How i get 10 hours of japanese listening each day easily and love it

 well. i did it...

i made my entertainment completely Japanese. im not even watching it to learn anything. im just watching for fun, when im stressed i watch japanese content, when im happy, when im tired, when im energetic. like i think i might be addicted to watching japanese youtube. and the best part, im having a lots of fun. This is fucking insane. ive been trying to do this for 4 years. 

i used to get so stressed watching japanese content, it felt like a prison. but i had to do it to LEEEAAAARNNN japanese. each time i tried to start my heart began beating faster and faster from the stress. it sucked cause i invest so much effort and time. it made quitting Japanese feel like a terrible and painful option (which im glad i didnt). after these stressful thoughts. i just ignored Japanese and felt guilty about ignoring it. this went on for months. then i would have a spike of motivation for a week or so. then return back to the same unhealthy thoughts.  rinse and repeat that for 2 or so years.

i even remember a time when even listening to a little japanese would send my heart racing.

then 1 one day (around 2 weeks ago or so), i was trying to get disciplined and train myself to learn skills that i wanted to learn. one of those included japanese. for some reason, japanese was always on my mind. i invested so much emotions and soul into it. i always thought of it as a priority even when i ignored it. 

so to learn how to do Japanese properly. i went back to the drawing board and planned out why i feel i couldn't get myself to do it. what was the root cause to all of this. so i usually use an example of a successful thing i did and apply that.

so i looked back on why i play hard video games as an example. conveniently there was 1 game i played (and still play) thats ridiculously hard but i absolutely adore and play for hours. its called OSU! more specifically the game mode OSUMANIA! 

i looked at why i played that game so much, what made it fun.

and that was a few things

1. each beatmap (songs that you play to) selection always had a preview of the best more exciting part when you clicked on it.  If it sounded fun, i would play it.

2. the challange was really and and simple. i could see when i failed and why i failed. or i could just go autopiolit and enjoy the song.

3. i could challange myself if i wanted to. or just autopilot if i wanted to. 

i didnt have much to lose. so i tried to apply one of these and see if that changed anything.

i tried to "preview" any video/episode i watched by skipping to the best parts. skipping around and if i wasernt super interested. i would go onto another one. 

i tried apply this by skipping forward to the best part only. On YouTube, you can click the number key at the top of the keyboard to pick that part of the video /10. i.e you click 5. thats 5/10th the video. 

BOOM. That changed everything. 

my mind was focused all the time. i had no expectation to understand the content. nor did i give a shit about understanding. even when. i could barley understand nad still watch. i had a blast every time. when i was finished with the good parts... I WAS FOCUSED. i actually wanted to understand naturally. never forced myself.

i ran into a problem tho. i didn't know how to understand, and i would get anxious if i didn't understand. 

that one was a bit trickier to solve. cause i had to rewire my brain completely and remove old bad habits. after a while of listening and listening just for fun. i naturally solved that problem.

the habit of forcing yourself understanding. 

when you listen and not care to understand. you're brain figures out the most efficient solution just naturally... thats figuring out what those strange sounds even are.

i am not gonna tell you how to understand. cause you'll try to force it and "LEARN JAPANESE". and thats gonna lead right back to the stressful period i was at. 

ill tell you what to pay attention to, cause thats super important. basically. pay attention to each word. seperate them. it doesn't matter how. simple. just remember this. MISHEARING IS TOTALLY OK. infact, there's no such thing as mishering. you heard, 退屈. they said taikutsu. catch words you dont know and words you do. 

this is only if you want a challenge. you could just go autoiolit and not care

so its very easy challenge. just catch any word you hear and seperate it. or just hear anything.

so in conclusion.

those are all the changes i made me able to absolutely get addited to Japanese youtube

1. skipping to the best of every video to preview. if you dont feel anything from any part. then leave.

2. always separate each word you think you hear. that means every word you can hear. sperate what you heard and keep up. if you fall behind. dont worry about it. thats the fun part. simple failure is gonna happen.

highly reccomended: only consume Japanese things and media.

this is not gonna be smooth at first. you'll go back to old habits without thinking. you'll forget what to do etc... just practice them and it'll be more and more instant.

start by opening any youtube video. skipping around and leaving. if something cool is happening. stick around to see it. autopiolit mode.

heres a regular day for me