Are you studying JLPT N2 grammar and looking for something new? If so, we have a YouTube channel you may be interested in. Although “Japanese Lessons with Mom & Daughter” has only been out for five months, they already have dozens of videos, all on the topic of N2 grammar. In these clips, a mother with seventeen years of Japanese language teaching experience and her … [ Read more ]
Subjects: Grammar, Language Study, Video / Audio
Onomatopoeia like ギリギリ and ドキドキ are so widespread in conversational Japanese and creative contexts that you’re sure to have come across them if you chat to Japanese speakers or read fiction in Japanese. If you’ve mostly studied Japanese in a more academic context, though, you might not have come across them as much.
We’ve already covered books on onomatopoeia, but Onomappu is the first … [ Read more ]
Author: Hitoki | Subjects: Language Study, Video / Audio, Vocabulary / Phrases
Sakura Tips is a podcast that’s been out for several months, so we’re a little late to the game. Mari, the podcast host, amazingly and consistently releases one podcast episode per day. Each episode is only about four minutes long, so you can easily incorporate this as a practice activity for your daily studies, or speed through several episodes in one day.
Mari talks in a … [ Read more ]
Subjects: Language Study, Video / Audio
popIn WAVE is an audio platform for multiple media outlets, including The Weekly Economist ( 週刊しゅうかんエコノミスト) and HUFFPOST Japan. Via this platform, you can listen to a wide range of “spoken articles,” all based on corresponding written articles. These spoken articles examine the stories behind the original articles, and discuss related topics, often with the writer or editor of that article.
All the content is professionally … [ Read more ]
Subjects: Language Study, Reading Material, Video / Audio
Ako Suzuki, a well-known sensei on Twitter, has about 20 years of experience teaching Japanese. Last year, she created the YouTube channel Ako Nihongo Lessons and the podcast 日本語 with あこ as a new challenge.
Ako-sensei’s YouTube channel has videos for all the JLPT levels, with a special focus on levels N2, N3 and … [ Read more ]
Author: Ako Suzuki | Subjects: Language Study, Video / Audio
Introducing “The Real Japanese Podcast: 日本語で話すだけのラジオです！” Episodes average at about 15 minutes long, making them short enough to be digestible, but long enough to be interesting and immersive. The host, Haruka, is a native speaker of Japanese who has a pretty active online presence accross many platforms as a Japanese teacher.
My favorite thing about this podcast is that Haruka releases a script of every … [ Read more ]
Source: “Spotify” | Subjects: Language Study, Video / Audio
This YouTube channel has been around for a few months now, and new videos are added twice a week, meaning there’s already quite a variety to choose from. Made by students in global communications at Doshisha University in Kyoto, the channel covers a range of topics that are interesting for Japanese learners. These include explanations of how to use words in context, especially common slang, … [ Read more ]
Sources: “Doshisha University”, “YouTube” | Subjects: Video / Audio, Vocabulary / Phrases
Fuji Family/バイリンガルファミリー (bilingual family) is a YouTube channel which features a family of three traveling around different parts of Japan.
In this family, the mother is from Ireland and the father is Japanese. Both parents know Japanese and English and talk to their bilingual son, Sean, in both languages during the segments.
The videos have a very natural and comforting element to them. The camera, held … [ Read more ]
Source: “YouTube” | Subjects: Language Study, Video / Audio
You may already be familiar with Teppei and Noriko, the hosts of this new podcast. Teppei and Noriko are both experienced Japanese teachers who each have their own podcast. They’ve teamed up recently to help Japanese learners increase their listening skills by providing short, natural conversations in Japanese.
There is no English in the podcast but the two speak very clearly in simple, but natural sentence … [ Read more ]
Source: “Spotify” | Subjects: Language Study, Video / Audio
Japanese Swotter provides material called “Japanese SPEAKING DRILL,” which spans different levels (from beginner to intermediate) and lets you practice speaking. Each drill features a specific grammar point or an expression and you get to listen to short example sentences. After listening, you can either repeat or conjugate what you hear. There’s also a series of advanced listening materials called “Yonaka no Hitorigoto (Night Soliloquy)” … [ Read more ]
Subjects: Language Study, Video / Audio
Don’t you just love the cute things kids say? We do too. We especially enjoy the bilingual conversations 4-year-old Kento and his father have in “けんと レイディオ Channel.” This translates to “Kento’s Radio Channel.” If you’ve ever wondered how Japanese kids talk outside of scripted shows or movies, you can listen to the authentic dialogue of young Kento and his dad.
