I've recently been stepping up my listening practice by watching streaming Japanese TV. It is helping, but also comes with a number of problems, among them that the streams keep going down, and the language is really too complex for me to understanding.

Are there any shows out there that are relatively simple(maybe an anime geared toward younger children) that anyone knows of and would recommend for listening practice? The only one I've really run across is Sazae-san, but I can't really find a lot of them.

One thing I've found, which is counter-intuitive in a way, is that the news is usually pretty simple. Why? Because they speak clearly and in such a way that most people can understand them. Yeah, they use hard words sometimes, but at least they articulating enough for you to pick it up.

It's counter-intuitive because newspapers are one of the toughest things to get to a point to read, but listening to it isn't so terrible.

Also, a lot of dramas aren't too bad. They tend to be a good transition from 'speaking clearly' Japanese to 'normal' Japanese.

Asriel Wrote:One thing I've found, which is counter-intuitive in a way, is that the news is usually pretty simple. Why? Because they speak clearly and in such a way that most people can understand them. Yeah, they use hard words sometimes, but at least they articulating enough for you to pick it up.

It's counter-intuitive because newspapers are one of the toughest things to get to a point to read, but listening to it isn't so terrible.

Also, a lot of dramas aren't too bad. They tend to be a good transition from 'speaking clearly' Japanese to 'normal' Japanese.

that's very true, i've found that to be very true. Although reading newspapers require a lot of vocab+kanji knowledge to be able to read/understand at least 90%+
But it isn't impossible.

Anything geared towards kids (referred to as shounen/shoujo series) will be pretty easy. There's loads of these shows, but if you want some suggestions, Card Captor Sakura, Full Moon wo Sagashite, Dragon Ball Kai, etc. are all popular. If you can get something with japanese subtitles that will be even better. The easiest shows with subtitles I've seen so far are Telepathy Shoujo Ran, K-On, and Amagami-SS. Whatever you enjoy the most is best, but I think what you'll enjoy the most is what you can understand the most.

There is actually a drama called Top Caster (with Yuki Amami)
It is about a news anchor and her struggle to get the latest scoop.

So you get the best of both worlds: drama and news....haha........

My advice, since I was in the same situation as you in the beginning is simply.... just keep listening/reading/srsing. Your listening practice should be just keep listening. I can't say your going to understand much in the beginning but trust me, if you keep going your will notice you can understand more+understand it even better than before.
It really depends on the person but if you want a time+date of when you will gain awesome listening skills. I'd say something like 8months. or 1 year to gain that ability to understand just about everything you hear.

Wow, thanks for all the replies. I understand what you guys mean about news, I was watching a lot of news when I was using streaming TV, and when they would talk about some area where I had a decent grasp on the vocabulary, I would actually understand somewhat what they were saying. There are some decent news resources at http://wwitv.com/television/106.htm that are recordings instead of streaming, which is what I've gone to lately. I think I'm going to try something simpler for a stint though, and maybe come back to that later.

If anyone has any other resources, or shows they think are good I'd be more than happy to hear.

if you're going to watch news, I'd recommend FNN (http://www.fnn-news.com).
They have EXACT japanese subtitles for all their videos.

So you know exactly what they are saying.

I'll second the recommendation for shoujo anime, something like "Precure". And the more recent it is, the easier it is to find Japanese caption subs for it. I find a lot of shounen stuff is more action then dialog.

As far as dramas go, "My Girl" is a good one, that you will see recommended a lot. Since a lot of dialog is with a little girl. Again you should be able to find captions for just about anything recent. I highly recommend watching anything you can with Japanese subtitles. It will help fill in gaps and help you associate words with kanji.

As far as news goes, does anyone know of any news streams or recordings that also have scripts of what is being said?

If you wouldn't watch it in English I would suggest not watching it in Japanese. Same goes for reading material. There is a balance to be had in terms of difficulty level, but c'mon, have some standards for yourself -- you know what you like, go find it. The rule is simple but often not followed: do what is fun and enjoy yourself.

I for one will never watch lovey-dovey romance dramas. I just. can't. stand. it. Give me a generic police drama or whatever, true crime, that sort of stuff... for me it's SO much more interesting, even if I only glean a sentence every now and then. On that note, I recommend 相棒 (Aibou) if you prefer stuff like CSI or Law & Order.

k.

