I know it takes a lot of time and practice. I’m just frustrated at how slow my brain is being when it comes to comprehension. Even if I know the kanji, grammar, and definitions, I still draw a blank and cannot comprehend what is being said. It’s discouraging and irritating. I should be able to understand things based on the level of material being spoken to me (Genki 2 level), but my brain says “what are these nonsense sounds?”
Even reading along, sometimes I just see familiar shapes, and have to hammer my brain into submission to be able to recognize something like 送れる as おくれる/ being late.
Sometimes I can follow, but I have to translate every word in my brain and I cannot do that fast enough to keep up.
Am I doing it wrong? I have pretty severe inattentive ADHD, and while I am medicated, I feel like it’s causing me to be handicapped. What exercises/resources can I turn to to improve my listening skills?
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I have ADHD and I am fine (yes I know it affects people differently before you ramble on with that). I think you shouldn’t place limits/excuses on your self. Just keep listening and exposing yourself to Japanese and you’ll be fine.
If you have had to have speech therapy or something at any point then it’s a different story but I’m assuming you haven’t
To me the hard part is going from sound to individual word meaning. I know what 構成 means and how it’s pronounced when I see it written, but when I hear こうせい I have no idea what it could be, because there are so many Kanji with the same onyomi and therefore so many compound words with the same reading
Have you tried listening to any of the slow Japanese podcasts? There are a few out there and it might help ease you in to understanding/training your ear. That way you hear the words but it doesn’t feel so smashed together
Normal. Your’re not familiar enough with the language to understand immediately, you just need to read and listen more.
***tl;dr Use subs2srs with anki***
The way my listening skills trail behind all my other skills is also *very* demotivating at times.
I highly, highly recommend using subs2srs with Anki. It’s been a complete game changer for me. I’m talking magic-like, near-instant results. Seriously, after just a week of subs2srs flash cards I went from everything around me sounding like someone was just reading from a bowl of kana-soup, to actually starting to be able to parse what I was hearing.
The more I do, the better my listening gets. It’s by far and away the closest to a “shortcut” in language learning I’ve ever found.
Now, even when I don’t know what they’re saying, I can still “hear the words.” It no longer sounds like a random string of syllables. It sounds like a language.
People complain that subs2srs has a learning curve, but it really doesn’t. It just has a very old-looking interface, which makes it *look* overwhelming. In reality, it’s very straight forward.
I always recommend picking a tv show you like (preferably a half-hour show or shorter, to get that sense of accomplishment quicker), but if you want a pre-made deck to try out in your Anki, let me know. I have a ton I’ve made up.
I have a couple of YouTube talks, like one from a zen priest, or another from an astronomy student, or another from Sushi Ramen.
For TV drama I have:
– ワカコ酒 (s01e09; s04e10; s05e01)
– 今夜はコの字で (ep1 & 3)
– 3年A組 (ep1)
– アナザー (ep1 & 2)
– ビブリア古書堂の事件手帖 (ep1)
– リバース (ep1)
– 日本人の知らない日本語 (ep1)
– 深夜食堂 (ep1)
– 野武士のグルメ (ep1)
For TV anime I have:
– メイドインアビス ep1
– しろくまカフェ ep1-5
– ボールルームへようこそ (ep1)
– 秒速5センチメートル (ep1)
– 舟を編む (ep1)
There is, of course, also the Core6k deck, which is pretty great.
It does, eventually. I started 10 years ago but quit aftwr a few month, honestly I was really depressed as it seemed that I was just learning small bits that would never help. I started again a few months ago and I can say I feel I am progressing. I think you should choose something appropriate for your level, so that you don’t feel overwhelmed. I write a lot in my notes (handwriting) and I feel this helps things stick better to my mind.
遅れる is being late 送れる is being able to send/live.
Reading is the easiest part of the Japanese language due to kanji. Listening is the hardest, but the more you listen the faster it will catch up to your reading. If you aren’t good at reading there isn’t really a point to going hard on listening as there’s nothing to catch up to.
I was thinking literally Slow Japanese by mochifika, but really I would say check out https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/japanese-language-learning-podcasts-for-beginners/
Hundreds of hours required. If you know the whole vocab it is a lot easier, but even 20 hours of listening will still be like 80% comprehension for well-spoken clear anime dialog.
normal. however don’t try to translate word for word in your head, it’s a bad habit and it is hard to undo. you need to understand phrase by phrase and eventually they’ll link up and become a stream of consciousness. it does take time.
Theoretical knowledge in a textbook doesnt make u good at listening but it sounds like u figured that out and its the first step to improving