im in this strange place with my Japanese where I can say I’ve enjoyed some movies without subs yet still have noticeable trouble following the news. I know I still have vocab to learn, but it really does feel like the news are somehow a specific challenge. Part of it is the often unfamiliar context and personal names (e.g. they’re talking about who said what during a parliamentary debate about one domestic issue or another), so I’m guessing it’s just a matter of exposure x time but it’s puzzling and a bit frustrating.
Anyone else?
ETA: In case it helps anyone, my current approach to tackling this is to listen to several news updates in a row since it’s repetitive and also read the text version for specific vocab (I’m using NHK + NHKラジオ)
5 comments
Different domains of vocab every single news coverage
Different ways of talking from different people who you might not have heard before
Different style of speech that involves natural mannerisms and slurring
Its to be expected really :))
News, movies, reality tv and plot tv all have different sets of vocab that you need to be familiar with. Depending on things too you might have dialect differences too. So yeah, that makes total sense. I can play a videogame and do well without a guide, but light novels confuse me quickly. Even in the same area you can have different levels of challenge. Novel vocab. Weird names. Made up words….
Like everyone else said, the news is just a different type of Japanese. Different grammar, different words etc.
Yeah, news can have their own specific vocab. Like I know that when it comes to a dead body, they say 遺体 instead of 死体
You should try reading the newspaper daily.