Hello!
I have been studying Japanese for a few months now, but only recently have I begun to incorporate CI into my studies. At present, most of my vocab and grammar are learned. The amount of Japanese I’ve actually acquired is far lower than that of my learned Japanese. So, I want to change that by getting more input. Problem being: I have very little time during the week to sit down and watch videos. So obviously the next best thing for me to do is to listen to videos while I’m at work and doing other things. However, I’m a bit confused as to how I can do this optimally.
In the guide under “how to listen” it states that I should only listen to videos that I’ve already comprehended. Of course I don’t treat that as gospel, but if I don’t have time to sit down and watch videos during the week, and I should only be listening to videos that I’ve already comprehended then how am I supposed to actually acquire anything? I am acutely aware that my lack of acquired Japanese is entirely due to my own schedule, but that’s more or less what I need help with. How can I work CI into my very busy schedule?
The only thing I could think of is to just binge watch videos on the weekend, and then listen to them throughout the week. Inevitably the problem I see with that; however, is a matter of interest. Even if I were to watch say 10 videos on the weekend and am able to comprehend them all I would then have to listen to them on repeat for 5 days straight (not all day of course, but at least the majority of while I’m at work). This probably isn’t a great idea, but like I said it’s the only thing I could think of.
Does anyone else any suggestions?
I have very similar problem as you. I have been learning with Comprehensible input for around 14 months now. I have a full time job, family, house and other responsibilities, so most of my 1200+ hrs are NOT fully focused watching. I listen to stuff while, walking or exercising. I watch videos while doing my job on a third display, I watch CIJ while ironing etc. It brings results, but I am a lot behind what other people´s comprehension usually is on this hour count. So I am just kind of trying to live with the fact that I might need like 6000 hours to get to advanced level or something similar. There is no help to it. At least in my case. I still do some fully focused watching and listening, but it is not much and I need something entertaining for this. I found out the hard way, that watching several hours of just graded content for learners leads to severe burnout .
What kinds of things do you listen to? Do you feel like you are actually acquiring anything by spending most of your time listening? I tried the listening route months ago, but I just didn’t understand how it would lead to acquisition when I’m a complete beginner.
At the very beginning, I listened to just CIJ videos which I had already watched. Basically, I watched some 3-4 videos on one day, and re-listened to the same videos on the next day while doing my daily activities. And again, in the evening I watched some new vidoes and re-listened on the following day. I was doing this until maybe 400-500 hrs. During this re-listening, I was trying to imagine what was happening on the screen when I had watched it on the previous day.
After maybe 400 hrs I started to understand enough of Teppei for Beginners and Shun´s podcasts, that I could start to listen to them. Added Meika-Sensei´s and Seika-Sensei´s podcasts a bit later.
Oh, I forgot to address the most importan question. I am acquiring for sure, but it is very slow. Just being able to listen to these podcasts comfortably is a sign that I have progressed quite a lot. I did understand exactly zero japanese a year ago. I literally did not know what “nani?” or “genki?” means. But it takes me tripple the time of someone doing focused watching or additional anki or maybe intensive reading.
Cool thanks!
I will try doing things this way and see how it goes. While I don’t use anki anymore, I do still use a pair of other SRS services. Maybe that will help speed things up just a little bit.
Thanks for the help!
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I listed all of my study resources (Comprehensible Japanese, Genki, Anki, etc…) and my overall learning goal and timeframe into Claude AI. I let it know approximately how much time a day I had to study and that I wanted to get to N3 by the time I visit Japan in 2028. It then created a study plan for me. You might try something like that? Here is the exact prompt I used, which you can edit to fit your own situation.
PROMPT:
I will be traveling to Japan with my family in 2 years. I’d like to learn the language such that I can converse with locals. I am also learning in “secret” so I can surprise my family, none of whom speak any Japanese. My resources include shared Japanese language Anki decks, YouTube, the Genki I book, and a subscription to the Comprehensible Japanese website and associated videos. Since January I have been leaning into the comprehensible learning method, watching beginner-level videos of the Comprehensible Japanese website and listening to the audio each day on my commute. I am using the Anki decks daily, adding 2 new words per day, but not really retaining a lot of the vocabulary. I have also struck up a few connections on Tandem with Japanese natives, but I have not been there for more than a month. I feel I can’t speak well enough to be effective. At this point I am beginning to understand or comprehend very basic and simple Japanese language sentences, but I miss a lot of the vocabulary. I also find it very difficult to put a sentence together to speak, although I can speak basic sentences (i.e. “hello, my name is Rick”, “where is the train station”, things like that), but my vocabulary is lacking. I don’t have trouble with pronunciation; it just seems to take a lot of time to formulate the sentence in my mind. The bottom line is that in 2 years when I get to Japan, I want to understand what a native speaker is saying to me. Respond at least on an N3 level, and spend at least 30 minutes per day studying, although some days I can spend more time. Now, knowing my goals and the resources I have, guide me through developing a flexible but structured study plan over the next 2 years, with quarterly benchmarks, or goals, using the resources I have available and the time and “secrecy” constraints I have to work with."
Let me know if anything has other thoughts about this as well. I am always looking for effective ways to increase my retention.
My suggestion, most videos are less than 10 minutes long. Watch 1-2 new videos a day, and add their audio to your playlist after you have viewed the video(all audio is downloadable off the site). Then listen to that play list of videos you have watched throughout the day.
It takes exposure to a word in 20-30 different contexts to acquire a new word. Just keep moving forward with a new video or two each day and listening to the playlist of videos you have watched through out the day.
When you are listening and can focus try and latch onto words you know and try and remember the context of the video where you saw them. The time listening passively without being able to focus has been proven to have very little value. But those time spans when you can instantly transfer your attention to the content for a minute or two add up throughout the day.
Just out of curiosity, how does your family not know? They haven’t seen the Genki book or you studying Anki cards?
I have a Genki PDF that I use, and I do most of my studying early in the morning before anyone else is up. I listen to downloaded audio from this site during a commute a few hours a week and in my earbuds when I am working out. I fit in the Anki cards in the morning or when I have some breaks during the day. Being self-employed, my time can be a bit flexible. I am sure I would be further along if it were out in the open, but I can’t wait to see their surprise when we land in Japan and I start speaking with people!!
I’m also quite busy in my day to day. I do most of my listening while I commute to work. I would recommend listening to podcasts like the Nihongo Con Teppei for Beginners one @robozilina linked. You can listen on repeat while you do other things, looking out for words that you have learned through your study.
Then when you have the time, sit down and watch a CIJ video. Once, you feel you have mostly understood it, you can listen to that too on repeat while you do other things. And both for the podcasts and the CIJ videos, I would only say to rewatch will you get bored cuz burnout is real lol
Sometime I’ll watch/listen to something way beyond my level like an anime just to spice things up a bit. Just listening out for familiar words
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