When Should you Start Immersion?
Studying in the beginning is straightforward most of the time. Textbooks, flashcards, websites and apps. That is until “Immersion” rears its head in through the window. When should you open the door and let it in? Is there a best time to welcome it with open arms?
I’ve talked about how “the faster you get to immersion, the better.” You might conclude to start immersion from day one then. But no… that can’t be right?
Immersion isn’t so simple. There’s active and passive. Listening and reading. Good and bad. While I didn’t want to add any more layers, immersion is actually a multiple-step process. It’s not all or nothing. I thought it would be useful to go over these steps, which will help answer the question of when to start.
“I like Japanese Stuff” Immersion
When you should start it: Day 1
Time spent on it: Very minimal
Yay, you’ve made the decision to study Japanese and just took your first steps. Maybe you opened your first textbook or are reviewing あいうえお in Kana Conqueror.
Tasting real Japanese, even from day one, has value. This could be watching an anime with English subtitles. Or peaking at a manga written in Japanese. Or scanning through some wild Japanese YouTubers. Keep your reasons why you are studying close to you. Engaging in Japanese media may not actually be studying at this point, but it will motivate you.
“The Sights and Sounds of Japanese” Immersion
When you should start it: A few weeks in (finished learning the kana and started Jalup Beginner)
Time spent on it: Minimal
You now know all of the Japanese sounds and the kana. Looking at natural Japanese text and trying to read it out loud is rewarding, even if you don’t understand a single word. You can read Japanese, and that is pretty damn cool.
Japanese videos also come into play. You recognize some of the sounds. Maybe even pick up the occasional word. Some beginners on Jalup like to add passive listening immersion here, because even though they understand next to nothing (nowhere near 1%), this practice allows them to tell the sounds of Japanese apart. This is a skill that needs practice. Hearing the sounds in a textbook vs. a variety of Japanese people saying them in regular settings is different.
“Basic Video” Immersion
When you should start it: A few months in (after you finish the first half of Jalup Beginner)
Time spent on it: Minimal
Knowing 500 cards will allow you to not only pick up the sounds better, but to also start hearing words you know. This is just an introduction to this type of listening and I wouldn’t go overboard with it. It’s a nice expansion of the above two levels of immersion.
A good use of this immersion is to watch something you’ve already seen in English first, or read the English summary, and then try to listen to it in Japanese.
“Beginner Manga and Video” Immersion
When you should start it: Around 4-6 months in (after you finish all of Jalup Beginner)
Time spent on it: Moderate
This is where you should start enjoying Japanese things, especially manga. While you probably won’t be satisfied with your level of enjoyment, you will have some good moments. It seems almost a tradition now to try to read the popular manga Yotsuba after you finish Jalup Beginner.
Expect to understand little, but expand your video collection (active and passive).
“Novels and Increasing Difficulty” Immersion
When you should start it: Around 9-12 months in (after you finish all of Jalup Intermediate)
Time spent on it: Moderate
“When can I read a book?!” is one of the most frequently asked questions I get. Finishing Jalup Intermediate is a good place to start. Keep your expectations in check and take it slow.
Also incrementally increase the difficulty of everything else you are immersing in.
“Surpassing Flash Card Time” Immersion
When you should start it: Around 1-1.5 years in (after you finish all of Jalup Advanced)
Time spent on it: Heavy
Studying vs. Immersion is a delicate balance that takes time and practice to adjust. However, immersion must overtake study time. This is the only way you gain a deeper understanding of the language.
“Most of your Study Time” Immersion
When you should start it: Around 2 to 3 years in (after you finish all of Jalup Expert/Jalup Immersion)
Time spent on it: Very Heavy
Once you make it this far, your “study time” should dramatically drop, with immersion taking its place. Don’t completely drop it, but over the years work towards 80/20, 90/10, and eventually 99/1.
These numbers are a bit misleading though, because it’s not that you are removing study time for immersion time. Your immersion time becomes your study time.
When did you start immersion?
Leave a comment below and let us know when you started any type of immersion.
Founder of Jalup. iOS Software Engineer. Former attorney, translator, and interpreter. Still watching 月曜から夜ふかし weekly since 2013.
Those are great estimates honestly! I would recommend anyone who can handle it to do a lot of immersion even at the beginning; yes you “dont understand” but its in that period that you can get your ears used to hearing japanese and will make it that much easier later on. My tip for having fun when you dont understand anything: watch anime (or other) that you have already watched in the pastt, especially action shows!Youll already know what the story is so you wont feel lost, and youll be able to enjoy yourself a lot!
Watching action shows is a great suggestion. Anything with less “talk” and more “fight” haha.
I haven’t done much immersion yet, since I’ve barely scraped the surface of Beginner lol. But sometimes I like to watch しろくまカフェ without subs. Even though I don’t know what’s being said it’s still pretty adorable.
It is a great series!
As always great article Adam. Immersion is something that definitely go up with time. I would even put some video games into that timeline as well. When I started I was WAY to focused on Anki and adding/ learning new cards. Anki is important be Immersion is the thing that will keep you going(at least for me).
Yes, I fully agree about video games. Depending on the type of game, it’s easy to enjoy game immersion even when you don’t know much Japanese.
I really like this article – the breakdown for when and what type of immersion is really helpful! Is there an article that gives some examples of good immersion sources for each stage?
At least in terms of audio, I’m finding it really hard to find something at my right level for immersion. I end up listening to easier things or textbook audio readings, which get boring very fast. I think I need some more variety…
The first 3 immersion stages are more about motivation and sounds, and not so much about understanding, so really you are open to anything. After that, I would just start with easy level rankings using https://wakarukana.com/ or https://japaneselevelup.com/difficulty-level-guide-everything-japanese/
Ah, thank you very much – I shall check these out!
At what immersion stage above would you recommend starting an anki deck with sentences/words you didn’t recognize? When you start the deck how do you determine what is worth adding (ie everything unfamiliar?). How long should you keep things in your deck? How do you handle branching if doing j-j so you don’t get bogged down on the actual content?
Or is a deck not necessary and you should focus more on enjoying the immersion, look up words you don’t know and move on? Quantity vs Depth.
If it makes a difference I am just about finished with jalup Beginner (did rtk) and don’t plan on any side decks until I finish through jalup expert.
Thanks!
At what immersion stage above would you recommend starting an anki deck with sentences/words you didn’t recognize?
-I think at the Surpassing Flash Card Immersion Stage.
When you start the deck how do you determine what is worth adding (ie everything unfamiliar?)
– What you find valuable or you want to know. You don’t need to add everything.
How long should you keep things in your deck?
– Forever, or until you find them lose use or value, or they just annoy you.
How do you handle branching if doing j-j so you don’t get bogged down on the actual content?
– Check out https://japaneselevelup.com/walkthrough-world-5/
Or is a deck not necessary and you should focus more on enjoying the immersion, look up words you don’t know and move on?
– I think a good balance is important
If it makes a difference I am just about finished with jalup Beginner (did rtk) and don’t plan on any side decks until I finish through jalup expert.
– This is what a lot of people do (they usually don’t start creating their own cards until after Expert)
Hope this helps!
Very much so, thank you
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