sound recording
  • Potential
  • Dropped
    • (Now at Ep.4) Samurai Champloo
    • (Now at Ep.3) SPY x FAMILY – Anime on Netflix (with sub) to watch along with manga
      • Watching ahead is OK for this one. I have finished the first manga volume in advance.
    • (Dropped focus at around week 6) Read aloud with sound recording – will be progressed in each week’s home reply
Personal Background :back:

I have been to Japan many times. I was an exchange student with some alone travelling time, too. I know what Japanese sounds like, but I had to survive with my smartphone and dictionary app, nonetheless.

Also knows well that immersing in anime and dramas won’t magically work, unless I do something (but of course I don’t know how).

I hope that some clear planning and reflection will help, just like with reading.

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Oooooh, now that’s a challenge I’d like to try! I mean, I am listening to the radio everyday in the morning while getting ready anyway, but I guess I’ll only count things on top of that. Probably just YouTube? If anyone knows a fun podcast, I’m also up for that, maybe.

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Aug
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20 Likes
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Maybe you already know this, but for difficulty Teppei has 3 different podcasts, the one you linked is his easiest and then there’s Nihongo con Teppei Z and Japanese with Teppei and Noriko where he talks to… Noriko and it’s another step up from the others. I started at Z (well back then it was prior to that and just “Nihongo con Teppei”) and then moved up to the co-hosted one and found that a nice early listening progression. Never tried it myself but Noriko has her own, too.

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:loud_sound: :notes: windupbird’s summary post :loud_sound: :notes:

:sparkles: Challenge Progress and Links to Daily Posts :sparkles:

Jul
月 火 水 木 金 土 日
01 :books: 02 03:star2:
04 05 :books: 06 07 :books: 08 09 :books: 10
11 :books: 12 13 :books: 14 15 16 :star2: 17
18 :books: 19 20 21 22 :books: 23 24 :books:
25 26 27 28 :heavy_multiplication_x: 29 :heavy_multiplication_x: 30 :star2: 31 :star2:
Aug
月 火 水 木 金 土 日
01 02 03 04 :books: 05 :books: 06 :books: 07 :books:
08 09 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31

= listened today
:books: = read today
:star2: = read and listened today
:heavy_multiplication_x: = missed day

Preliminary Thoughts on How I Will Approach This Challenge

Sooo first things first, I think I will be modifying this to be an “every other day” challenge so that I can accommodate the Read Every Day challenge along with it. I am also not going to hold myself to doing all my listening without English subtitles - I feel like that might be controversial (?) but I don’t particularly want to confine myself to “things I can understand pretty fully without subtitle assistance” because my auditory understanding is so limited that “what I can pretty fully understand without subtitle assistance” is pretty narrow and boring atm :upside_down_face: I have tried the beginner Nihongo con Teppei podcast previously, and found it generally comprehensible without any sort of written text assistance, but that…doesn’t really interest me :joy: The only saving grace of that one is that each episode is very short so they’re easy to get through without too much of a time commitment. I’m not writing it off completely, I may sprinkle it in, but I also want to keep the primary focus on enjoyment. I don’t want this to feel like a chore. Japanese subtitles are certainly an option for some things, and I’ll definitely be giving them a try, but I suspect that my reading speed in Japanese is probably not equal to subtitle speed unless the language is pretty simple, so I’m not sure how much help they’ll be. But maybe I’m wrong! I honestly haven’t tried it, so maybe it’ll be easier than I think and I’ll be able to manage with Japanese subtitles only. Tbd.

I’m not much of a podcast person (even in English), and I struggle to pay prolonged attention to verbal things that don’t have any sort of accompanying visual, so I’m thinking most of my listening will be in the context of watching a show or video of some kind. Ideally I’d like to do a mix of listening w/English subtitles, listening w/Japanese subtitles (hopefully I can figure out how to get those on stuff :upside_down_face:) and listening without subtitles. I think that what may work is to watch things I’ve previously seen and enjoyed with English subtitles, while taking away the crutch of English subtitles. There are also some things I would enjoy watching even when I understand nothing, so those could be good options for non-subtitle listening as well xD

Ideas for Listening Materials - A Stream of Consciousness List

Things that come to mind immediately (y’all are gonna be like what is this list :joy:)