In this podcast, the pair … [ Read more ]
Subject: Video / Audio
Nihongo to Tabi is a relatively new YouTube channel, launched back in January of this year. The host and creator of the channel, who is unnamed, didn’t really start publishing videos at warp speed until May though. As this is being written, he’s currently up to 167 uploads! That’s quite the output for such a short time frame — at some points, he was even … [ Read more ]
Source: “YouTube” | Subjects: Grammar, Language Study, Video / Audio, Vocabulary / Phrases
Looking for listening materials for Kansai-ben (i.e. dialect)? Check out Nあ～ Casual Nihongo, a great podcast channel for those who are eager to learn Kansai-ben!
In each episode, the Kansai-ben speaking host, Dai, plays audio of a short conversation in Kansai-ben, and provides commentary on it. These conversations are real, natural conversation, which almost makes you feel like you’re a fly on the wall in an … [ Read more ]
Subjects: Language Study, Video / Audio
The YouTube word search tool, YouGlish, is now available in Japanese. If you want to listen to a way a word is pronounced in real life — or at least in a YouTube video — you can search a word and pull up hundreds of videos with that term. The videos are cued up to start a few seconds before the word is spoken and … [ Read more ]
Subjects: Language Study, Video / Audio, Vocabulary / Phrases
The YouTube channel にほんごボックス launched around a year ago and has been publishing content regularly ever since, meaning they already have over a hundred videos to choose from. The intention behind the channel is to help non-native speakers of Japanese become familiar with natural, everyday language. That is, not the kind of Japanese used in textbooks to illustrate grammar points, but the kind you’re most … [ Read more ]
Subjects: Language Study, Video / Audio
If you’re looking for a podcast that offers authentic, everyday Japanese, we recommend you check out Let’s Learn Japanese From Small Talk! The podcast is hosted by two native speakers of Japanese, and they cover a wide range of interesting topics about modern life in Japan.
One of my favorite things about the podcast is how well the hosts provide vocabulary support for listeners. Instead … [ Read more ]
Subjects: Language Study, Video / Audio
Can’t get enough Japanese listening materials? Noriko-Sensei’s got your back — she updates her podcast channel, Learn Japanese with Noriko, almost everyday!
What’s special about this podcast channel is how Noriko-Sensei speaks clearly and uses simple words and expressions. She maintains this clarity even while speaking at a natural speed. She doesn’t intentionally slow her speech down like you find in other beginner materials — but … [ Read more ]
Subjects: Language Study, Video / Audio
This site is a basic but useful reading and listening resource. You’ll find short news articles read by site owner Sakura in both a slow and fast speed to suit your ability. There are three tabs for the text. The default tab shows the original Japanese text with popup definitions and translations. Another tab is for a romaji version and the third tab is the … [ Read more ]
Author: Sakura | Subjects: Language Study, Reading Material, Video / Audio, Vocabulary / Phrases
You can’t learn a language just by studying vocabulary and grammar. There has to be something you give a damn about understanding in the long run. The sooner you grapple with the stuff you love in the original language, the better. Sure, it may feel like beating your head against a wall sometimes but here are some tricks to help, and also some warnings about … [ Read more ]
Author: Linda Lombardi | Source: “Tofugu” | Subjects: Language Study, Video / Audio
Who didn’t love watching this iconic and endearing TV program as a kid? Believe it or not, they’re still making new episodes. They’re also translating segments into Japanese and releasing them weekly! Now’s your chance to watch your old favorite in Japanese. Learning and enjoying your study time is the best combination.
These shortened episodes include some characters you may remember, like Elmo and Cookie Monster. … [ Read more ]
Source: “YouTube” | Subject: Video / Audio