Hey Guys,
I started learning Japanese about three months ago and am halfway through Genki 1 (which I think is a really goo textbook tbh), and am doing WaniKani along with Bunpro. The only thing I feel is still missing from my learning journey is a listening source that is educational, because netflix shows are still too fast. Any tips and resources are welcome, thanks guys!!
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I think you could get a lot more responses on this topic if you go to WaniKani’s community. Also, I’m pretty sure there are plenty of threads there that have already covered this topic. Listening is a really important subject in language learning, so you can find a lot of answers over there.
But, to shortly answer your question based on my experiences, and what I’ve learned: keep watching those netflix series. But, most importantly, make sure you’re watching stuff that you find interesting. If you don’t find what you’re watching interesting, then your thoughts are going to wander, and then you won’t be benefitting at all. Also, if at any point in your listening you feel bored, start to doze off, etc. switch to something else (something that isn’t listening), or take a break. At that point you aren’t getting anything out of it, and could be doing something more beneficial for your learning. Listening is really difficult starting out since you don’t understand a thing. But, even though things are fast paced and everything flies over your head, as long as you are putting your full attention into it and carefully listening to what’s being said, then your brain will be doing things behind the scenes to help you eventually gain better listening comprehension. I still have a very difficult time hearing words I know, however, one thing that I’ve noticed over time is that I’m dozing off a lot less, and every so often I hear words that I just know (no Japaense->English translation goes on in my head, I just understand it).
Hope that somewhat helps. I know it wasn’t really the answer you were looking for. However, Nihongo Con Teppei is a podcast you can look up. The speaker speaks fairly slow, uses pretty comm words, and has a Tokyo Dialect (at least I think so). I wouldn’t recommend podcasts though until you are able to understand decently since it’s a lot easier to lose focus.
Just make sure you take your time with listening - don’t do more than you can handle. It’s overwhelming, and too much of it can make you want to steer clear of it. Make sure you don’t discourage yourself when listening too, just because you can’t hear words you know doesn’t mean your brain isn’t working. Listening takes a long time, but you’re always improving as long as you’re paying very close attention.
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You could check out the Nihongo con Teppei podcast. ^^ I’ve never listened to it, but it’s specifically for Japanese learners. I’ve seen a lot of people recommend it as a listening resource for beginners.
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Whoops - I should read things more closely. 
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Glossika is a great tool for gaining listening comprehension. I use it for shadowing practice.
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I found it interesting and new in the beginning but then it got really repetitive and time consuming 
I agreed, once I got to 25000 repetitions it got tedious because the increase in noticeable gains decreased, so I don’t use it everyday anymore, but I still find doing it every couple of days to be helpful.
Japanesepod101 is one of the best listening resource for beginners in my opinion. There are thousands of natural dialogues with lessons attached. I’ve been using it for a couple of years and love it.
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i use japanesetest4you and lingQ to get my texts with audio.
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also another alternative which does the same thing;
https://supernative.tv/ja/
not bad at all.
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You probably already know this, but in case you missed it, the physical Genki textbooks include a CDROM with listening exercises. I ripped them all to my iPhone and use them when studying.
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There are many sources as you get plugged into the stream of learning. Check out https://massimmersionapproach.com and look up nuke marine lets learn japanese stuff. There discord servers are extremely helpful.
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This is great advice. Whichever chapter I am currently on I will listen to when I’m out for a run.
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Reddit is a good place to follow for such resources.
Here is an example compilation:
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What are other people watching? I’m still watching with subtitles. At first it was just a stream of sounds, but as I’ve gained ground I learned to pick out where the words were, and as I’m getting more grammar and vocabulary I’m getting better at picking up bits of stuff. Occasionally I’ll end up with a character I can completely understand!
Here’s some of my faves (all on Amazon Prime):
Neko Samurai (Cat Samurai) - set in Edo during the Shogun era, it’s a weird little comedy about an out of work samurai who is hired to assassinate a cat (and who doesn’t, which is where the fun begins). I find this show is actually easier to understand than a lot of them. The Donut Lady and the Cat Lady both use relatively straightforward and common grammatical forms. They also crack me up!
Massage Detective - This is set in a modern Tokyo massage parlor, which does both in-house and workplace/home massage. The lead character is apparently some sort of savant who can give a massage and solve murders by identifying the muscles involved. The dialogue goes at a very fast clip, but there’s a lot of printed stuff you can pause and review.
Chi’s Sweet Adventure - This is an animated children’s show, and it’s about a kitten who lives with a family in Tokyo, has a stray friend in the park (Cochi-Cochi), and there’s an older cat with a docked tail that also lives in the park and shares sage advice. It’s completely adorable, and because it’s a children’s show the vocabulary and grammatical forms are more limited.
Fukuyadou Honpou - A romantic comedy set in Kyoto about a mother and her three daughters and who will inherit the 450 year old family Okashi business. The dialogue is more challenging, but it’s Kyoto, so it’s just magnificent to look at. I’ve watched it a couple of times, and periodically rewatch it to check myself.
Ramen-loving Koizumi-San - Only four episodes, based upon the books. A complete riot. Sadly, it is no longer licensed in the US. I wish I had written down the Ramen shops!
Sunshine Sento-Sake - A comedy that follows Utsumi-san, a salesman for an advertising company. He’s a very pleasant fellow who can’t quite seem to get it together. But he has a knack for being out looking for customers and stumbling on Sento. This one’s really cool because all of the Sento appear to be real. Next time I’m in Japan I’m thinking of making a Sento mini-tour based around the places he visits. He also eats great food after the Sento.
Tokyo Girl - This follows a girl who moves from a small town to Tokyo to work in business and the fashion industry. It follows her upward climb, her romances, and the way she changes and Tokyo changes her. It talks a bit about various neighborhoods, and so you get an exposure to the ranking of various districts of Tokyo and how they relate to people of different ages and stations.
Tokyo Alice - A really interesting rom-com about four young women who rent a house together for the summer, and the twists and turns of their lives.
Who Killed Dalgoro Tokuyama - A very unusual whodunit! It starts with a group of middle school or high school girls finding their teacher sitting up dead in their classroom. They decide to hide the body and solve the murder themselves. It gets weirder from there.
There’s a few others I’ve watched, but they seem to have dropped off my watchlist.
Larry
My biggest regret is that I didn’t start immersion practice sooner.
At the moment, I practice by listening to NHK News and trending YouTube videos. I’d recommend the latter especially; a lot of Japanese YouTubers subtitle their own videos. You won’t understand much at first, but you just have to spam yourself with enough Japanese audio for your brain to start to discern when syllables and words begin and end. The sooner you start doing that, the better (as long as the material interests you, as someone else mentioned above).
I just finished watching Alice in Borderland. The violence is a lot to process but I really liked the effects and the costume designs. I just started Erased too. I’m only one episode in but I like what I’ve seen. Little Miss Sumo is a really good short film. They’re all on Netflix.
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I’m currently about 2/3 of the way through the first season of “Neko Samurai.” It’s a riot, and some of the characters speak simply enough I can understand them. I love NHK news - I’ll def check out YouTube. Arigatou!
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Teppei-san’s podcasts are great. He has one specifically for beginners. His regular one is more for intermediate speakers. He also has another podcast which is more of a free flow conversation with another Japanese teacher (Noriko-san from Japanese with Noriko podcast / youtube channel). They are quite funny… (although maybe not everyone’s taste).
As a side note, Noriko-san’s podcast / Youtube channel is great. She provides a script with every episode on her website as well… her podcasts are for upper beginner to intermediate learners (although some episodes are more for intermediate / advanced).
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