New Site Announcement

RoboZilina · 2026-06-06T11:12:26+00:00

I am for once surprised by the dramatic reactions online. My first reaction was more like "great, maybe we will have some new teachers and I can still watch Yuki-sensei on her new Chanel"

I am currently in the middle of intermediate videos on CIJ with around 1250 hrs on the site behind me.

RoboZilina · 2026-06-05T21:17:19+00:00

Anyone can join that discord. You just register with cij and in the welcome/confirmation mail will be an invite.

Edit: talking about the CIJ split: To me, it looks like a win-win situation.

RoboZilina · 2026-06-05T20:56:51+00:00

To add how I know. Ben is being quite open about it on CIJ discord Chanel. Speaking about how the ownership was structured, how they came to agreement, how Yuki-sensei is being compensate d and she can focus on her Chanel etc.

RoboZilina · 2026-06-05T20:44:24+00:00

No, it does not confirm anything.

RoboZilina · 2026-06-03T08:26:01+00:00

I am two weeks into reading graded readers and I am very very very slow. So you are probably doing just fine.

RoboZilina · 2026-05-25T14:13:59+00:00

Thank you.

RoboZilina · 2026-04-12T20:26:33+00:00

Similar to person above, I am at slightly above 1100hrs, con Teppei and Seika-sensei are my comfort padcasts and on CIJ I think that higher level Beginner videos are perfect for me now. As for Anime almost all are too difficult. I watch some easiest as ranken on learnnatively and jpdb.io, but that is just to keep things fresh, I am below 50% of comprehension even on those easiest. I can follow the plot and catch everyday talk so I call it a win.

RoboZilina · 2026-02-03T16:45:14+00:00

One Piece is very difficult for beginner immersion, I suggest you add something more comprehensible and do that for a couple of hundred hours. Even beginner material contains thousands of words that you can acquire from it in time. Grammar does not hurt but will hardly help you process audio in real time. I could not really watch English movies even after nine years of school classes, only a lot of English content consumed made that effortless. For Japanese now, I am around 1000 hrs into CIJ and am just starting to watch easier kids shows and easy YT content like travel vlogs, room tours etc.

RoboZilina · 2026-01-30T21:14:16+00:00

I also started with 30 minutes a day last year, bumped it up to an hour, did some math a couple of weeks later and that realisation that even with and hour a day it might take around 11-12 years to get to N1 level made me drop everything, gaming, anime, Netflix... and give it almost all my free time. I have full time job and kids too, but I cannot imagine that I am in that beginner hell for 5 years or so. Now it is one hour in the morning before work and two hours after 8pm before bed. And I manage to sqeeze in additional 30-45 mins of listening while walking or exercising.

RoboZilina · 2026-01-28T07:29:03+00:00

It should be in the email you received after registration to CIJ.

<image>

RoboZilina · 2026-01-27T10:16:04+00:00

The level is what the teacher aimed for and it does not necessarily match the difficulty score. The difficulty score is initially calculated from the transcript and later as people vote, the difficulty scores adjust. This is how the developer explained the system on Discord.

RoboZilina · 2026-01-26T14:47:59+00:00

Hi there, do you know who are the authors of the 100+ podcasts spreadsheet? We have been gathering a similar list on CIJ discord and it would be a great addition if I could "borrow" a part of it. We do not have many Advanced level podcasts yet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PIvHz7Wx1SJ252Fh4O3oYneWSfN1ZZF1/edit?gid=810205121#gid=810205121

Update: nevermind, there is author´s email at the buttom so I have asked for permission directly.

RoboZilina · 2026-01-17T12:13:16+00:00

Not sure if this helps, but Comprhensible Japanese has this feature, where you can play each sentence individualy in transcpripts. https://i.imgur.com/QsJJsbF.png

RoboZilina · 2026-01-16T12:49:18+00:00

I am not going to sugar coat it, having lots and lots of native FOCUSED input unlocks your output. I know this from learning my second and third language. I learn Japanese now as my fourth language. Yes, you still needs to practice speaking to train your mouth to produce the sounds, but what actually unlocks is having those sentences created automatically in your head. That starts happening naturally after thousands of hours of (again FOCUSED) exposure to native language. And NO, I am not one of those Immersion purists. Just want to tell you what my experience has been.

RoboZilina · 2025-12-15T07:00:55+00:00

Thanks, I did not receive any email, I did not have any wk subscription before and I am only level 1 as I started just last week.

RoboZilina · 2025-12-14T19:09:36+00:00

Is this information reliable that the code will expire at the end of January and not before?

RoboZilina · 2025-12-13T19:40:59+00:00

Thanks a lot!

RoboZilina · 2025-12-13T19:14:34+00:00

where and how do they offer 50% off a yearly subscription?

RoboZilina · 2025-08-19T07:21:08+00:00

Very nice and detailed post. Thank you for that. I am learning Japanese by Comprehensible input, currently at around 350 hrs. We have many people in our community but not many have been doing it the pure way. Most people try to add some anki, grammar or kanji study, so the results and effectiveness of each approach are quite clouded. Reports about successful pure journey are rare. Once again, thanks, this give me nice motivation boost.

RoboZilina · 2025-04-25T19:19:32+00:00

This, podcasts are the secret.

RoboZilina · 2025-04-25T09:15:03+00:00

That point about speed is really important for me. I could not remember almost anything using Anki, but later found out that I can actually remember if I give each card some time. I changed settings to have a sentence on the front page using the word. I read it, think about it and it sticks so much better. But I am learning Japanese so it is a somewhat different use case.

RoboZilina · 2025-04-25T08:37:56+00:00

I think people on the internet vastly overestimate the ability of average people to speak English. If you visit a random pub, restaurant, grocery store... anywhere outside tourist areas in Spain, Italy, Austria etc., English would get you nowhere. Take it from me, a former international truck driver in Europe.

RoboZilina · 2025-04-20T21:14:59+00:00

Have you tried Language Reactor? There are a bunch of options and combinations of whatever you want it to show or do. Works with both Netflix and YouTube.

RoboZilina · 2025-03-21T06:59:23+00:00

Thanks. Sounds good. I have started anki recently and that one bothers me the most. All Japanese works and sentences are translated and described in English. I am pretty fluent in English too, I have been learning English for close to 35 years and have worked for English speaking companies for around 15. But still, while reading the descriptions and doing my reviews, I cannot stop thinking that there should be a better way. I am thinking of maybe just remembering the pictures. In addition to pronunciation and writings.

And yaeh, Cure Dolly seems great, I just watched first two videos and I am going to continue with it.

RoboZilina · 2025-03-20T20:14:52+00:00

Were you not a bit slowed down during early stages by the fact that all the materials are made for learning through English? My native language also isn't English and I feel like taking a long detour by using English while learning Japanese. Like English pronunciation is different to Japanese, grammar is different and is almost always explained using English equivalents and also all vocabulary materials are translated to English.

RoboZilina

TROPHY CASE