  • I recently binge-watched every episode of はじめてのおつかい on Netflix (with English subtitles) and I loved it, so that might be a good one to try rewatching without subtitles. The language seemed pretty simple. Idk what it is, I’m not really a kid person, but those kids are so cute :joy: Honestly if anyone has any recommendations for shows that have a similar wholesome vibe to this show, please let me know.
  • There’s also that movie 泣きたい私は猫をかぶる on Netflix that I’ve been wanting to watch forever - maybe now would be a good time xD This one I would probably watch with English subtitles.
  • I have a random/niche fascination with Miura Ayme as the voice of Asmodeus in Obey Me! and I know there’s some youtube content with him related to that so I’m thinking I might watch more of that (this falls into the category of “things I would enjoy watching even when I understand nothing” :joy: Idk, he’s kind of adorable in a weird way and I just like hearing him talk :woman_shrugging: )
  • I have a DVD collection of Ghibli movies (that may or may not be legit, idk, I bought it off some random website without thinking too much about it :joy:) - I’ve seen many of those with English subtitles before, so that might be another option. I believe the DVD was supposed to have subtitle options.
  • I have audio CDs for 囀る鳥は羽ばたかない - idk if I will get to those because I found manga quite difficult, but :woman_shrugging: They’re there, thanks to my tendency to impulse-buy things that are way above my level :joy: Maybe an option for passive listening while doing something else.
  • I could always rewatch some of my old favorite anime, Free! or Yuri on Ice. Maybe I could finally get around to watching the newer season/movies of Free! :eyes:
  • Maybe I could even watch a new anime :eyes: That’s a thought
  • Another idea I just had would be reading along with an audio book, though I’m not sure my reading abilities are fast enough/good enough for that to really work the way I’d like it to xD
  • Here’s a big brain idea, watch some grammar videos in Japanese and kill two birds with one stone (I probably won’t but it would probably benefit me to do it xD)
20 Likes
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Something like this I need, it helped wonders with the reading ones

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18 Likes
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What topics do you like? I sometimes listen to this podcast: ‎„Rebuild“ auf Apple Podcasts
The format is that the host talks to another person (a different one in each episode), and they usually geek out about programming or digital gadgets or stuff like that, while also doing smalltalk about day-to-day stuff (usually in the first part).
Granted, I don’t understand everything they’re saying (especially when it comes to specialized vocabulary) but I absolutely love the voice and the speaking style of the host, so what can I do :sweat_smile:

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Summary post

Well, first day completed! I went a bit further than expected today, haha, maybe because it’s exciting to start a new challenge.

Listening in Spanish

I ended up trying La Casa de las Flores, which is a Netflix original series. To my utmost surprise, I could actually pretty much follow it without pausing! I would’ve been pretty helpless without the Spanish subtitles, though.

I only watched one episode of the show, but the story is fascinating enough, I’m definitely planning on continuing. One thing that was helpful is that one of the characters only speaks English, haha, so his girlfriend will have to explain things to him in English, and it’s a convenient time for me to check my own understanding.

I did know there were other difficulties, but thanks for linking them again, because I ended up trying the easiest podcast, then an episode of Z right after it! I think I’m in a tricky spot where the easy podcast is too easy for me, but Z is a little too hard. The grammar and vocab seem to be more or less understandable, but my brain can’t quite keep up with the speed of the podcast, so I can’t put together the meaning of the sentences in time :sweat_smile:.

I ended up going back to the 童話 site. I think I’m not quite at a point where I can do transcript/subtitle-less Japanese (or, well, I could probably handle the easiest Teppei, but I’m not sure I find the content compelling enough to keep going haha). What I’ve been doing with the stories is listening to them once while reading along, then reading through the whole story with Yomichan with the intent of full comprehension, then listening to it again while reading along. I could probably benefit from a fourth pass where I just listen, but I’m not sure I have the stamina to repeat the same story that many times :sweat_smile:.

As a bonus of doing this challenge, I’m learning some Japanese folklore :blush:

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I really don’t know. That’s why I’m not really listening to anything :joy: I tried in the past fashionsnap, where they geek about brands that I don’t know about, そこ:star:あに where they geek about anime I don’t know about, and gadgetouch where they geek about gadgets I don’t know about. I think I just live under a rock, which makes it hard to pick anything. When I look at the top charts, it’s always the news or “learn English” or something, none of which interest me :frowning_face:
I’ll give rebuild a try, I guess :slight_smile:

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Let me know what you think!

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Long day today, but I still managed to get about 15 minutes of listening practice listening to an easy news article. I also went to an exercise class, and I was pleased I could mostly understand it! Granted it was mostly words like 足、腕、左、右, and I know the teacher tried to simplify her language for me, but still!

