Yes, at intermediate level, or even a little sooner. Japanese with Shun is a learner podcast from teacher Shunsuke Otani, where short talks use Japanese at a friendly pace, making it a sensible step before native shows.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Format
- Podcast
- Year
- 2026
- Episodes
- 360
Why it works for learners
Episodes are short monologues on daily life and culture, listed at around 5 to 10 minutes, with grammar kept close to the Genki textbooks and N5 to N4 labels. Because it is built for learners, unlike native radio, he chooses words you probably know and speaks clearly. That makes this a good bridge to natural content. Over 360 episodes in the feed mean you can pick subjects you care about and keep a daily habit going.
What makes it hard
Intermediate learners may find some episodes easy, which is good for confidence but stretches you less. One voice speaking clearly will not prepare you for fast or overlapping talk. Transcripts have been reported as available through Patreon, so check what you can get before relying on them.
How to use it
Listen to one episode daily, ideally on a walk, and summarise it in a sentence of Japanese afterwards. Replay any episode you could not summarise. When you can follow most of them first time, move half your listening to native content.
More for Japanese learners: our Japanese guides.
Keep it where you'll see it
Save Japanese with Shun and log every episode or chapter toward your Japanese hours. Free for one language.
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