Matt vs Japan's Ideal Shadowing Setup - How to Shadow

[@garrettwgg]

The Samson Q2U (or ATR2100) is around $45 and has the same low latency monitoring capabilities. It also can play your computer's audio through the same output, so I only need one pair of headphones (I would think the Yeti could do this too). Personally I use open back headphones, but non sealing ear buds also work for me (eg. Apple earbuds). As far as volume levels, you can adjust them in the Windows sound mixer. The Q2U is a different type of microphone (dynamic instead of condenser) so it does behaves a little differently. In an ideal world one may be better than the other, but I don't know which one, and I think in the real world they are both more than adequate. Overall, I totally agree with shadowing using this technique. It makes it so much easier to hear yourself and make small corrections. However, I do think you can achieve the same or similar results for as low as $45. Maybe another $25 if you throw in some open back, on ear, or non sealing ear buds. Cheers

[@ElliotJenkins]

Doesn't having open back headphones defeat the purpose of not being able to hear yourself?

[@mattvsjapan]

I think a potential problem with open-back or non sealing ear buds is that you would be able to hear your subjective voice too clearly to get the full effect. That mic could be a good alternative to the yeti though. You can also set the yeti to output your computer audio in addition to the audio it's picking up, but when doing this, both your own voice and the shadowing material end up sounding treble-ly and low quality.

[@garrettwgg]

@@mattvsjapan I've never tried noise canceling headphones for shadowing, so I can't say for certain either way. It's entirely possible they are better for the purpose. I've been wanting a pair to travel with, so maybe this is a good time to do some back to back testing....though my wallet may disagree. What I can say, is that using a zero-latency mic and regular headphones makes a huge difference when compared to not using anything at all. I think there is ample benefit to the cheaper option if someone can't afford to spend $250+, even if it isn't "ideal". Regarding head resonance etc., I'm not yet convinced it's a bad thing. I mean, we got a native accent in our first language with it, so it couldn't be all bad, right? Adding the headphones is just boosting parts that are harder to hear. But again, noise cancelling headphones could bring the experience to another level. I can't yet say one way or the other. Also I don't seem to suffer the same quality issues when putting the mic and my voice through the same output. Maybe not audiophile quality, but plenty good.

[@garrettwgg]

@IamMe You're right. The product specs say the equally priced Meteor, as well as the cheaper Go Mic and Go Mic Connect all have "no latency monitoring".

[@FlowUrbanFlow]

I've had mostly the same expirience but with slightly different products

[@usernameryan5982]

Your dedication to perfection is inspiring

[@u_ok]

I don't know if that's his perfectionism or not but if you feel that that "dedication to perfection" and high expectations of yourself don't let you grow (you are too nervios to speak because you're nervios that you'll make mistakes; you feel like you should be with a perfect grammar/accent/anything today already) - just let it go. Maybe Matt somehow managed to find that balance for himself but for most of people: *Perfectionism is a pain in a ass when learning languages, doing creative activities or even just any normal tasks*

[@ShadowZx22]

Why are you giving him THE average advice? Curious.

[@u_ok]

​@@ShadowZx22 it's just what I'm going through right now, questioning all the years of being a perfectionist, trying not to be perfectionist now and seeing how different the life feels and runs. Maybe it is an average advice but it feels really sacred for me now and it hurts me much to see some people scolding themselves and then getting in that vicious cycle of perfectionism and then procrastination (these two go hand in hand). I actually see this as kinda my purpose now, what I wanna do in life (at least for now) - I want people to feel peace and I want people to understand that even if they don't do something perfect, even if they don't get that accent they desire and adore - they are as much important as the people who do achieve it, they deserve as much love as others, they deserve and they can speak with natives even with their foreign accent.❤🫶 (it's a very specific response but you kinda can guess what problems I had and with what I wanna help people)

[@言って-x1e]

I use Airpod to implement this. Because IPhone has a Live listen function to listen to the voice around the IPhone in real time, and use Noise cancellation of Airpod to get rid of own voice. Thus, I can follow Matt's suggestion.

[@ISpeakKoreanPrettyWell]

Video request: Can you show the process of fixing the actual issues you find in your spoken Japanese. This would be very useful and appreciated. Thanks for the video!

[@breff247]

From watching this video to having the setup working, it took me only 8 hours. Granted, I already had the Bose (major step up from my dying Parrot Ziks). Went online and bought a second-hand Blue Yeti in mint condition for 60€ , had it within three hours of contacting the seller. Pretty fast by anyone's standards but just lucky I guess. It's all working perfectly. The only thing that's not perfect is my pronunciation but that's why we're here in the first place. Time to nail that 平板、頭高、中高 and 尾高. Thanks Matt for the great advice, you are a fountain of wisdom! Respect.

[@MidosujiSen]

At this point I'm expecting a video titled, "How to use Ancient Black Magic to expedite learning Japanese". This man Matt really unlocked all the secrets, I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if that video showed up in my sub box.

[@daysandwords]

I know this is a bit old now, but if you happen to see this you sensai you... Just wondering if you also experimented with audio that has pauses inserted? e.g. "Hello, how are you? *3 seconds* The weather is hot today *3 seconds* ...etc" -? It just seems like it could be hard to hear what you are saying while also being prompted by what's coming up? Additionally I wondered if you could read a script to solve that problem? (e.g. an audio book with the actual book...) - I know that probably doesn't help with the whole "focus on sound not meaning" thing, but yeah. Anyway, thanks as always.