I've been in Osaka a month, and I struggle to watch TV. Not because it's hard but because 95% of it is utter unwatchable garbage. Apart from Pokemon when I eat my breakfast, I barely turn it on. It's all variety shows and food shows.

Anyone have any exact timings of GOOD shows on in Kansai region? Only have the basic Digital package. Best thing is a lot of shows on some channels.. drama's/ anime's are exact subbed, but its just finding them to watch.

they have really good talk/variety shows like shabekuri 007, ame talk, kore tte ari desuka, shindoumoto kyoudai, honma dekka etc etc.

honma dekka is really fun and educational...

akazukin cha cha is an anime for kids that's really funny that even adults enjoy ( good humor/comedy)......it aired in 1994

Gingerninja Wrote:Anyone have any exact timings of GOOD shows on in Kansai region?

I always liked しぇべくり007, even though I couldn't understand that much of it. Arita Teppei acting like an idiot was enough to amuse me. I think it comes on around 10 PM every Monday, though I forget the channel. NTV maybe? And I'm pretty sure everything else I enjoyed, like 侍チュート and the Red Theater, has been cancelled, so I'm tapped out for ideas.

Daichi Wrote:I'll second the recommendation for shoujo anime, something like "Precure". And the more recent it is, the easier it is to find Japanese caption subs for it. I find a lot of shounen stuff is more action then dialog.

As far as dramas go, "My Girl" is a good one, that you will see recommended a lot. Since a lot of dialog is with a little girl. Again you should be able to find captions for just about anything recent. I highly recommend watching anything you can with Japanese subtitles. It will help fill in gaps and help you associate words with kanji.

As far as news goes, does anyone know of any news streams or recordings that also have scripts of what is being said?

fnn-news.com

news.tbs.co.jp

this seasons dramas are listed here:

http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/viewtopic_87744.htm

Daichi Wrote:the more recent it is, the easier it is to find Japanese caption subs for it. I find a lot of shounen stuff is more action then dialog.

Are there any good sites for finding Japanese subtitles?

caivano Wrote:this seasons dramas are listed here:

http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/viewtopic_87744.htm

thanks

blazerqb11 Wrote:

Daichi Wrote:the more recent it is, the easier it is to find Japanese caption subs for it. I find a lot of shounen stuff is more action then dialog.

Are there any good sites for finding Japanese subtitles?

http://kitsunekko.net/
http://transportstreams.org/captions/ (these ones will need some slight time adjustments)

And how would I adjust those times? hehe never worked with that.

loonytik Wrote:And how would I adjust those times? hehe never worked with that.

Use Aegisub to shift the times. You'll need to adjust the beginning of the file (unique per file), after the opening theme (usually exactly 1 minute), after the eyecatch in the middle of the episode (also 1 minute), and after the ending theme (only if you need subs for the next episode preview). Even after making these adjustments, some of the lines still won't be totally in sync, but overall it should be fine.

quincy Wrote:http://kitsunekko.net/
http://transportstreams.org/captions/ (these ones will need some slight time adjustments)

Thanks a lot!

quincy Wrote:

loonytik Wrote:And how would I adjust those times? hehe never worked with that.

Use Aegisub to shift the times. You'll need to adjust the beginning of the file (unique per file), after the opening theme (usually exactly 1 minute), after the eyecatch in the middle of the episode (also 1 minute), and after the ending theme (only if you need subs for the next episode preview). Even after making these adjustments, some of the lines still won't be totally in sync, but overall it should be fine.

awesome ty! I probly need to chop up the subs some more. Cause I will use the WINDMOE release for Kamen rider OOO as the their releases are ***** giant! xD and those got the commercial stuff cut out.

oh and I downloaded the Full metal alchemist subs from http://kitsunekko.net/subtitles/japanese/ and they work fine for the ECLIPSE releases. Very nice!

I started watching Telepathy Shoujo Ran, and it has been a great place to start (even though it's probably geared toward early teen girls, lol). The language is simple enough that I can understand a surprising amount of it, and I'm picking up more and more as I go along. Thanks to everyone.