皆さん、こんにちは~
Today marks 10 weeks studying Japanese (yay) so I wanted to share 3 of my favorite bits of immersion content by category in case it's helpful to someone at a similar stage. I've asked a load of dumb questions here so hoping to give back just a lil. Plus I felt like I went through a ton of different immersion content before finally landing on things I really liked.
- Podcast: Bite size Japanese Podcast
After shopping around for beginner to early-intermediate podcasts, I struggled to find one I actually enjoyed listening to. Then I found Layla who is Japanese living in Australia. She makes these little episodes that actually go into interesting topics about her life, work, society etc. while teaching you new vocab with simple explanations in Japanese. The grammar is never too complicated and she repeats herself a few times with different wording to help with comprehension. I'm obsessed. It has really helped with my listening comprehension. Plus she has like 600 episodes.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/@the_bitesize_japanese_podcast
- Music artist: Kirinji
I really enjoy Japanese music but some of my favorites I am just still too beginner to understand or sometimes they're styled with distortion or other things that make it harder for listening comprehension (looking at you, Japanese shoegaze). Then I found Kirinji who generally makes nice chill music where he sings sort of slowly, using not too complex of grammar, and enunciates super clearly without too many vocal effects. Hadn't seen him posted on the sub yet so thought I'd share. His music has made for really great passive immersion while on my commute / gym etc.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJhqPYPLkCI
- TV: Shirokuma Cafe
I know this is already a really common suggestion but I wanted to underscore it since I think I got into this kind of later than really necessary. I kept convincing myself I "wasn't ready" for seriously diving into sentence mining but once I actually forced myself to do it, I realized this show is seriously so great for early immersion and I was silly for not starting sooner. It's not dumbed down per se (as in, it's still content made for Japanese listeners), but it is actually very watchable with Yomitan given it generally uses simple sentence structures. My specific favorite recurring bit that I think makes it even extra great for learners is when しろくまさん does these super silly word-association things where he riffs what rhymes with whatever was just said to him lmao. Super goofy but without really needing to try, I learned that 頂戴 (ちょうだい, expression: please give me___) rhymes with ちゃぶ台 (ちゃぶだい, n. low-seated dining table) and both words then stuck haha.
Okay end of post thx for reading. Have a great day everyone and happy studying!!
Also: would love to hear your favorite beginner to early-intermediate immersion resources!
by Numerous_Birds