Japanese podcast/youtube to get better in listening

13 comments

1. I’ve just started the Thinking In Japanese Podcast. Not sure about how good it is yet, but it certainly fits the bill.

2. There is a bunch on Spotify or any podcast platform really.

   And I’d just start listening to natural Japanese. Doesn’t matter even if you don’t understand everything. You’ll start getting the hang of proper pronunciation like this which I think is really helpful.

   I used to listen to those every day, mainly stuff by female idol groups because I find that in general women’s speech is easier to understand. Kikuchi Ami used to have a fun one, that was my favorite.

   When I got better, I started listening to some random comedy groups, whatever I could find. I think Bananaman used to have a podcast, that was really good.

   Point is, just search by language and there is a limitless number of Japanese podcasts. Just try whatever you find and stick with the ones that interest you.

3. Hey, u/Tcas_00, a word of encouragement: even material that’s a bit above your level is very useful for developing your listening skills for the parts that *are* at your level. It helps you learn to pick out the things you do understand from amongst all the things you don’t. That’s exactly how real-life communication works, especially for kids hearing grownups talk. Gradually you learn to pinpoint more specific things, like, *Oh, I know that phrase, but that ending was new to me.* And that leads you further along the road, each time.

4. [Hiroyuki Nishimura](https://youtube.com/c/hiroyukix) and any of his fan-made video highlights like [this one](https://youtube.com/channel/UCeeLf1P55LuUreLI5Ibk1yg). Not a language YTer though but if you want to go hardcore mode, then native content is highly recommended.

5. I’ve been using this game recently as a fun way to practice my listening – [https://www.quotey-mcquoteface.com/](https://www.quotey-mcquoteface.com/)

   It plays aloud movie quotes, song lines etc. and then you have to try and understand the quote and guess where it comes from. They’re not always translated exceptionally but I find it a fun exercise for trying to understand simple phrases nonetheless 🙂

6. Noriko Podcast is amazing because there’s so many episodes, they’re the perfect length, can vary in difficulty, are very good for beginners, and she makes a transcript for each episodes in Japanese and posts it for free on her website, where you can also listen with a Spotify embed. Just use Yomichan or 10ten reader extension, etc. and DeepL translator after you’ve done your best to understand it, then parse through it again a few more times until it makes sense. Use someone like Japanese Ammo With Misa on YouTube to explain grammar points.

   Another great thing to use is the Comprehensible Japanese YouTube channel. Absolutely amazing with a scroll over dictionary extension and subtitles.

   It’s important to know that it will be very taxing and difficult at first but things will also start to click a lot more quickly than you think!

7. Netflix + VPN to Japan + Language reactor extension
   Even if you’re a beginner and can’t understand the grammar used you’ll be able to develop your listening skills.

8. Japanese with Shun is fantastic for absolute beginners! I also like Bite Size Japanese

9. Hello! When I first started out I found Japanesepod101 really helpful! I used to just listen to it without trying to read along to try and get my ears used to the language! I also recommend nihongomori on YouTube!
   Hope this helps!

10. [Comprehensible Japanese](https://www.youtube.com/c/ComprehensibleJapanese/videos) is very good for immersion content specifically geared toward learners of varying levels.

    For regular Japanese content I guess that would depend on what you’re into. I really like [Masaru-san](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtxx8JDiilyNt9DXPlvxwmw)’s channel, which also has English subtitles if you’re struggling to follow along. Vtubers are also a great resource, especially if they’re playing a game you’re already familiar with.

11. Yuyu日本語podcast is my comfort zone. I feel like hes easy to listen to even if i dont understand most of it

12. The absolute best resource I’ve found for this kind of thing is “Nihongo Con Teppei”

    He has two podcasts, a beginner and an intermediate. He basically teaches you Japanese entirely in Japanese. As long as you know some basic sentence structure and grammar, it’ll skyrocket your listening ability.

13. The podcast ‘Let’s Learn Japanese from Small Talk’ is really good. Short conversations on a variety of topics. And they also have a vocabulary list they go over at the end of each podcast.