First of all, thanks to everyone who has written in over the last few weeks. I enjoy reading your emails and it’s always good to hear from my readers. Keep the letters coming!
Over the last 2 or 3 weeks I’ve been listening to a lot of Japanese podcasts. These podcasts are all Japanese and not Japanese learning podcasts which typically have about 2 or 3 minutes in Japanese and the rest in English. I feel like I’m picking up more and more and even if I’m not according to a Victoria University study, it looks like listening is still good for me.
The biggest advantage of listening to so much pure Japanese on the go is the increase in listening stamina. Stamina is crucial for the JLPT. The listening sections of the test range from 30 minutes (for N5) all the up to an hour (for N1). This might not seem like much, but if you are not used to listening to the language (for comprehension) for an extended period of time this can be quite taxing.
The higher your stamina the easier it is going to be to stay focused during the test. During the test, there will be a variety of distractions like people coughing and sneezing, or test takers in the hall. Stamina is especially critical for those outside Japan, where you might not get that much natural listening opportunities. It is still important inside Japan though. I know of at least a few people that live in Japan and have complained about not being able to focus during the listening portion of the exam.
Action Steps –
1)What are you doing to improve your stamina?
2)Do you think listening to Japanese can improve your language learning ability, even if you don’t understand a word?
2) Have you had problems concentrating on the listening section of the test before?
P.S. I’m now in iTunes. If you like the podcast, please be sure to visit iTunes and leave me a review. If you have comments or suggestions for the podcast, by all means let me know in the comments below or contact me and let me know what I can do to improve the show. Thanks!
Music by Kevin MacLeod, and photo by Joey
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:11 — 10.2MB)
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Good point! I’m pretty ok with listening, but stamina is important, indeed. When I took the JLPT 2 last time I burned out on the reading section about 2/3 through. Need to work on that!
Yeah, I’ve been building up my reading stamina by doing about 20 minutes of reading on the train home from work. It has really helped to stave off that glazed over look in my eyes when I get into the reading section of the exam.