On another note, do y’all want me to compile a resources wiki on this thread also? We could add our recommendations there, and I could link to it from the top post? I want to try a bunch of the things you’re all doing, but they may get lost in the replies…

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Yesterday I’ve relistened to episodes 36-62

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I started this challenge in June, and my listening skills were next to non-existent. They’re not much better now, but I decided to not stress too much about it, just try to put in some listening in whatever form every day and see how it goes. I think I’ll be marking the days with colours, ranging from red (passive listening, minimal comprehension) to green (active listening, adequate comprehension). Hopefully I’ll see more greens as the challenge progresses…

:speech_balloon: 7月 :headphones:
月 火 水 木 金 土 日
:orange_square: :yellow_square: :orange_square:
:yellow_square: :yellow_square: :yellow_square: :orange_square: :yellow_square: :orange_square: :yellow_square:
:yellow_square: :yellow_square: :orange_square: :orange_square: :white_small_square: :white_small_square:
:white_small_square: :white_small_square: :white_small_square: :red_square: :orange_square: :yellow_square: :orange_square:
:green_square: :orange_square: :orange_square: :orange_square: :orange_square: :orange_square: :yellow_square:
:speech_balloon: 8月 :headphones:
月 火 水 木 金 土 日
:green_square: :red_square: :orange_square: :orange_square: :yellow_square: :orange_square: :red_square:
:white_small_square: :white_small_square: :white_small_square: :white_small_square: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz:
:zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz:
:zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz: :zzz:
:zzz: :zzz: :zzz:
June

Okay, joining in. My listening level is, well, non-existent, so I think that instead of recording what I listen to in the calendar (as I did in the Read Every Day thread), I’ll record how well I did. So far, I listened to a bunch of stuff (anime and fairy tales mostly) yesterday and was utterly disheartened, then listened to the first chapter of an audiobook today and was also utterly disheartened, but maybe a bit less so? I’ll follow pocketcat’s advice of listening first, then reading+listening, then listening again. It’s time consuming, but 仕方がない.

So, here is the June calendar. June isn’t officially part of this challenge, but it will be my preparation course. I’ll add the calendars for July and August later, and hide this under a details tag.

:speech_balloon: 6月 :headphones:
月 火 水 木 金 土 日
:heavy_multiplication_x: :heavy_multiplication_x: :heavy_multiplication_x: :heavy_multiplication_x: :heavy_multiplication_x:
:heavy_multiplication_x: :heavy_multiplication_x: :scream: :face_with_spiral_eyes: :neutral_face: :expressionless: :confused:
:pensive: :slightly_smiling_face: :slightly_smiling_face: :slightly_smiling_face: :neutral_face: :neutral_face: ー
ー ー :expressionless: :rofl: :yawning_face: :face_with_raised_eyebrow: :confused:
ー :upside_down_face: :sleeping: :expressionless:
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Day: -21 :face_with_spiral_eyes:

So, I wanted to start with スマホを落としただけなのに, recommended by @pocketcat and handy for audio listening because the chapters seem to be small. But, I got an offer from audiobook.jp when I subscribed for a free 14 days all-you-can-listen trial, and this book wasn’t eligible for all-you-can-listen. So instead I chose 謎解きはディナーのあとで for now, which I can listen to for free. After the 14 days (probably much sooner), I guess I’ll know if it’s worth keeping at it or changing to スマホ. I don’t get why they can’t give you the book for free when you buy the audiobook. Why are you making me buy the book twice?

So far I’ve listened to the first chapter, 27 minutes worth of audio. I understood…that there’s a body. And it’s wearing brown boots indoors. That’s more or less it. :rofl: No okay, I got much more while I was listening, but not so that I can connect them to something I could reliably recount. Next step is to listen while reading (it will be interesting to see if my reading can keep up with the audio speed, probably not), then listen again, and see how it goes. Not sure I’ll manage all that today, but that’s okay.

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Sounds like a good idea to me! I gave some podcast recommendations in the reading thread, I’ll copy the message so that hopefully it’s useful to some:

The easier ones I recommend are YUYU, Let’s Talk in Japanese, Let’s learn Japanese from small talk! (love this one personally), and Teppei (has a beginner podcast too as it’s been mentioned). The rest are more advanced. I don’t have absolute beginner recommendations, sadly, sorry! I’m sure someone else can recommend easier resources. I just didn’t have the need for them because I covered the beginner levels in a language school, so I don’t know what’s out there and don’t have anything I can personally recommend.

On YouTube I also recommend Comprehensible Japanese (already mentioned), あかね的日本語教室 and もしもしゆうすけ (if you check his playlists it’s much easier to navigate) . Also for videos on grammar, obligatory mention to 日本語の森 and ゆみせんせいの日本語ch .

I think podcasts have boosted my listening comprehension by a lot. I treat listening differently from reading; extensive listening and intensive reading. I would go for something that you can understand a decent portion of but I wouldn’t worry about not understanding everything (e.g. understanding 10 or 15 minutes of a 20 minute podcast or whatever). As long as you listen to something that is around your level I’m sure you will improve over time. It just takes time and patience, like reading and anything else.

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If it makes you feel better that book butts right up against the edge of my listening abilities. I had to really focus to catch everything. It’s voiced pretty fast and there’s a bit of fancy talking as well (both in politeness level and also just how some things are talked about iirc).

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