Hi, I started to study Japanese 2 weeks ago, in those two weeks I am making a Tango N5 anki and the Refold deck.
In grammar I’m reading the Taes kims
and in immersion… well, I need help, I’m getting desperate already.
I have read many guides, many videos and all of them tell me something different and new, I don’t know how to start immersing in content.
Some say that it has to be a 50% compressible and 50% non-compressible imput, others say more, and others say that 10% of immersion is enough to progress.
As I’m new, I really don’t know what to immerse myself in, I tried to watch a video of a youtuber called ヒカキン and my compression level was 2 or 3% and for all the videos I saw, they really say it’s no good.
The dilemma itself is, I know that I have to conssume very VERY basic Japanese content, to make it understandable, but for how long?
When can I go and watch videos that I am really interested in?
How long does this stage last?
I don’t watch content of my level and focus on what I like even though my level of comprehension is SO basic?
I feel like I’m wasting my time, I had to start immersing two weeks ago, from day one, and I’m already two weeks in and NOTHING.
How did you start the first weeks of immersion?
What kind of content did you see? How long did it take you to see what you wanted?
Please help, I know this is something very obvious and stupid, but I feel overwhelmed knowing that I’m wasting my time.
5 comments
If you’re not looking up everything (or nearly everything) you don’t understand then you’re going to make no progress. The good thing is that if you are looking up everything, you can choose something that interests you regardless of difficulty, and the content will motivate you to keep going.
I would recommend reading at this stage and using Yomichan to help you look up unknown words. In my experience videos don’t really start to become useful until you know around 5k vocab.
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You are not wasting your time and you have only just started learning japanese. It’s normal that you wouldn’t be able to understand what you are watching or listening to.
This is not to discourage you at all, but it will take a while for you to understand those videos more. You need vocabulary, you need grammar, you need to know your hiragana, katakana and also to then go for kanji ( many shows and youtube videos are subbed. So if your listening isn’t good yet maybe you can still recognize words)
You will progress if you work with immersion but it has to be in parallel with those.
Honestly, how long it will take will also depend in how much work you will put in learn and using the grammar you learnt as well as the vocabulary. It’s hard to say.
Personally I would recommand doing both immersion on things you like and on you like just okay but that are definitely more of your level. I know how hard it is (personally I find it awful) to listen or read or watch something you truly don’t enjoy. But I still recommand even just a little bit of it, simply for you to double check where you are at in listening comprehesion or reading comprehension
When I started immersion I was watching TV shows in japanese with english subtitles. That was mostly it. I would try to read some tweets by fans of the tv shows etc. As well as small text.
Honestly, I dont think I understand much or more than few words here and there. But that’s how it is.
And the more you will hear or encounter a word written, the more you will retain it. You may even understand some of the grammar through immersion ( but Japanese is a very subtled ans nuanced language so you definitely do need to check the grammar of even what you think you understand the meaning of the grammar form)
I don’t know Kim Tae’s method, but Minna no Nihongo and Genki texbooks have text with audio that you can listen to.
Again, it’s not lost. The more exposure to a language the more progress you will make.
But it’s normal that you don’t see result yet. Hang in there !
Who out there is telling people to start consuming native level material after two weeks of studying??
It’s an unfair expectation being able to understand anything at that point and honestly setting new learners up for failure. Start with textbook material, then add graded readers and podcasts aimed at learners into the mix. Get used to reading an listening to Japanese. The native level material will come up naturally after a while anyway.
The only thing I would attempt to understand at your level is example sentences and short stories aimed at young kids (if even.) If you’re self studying, then it’s at your own pace and no one can really tell you what and when you should be able to understand it. Sure there are guides and “tips” that people say but it isn’t an exact science in most cases.
You don’t have the vocabulary and grammar foundation to attempt to understand most of what a native is saying. Two weeks in, you probably only have hiragana, katakana, and simple expressions and vocab that allow you to form a simple sentence.
Don’t confuse yourself by expecting yourself to just understand all Japanese. It is a process of years to get a fluent understanding of nearly 100% of what an adult might be saying in a YouTube video for other Japanese natives. Keep learning the basics.