January 2023. Listening. Completely Beginner Level. So when I think back about early 2023, I laugh because my listening was insanely beginner.
Fast forward now **a complete year later** after practicing my listening properly, I would say i’m pretty much comfortable with any speed. My comprehension flipped a complete 180.
As of 2024, I can now watch Anime, Japanese Youtube Creators, and Podcasts comfortably.
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**The last 6 months (all free resources):**
**Youtube:** (Japanese with Naoko, YuYu No Podcast, Miku Real Japanese, and あかね的日本語教室.)
**Supernative:** [https://supernative.tv/ja/](https://supernative.tv/ja/) | Listen + Recall Mode | Your rating goes up when you guess correctly, and down if you don’t. Currently sitting at 2900. I started at 1600.
**Memrise / Anki:** Learn new words, try 5 a day. Don’t need to learn new words every day but try at least every other day.
**Anime:** My original goal was anime without subtitles but I stopped watching anime.
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**My schedule:**
9AM -> 5PM: Work. During my hour commute, I throw on a Japanese podcast. The on the way home, I listen to music in english.
6:00PM -> 6:30PM: I eat dinner and watch stuff in English
6:30PM -> 7:30PM: Watch Japanese content, vlogs, etc in ONLY Japanese. No Subtitles. If you encounter a word you don’t know; do not write it in your Anki UNLESS it’s a word you constantly keep hearing throughout the video. This means the word is frequently used and is probably important for the content. Plus it’s less enjoyable to have to pause and write down every word.
8:30PM: Workout in my living room for 30 minutes. Cardio.
9:00PM: Shower
9:15PM: **Anki** / Gaming / Watching a movie / Anything until I sleep.
Aim for 30 minutes / 1 hour a day. On days where I meet up with friends, I still go home and at least try to put in 20 minutes before going to bed.
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In 1 year, my listening improved. In the last 6 months, it skyrocketed by doing it every single day. When you were a child growing up; chances are you listening to your native language daily whether it be conversations or from a tv. Maybe you could watch 1 show a day; that’s still consistency.
So i’m curious, why isn’t your listening improving? Are you learning consistently? If not, why?
by japan_noob