← Back to posts

18 Month Japanese Immersion Update

Posted on July 04, 2026

Immersion Stats

How I immerse: Free-flow immersion: listening only, no subtitles, no look-ups. I follow the meaning as if I'm watching English content.

Hours: 2781:26

Breakdown:

  • YouTube: 50%
  • Variety shows: 22%
  • Drama: 5%
  • Anime: 5%
  • Other (Twitch, reality shows, etc.): the rest

I'm focused on unscripted content. Right now, all I'm worried about is being able to understand a native speaker talking about most general topics that would come up in a conversation with a friend.

I haven't done any dedicated reading, and haven't spoken yet apart from one bad VRChat interaction. I do have one Japanese friend from HelloTalk who I message from time to time.

Anki

Front: Word Audio, Sentence Audio
Back: Word Audio, Pitch Accent Colouring, Definition, Image, Sentence Audio

How much I've done:

  • Anki: 3,911 total cards (though I've deleted at least 500)
  • Migaku says I know 4,797 words, which feels accurate, since I only mark a word as known if I'd be able to pick it out in immersion

How many each day:
My default was 10 a day, though I'd been inconsistent since I was focused on trying to increase my immersion hours instead. I've now increased to 30 a day, but will likely settle at 20, since sentence mining can take quite a while.

I feel that known words are my main constraint, which makes sense given how little Anki I've done. If I could go back, I would've slowly ramped up Anki to 20-30 a day earlier on.

My plan is to get to 7,000 words before I start speaking, which shouldn't take too long at 20-30 cards a day.

Thoughts and Feelings About My Ability

The first year felt like pushing a boulder up a hill. After that, it felt like I'd finally gotten it over the top, and it started rolling on its own. By the end of the first year, a lot of the content I consumed was at around 80% comprehension, so it became almost like consuming comprehensible input from that point on. That made it much easier to pick things up while immersing, despite my Anki numbers being so low.

I subjectively feel like I've gotten quite a bit better. My overall parsing ability has improved a lot, especially when it comes to speed and following multiple speakers.

There are still gaps I need to close in the areas I'm focused on, so I'm definitely not where I want to be yet, but overall I'm really happy with my progress and just want to keep going.

I haven't immersed much in anime or dramas, so I'd assume my comprehension there hasn't made huge leaps, but I don't mind that at all right now.

Plan for the Future

  • Continue immersing in mostly unscripted content
  • Continue mirroring, later add pitch sessions with a tutor, then start shadowing
  • Aim for 7,000 words in Anki
  • Start adding in output / trying to make friends in a few months

Content Recommendations

  • 今日好き (Abema — some episodes here YouTube)
  • すぱのび (Abema)
  • 恋ステ (Abema)

I've listed my favourite YouTube Channels here.

That's all for now. I was in two minds about posting this, since there isn't a huge amount to report back on this time, but I hope you got something out of it either way. Thank you for reading :)