N5 Immersion Content

Japanese
#1

Hey Community, I’m studying for N5 and really struggle with listening comprehension. Most Japanese content I watch is well beyond me, do you have any suggestions of TV shows I could watch that might be good for beginners? I don’t even mind if it’s meant for children.

My understanding is that slice of life, real actors can be more realistic than animation. Only show I’ve found so far that I felt was good for my level was Hirayasumi (NHK), it has simple and not overly heavy dialogue, which meant I could at least understand bits and pieces.

Let me know if you have any recommendations or advice. Thanks!

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#2

There is no native content that is truly suitable for N5, including children’s shows. Bits and pieces are not enough for significant progress. I would check out cijapanese.com or nihongo con teppei for beginners (make sure it’s the beginner podcast and make sure to start with the very first episode)

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#3

Peppa Pig is kind of there

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#4

Thanks, I will check these out.

Purpose of immersion content is to subject myself to natural content through passive listening. It’s not a replacement for doing active listening exercises, it’s supplementary. Ideally looking for something entertaining to replace other content I would otherwise consume.

Not expecting to understand huge amounts, however I’m not finding value from most content I find, which is too fast passed and dialogue heavy, which doesn’t provide enough processing time for me to start making connections with what I already know.

Hope that makes sense.

#5

I’m still a relatively new learner, and was in your spot not too long ago. There really isn’t much out there, especially in terms of actual television shows. I found that purpose-made comprehensible Japanese youtube videos were my main source of N5 content, Sounds like you’ve found those, and are looking for passive rather than active listening.

Chi’s Sweet Home is the only one that I ever found that really fit what you’re describing - but I think it might really work for you. It’s on Crunchyroll and has a whole bunch of relatively short episodes. It’s a children’s program (based off the manga - lost kitten finds new home and has adventures), and it’s got very simple dialogue with a lot of “space” between lines.

The other old standby is Shirokuma Cafe (animals in the human world get up to hijinks at Polar Bear’s Cafe. I saw that recommended as an entry-point anime series in a number of places, and I gave it a good run when trying to find N5 video. I personally found it a bit hard to follow at that level, but it is definitely among the more accessible ones - and it happens to be quite entertaining, which is what you want. Kimi ni Todoke (high school slice of life) is in there, too - it was too advanced for me to have a clear understanding of what was going on at N5/early N4, but good for getting the “feel” of the language.

For immersion, I personally found podcasts to work better for me. The absence of visual cues is a real downside. But I think it’s a little easier to find podcast content pitched to the N5 listener than actual television shows. Nihongo con Teppei and Japanese with Shun were the ones I really got into.

Hope that helps!

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#6

At N5, you need to pick something that’s fun, even if it’s beyond you.
Dkun 777 cat videos, はじめておつかい (Old Enough), or CookPad recipes
I can still enjoy looking at a cute cat, cake or child with out following the dialogue.

I heard the same advice as you “start with slice of life”, but I found it the opposite.
FRIENDS is recommended to people learning English.
If you don’t understand English, it’s just a bunch of people, sitting on a couch with a laugh track, with all of the jokes going over your head.
Don’t need to study to enjoy a sword fight or explosions.

I watched Nausicaa when I was N5 and the only words I understood were 姫様 (princess) and Ohm (the aliens)
But it was still fun!

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#7

For N5, I think you’ll find the most helpful content will be ones geared toward learners, especially that which has English and Japanese. NHK has a lot of good videos and bite-sized lessons, some ones also centered around cultural stuff. They also have simple news articles that have audio recordings so you can listen and read along.

For native material, maybe children’s content like Chiikawa or Sumikko Gurashi might work. The grammar is simple but vocabulary can be misleadingly hard. Both have shorter shows or videos you can find on Youtube, or full-length movies if you’re interested. Usually with Japanese subtitles as well, which I highly recommend turning on (children’s content should probably have furigana).

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#8

I highly recommend NHK News Web Easy. They add four news articles each weekday (except holidays), targeted to learners. NHKやさしいことばニュース | NEWS WEB EASY

Some of the articles have a video that’s targeted to native speakers, usually 5 minutes or less. However, almost all of them have a button for ニュースを聞く, where someone reads the news article out loud.

Here’s how I’ve been using this:
1 Read the headline
2 Click ニュースを聞く without looking at the text
3 Hear as much as I can, no pausing
(Unless it’s numbers, then I might listen a couple times)
4 Replay the audio while reading the story
5 Check how much I understood

Sometimes I understood 95%. Sometimes I have no idea about squid fishing and get 50%. All of which is better than the 0% understanding when I started.

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