# Listening to Japanese as a beginner? **URL:** \ **Category:** Listening\ **Created:** [September 16, 2026, 5:42pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/listening-to-japanese-as-a-beginner/75764 "2026-09-16T17:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![087f](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@087f](https://community.wanikani.com/u/087f)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 5:42pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/listening-to-japanese-as-a-beginner/75764/1 "2026-09-16T17:42:13Z")
I’ll start by saying I already made another thread some time ago regarding reading as a beginner in Japanese; this one will touch the listening aspect more 🙂 As I continue to learn Japanese, I think to myself that although I can read and speak what I know at a fairly good level, my listening ability and my vocabulary both aren’t at the level I want them to be. Now, my question: Does anybody know of a good way to practice listening / gather a bit more vocabulary? For example, through podcasts or YouTube channels, preferably ones that I can listen to on the go. I listen to a podcast called ‘Japanese with Shun’ on Spotify, and it’s great! But I wanted to see if there are other better/easier (?) ways. Thanks, 087f ---
**Author:** ![trunklayer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/trunklayer/32/729917_2.png) [@trunklayer](https://community.wanikani.com/u/trunklayer)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 5:48pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/listening-to-japanese-as-a-beginner/75764/2 "2026-09-16T17:48:41Z")
My favorite listening resource is https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/2Br6kFlZDCCizEV9cpy81B?go=1&utm_source=oembed ---
**Author:** ![soggyboy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/soggyboy/32/632282_2.png) [@soggyboy](https://community.wanikani.com/u/soggyboy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/listening-to-japanese-as-a-beginner/75764/3 "2026-09-16T18:06:42Z")
I recommend doing a ‘set it and forget it’ method with listening where you do a set amount of listening every day (I did 10 minutes as a beginner), but don’t worry about understanding. It’ll take a while for everything to come together and your brain to start processing Japanese speech, so just keep at it. If you want a list of learner podcasts, [there’s one here.](https://community.wanikani.com/t/master-list-of-japanese-learning-podcasts/69177) ---
**Author:** ![087f](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@087f](https://community.wanikani.com/u/087f)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/listening-to-japanese-as-a-beginner/75764/4 "2026-09-16T18:29:35Z")
Thanks! I’ll take a look at it! ---
**Author:** ![pembogeyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/pembogeyman/32/566519_2.png) [@pembogeyman](https://community.wanikani.com/u/pembogeyman)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/listening-to-japanese-as-a-beginner/75764/5 "2026-09-16T18:41:14Z")
![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/6/6/5/6656b8022e98b9852a4156664a91f70df0815a15.png) heck yeah, this one slaps ---
**Author:** ![downtimes](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/downtimes/32/790700_2.png) [@downtimes](https://community.wanikani.com/u/downtimes)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 6:54pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/listening-to-japanese-as-a-beginner/75764/6 "2026-09-16T18:54:23Z")
I’m a strong proponent of [Natural Japanese](https://nijapanese.com/watch) If you watch shun you can probably skip the beginner levels. At least use their free material. 6h of “intermediate” listening will certainly help. It is pretty varied, and you can learn a lot of interesting vocabulary with their system. ---
**Author:** ![trunklayer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/trunklayer/32/729917_2.png) [@trunklayer](https://community.wanikani.com/u/trunklayer)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/listening-to-japanese-as-a-beginner/75764/7 "2026-09-16T19:31:58Z")
What the meow?! That’s not how it looks for me! ![trunky_rolling](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/0/3/1/031c6cea49b7baa3b83e846da9e6731d85e49a95.gif) ---
**Author:** ![pembogeyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/pembogeyman/32/566519_2.png) [@pembogeyman](https://community.wanikani.com/u/pembogeyman)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 7:32pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/listening-to-japanese-as-a-beginner/75764/8 "2026-09-16T19:32:41Z")
the spotify link is working now 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alonzo-xyz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/alonzo-xyz/32/761180_2.png) [@Alonzo-xyz](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Alonzo-xyz)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/listening-to-japanese-as-a-beginner/75764/9 "2026-09-16T20:01:56Z")
I really like **repeated listening** to **stuff that you like** which **ideally has transcripts**. As a bonus, you might listen to stuff you **already know well** in another language. I learned this formula from [a YouTuber](https://youtu.be/19OKvadH_D0?si=vDiKU47HuelnDqiz). I spent a couple months (~end of January-ish to ~May) repeatedly watching a couple episodes of the Death Note anime at a time without subtitles and also reading the manga. I also repeatedly listened to chapters of the audiobook for the Japanese translation of the first Harry Potter novel while reading the novel as well. I think probably with the exception of the week I spent in Japan, these few months was the greatest improvement I made to my listening comprehension of Japanese in my entire life. The repetition is really key because not only do you cement the stuff you already understood, your mind can be freed up to really lock in on the bits that don’t come quite as quick. ---
**Author:** ![VincyJPlearner](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@VincyJPlearner](https://community.wanikani.com/u/VincyJPlearner)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2026, 6:35am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/listening-to-japanese-as-a-beginner/75764/10 "2026-09-18T06:35:29Z")
Yes, for a beginner, I would always recommend Teppei and the more you improve you can just move on to his upper beginner/intermediate stuff until you feel you can take on more intense listening.