[@mowgli123456789]

Ive found if I just try to copy the noises only then nothing comes out right, but if i have some conscious awareness of the meaning at the same time it all falls into place. Its got me thinking about how much of comprehension is that predictive aspect of what we think a person is going to say next ahead of time... I ran this experiment on my girlfriend and got her to shadow my english (we are both native english speakers) and it was pretty interesting. If I talked about everyday things that always come up in conversation ( "today I went the gym and worked out..") etc she followed along almost perfectly as you would expect. But when i switched to talking about something completely random that would almost never come up in normal conversation ( I used talking about my jiu jitsu class and all the different names of techniques and things we were learning) she really struggled. With the second example I absolutely made sure I was using english words I knew she knew.... I think its just a case of her predictive ability was less so the shadowing broke down... (?)

[@TheTheawesomeguy35]

Fun girlfriend experiment

[@5IRAHHHP]

my dude matt. youre senpai af, i couldnt stop laughing at you in the last part. you are a beacon bro... a definition of hardwork~. i dont know you, but im super proud that youve gotten so far in japanese! お疲れ様 my dude~

[@failedsocialexperiment2382]

Yeah, inspirational for me seeing Matt do so well with japanese, I just wish to find the best methods for myself. Kanji I am going to be heavily invested in studying after I know hiragana and katakana to a point of instinctive recognization.

[@benia1908]

@@failedsocialexperiment2382 did you learn Japanese already?

[@darkrichard]

underrated video. I've just bought my set with noise cancelling headphones and the Blue Yeti Nano. I've spent 160 EUR total. Thanks for your suggestions

[@danielbelmir0]

Another way of doing that is using an audio interface. And you can use any XLR microphone and also you can plug in your instrument if you have one. Another advantage of an audio interface is that you can use a dynamic microphone so it won't pick up too much external noises.

[@MyLittleMagneton]

I'm using a regular condenser mic, and a focusrite scarlett audio interface -It's quite nice! You're able to 'direct monitor' either with the sounds overlapping, like the yeti; or just in one earphone, so you can hear yourself alongside the audio.

[@sarahmayfield5135]

Noise cancelling headphones don't really actively cancel sounds in the voice range. You are mostly blocking your hearing of your voice with the over-the-ear cups. To elaborate on what Garrett said, You could replicate the effect of hearing your own voice and the source material using cheap gaming headphones with a microphone.

[@carlosalarcon5496]

How can i do that with gaming headphones?

[@TheTheawesomeguy35]

You can also do this just with your iphone and airpods using a setting called "Live Listen"

[@milanschouten6533]

I just started recently so I can’t shadow yet. I’ll definetly keep this somewhere for later when I need it.

[@CMTJTG]

Me when this video came out

[@k.5425]

Same

[@jermaine3061]

Are you shadowing now ?

[@xdlol7393]

​@@jermaine3061been shadowing for like 6 months and actually it's the best way to improve your speaking skills. U're tongue and face muscles get used to work on the right way and eventually u start speaking pretty good. Don't expect that you'll speak great in a week, you'll see progress only in a few weeks

[@martinlelarge]

The feeling when you have the mic and noise cancelling headphones but you don't have any basic headphones laying around 😭 brb gotta go to the store

[@oshiage_]

I have a karaoke mic that does the same thing (bought from taobao). They cost less than $15 and can have dual input (your voice + your computer or phone) so you can just use your noise cancelling headphones. China make many diff types of these things and they're pretty easy to find

[@jinjurbreadman]

do you have a link to your model?

[@dwarfyman4899]

If you have no money, you can always get two folders (or thick magazines etc) and put them in front of your ears. No joke it actually works

[@oasisbeach]

Can you please share some shadowing material?

[@junkahoolik]

noise cancellation headphones mostly rely on their passive noise cancellation properties to block out voices, so save yourself 250+ bucks and get some in-ear monitors

[@こころ-d8n]

日本人ですが、機材めっちゃ参考になるし、英語も聴きやすくて勉強になる！！！と思っていたら、シャドーイングされてる教材？が謎すぎてビビりました笑 and your Japanese pronunciation is much better than mine😂

[@ハンター-l8m]

Instead of a Yeti though, another option is one of the cheap MXL mics on amazon (I had a 440) and the $30 behringer audio interface. It's less convenient but the sound quality is a lot better. Right now though I'm personally using a Blue Spark SL which is an XLR mic as well. Obviously though it's just an option, but it's one I don't ever hear anyone talking about. Great video by the way!

[@itsmessohamm]

Not too sure about the headphones. I have qc25s and the anc mainly works toward lower frequencies like machines/ac etc. and doesn’t do much for human voices.

[@LikkleLiiTeSkiinTiiNG]

How can I do this with the Shure SM7B?

[@ジェイソン-l5r]

For Mac OS, you can use Audio Hijack made by rogueamoeba.com to record your voice and hear them in the headphone with almost no delay.

[@liquidmetaljapanese510]

I definitely did not just sell my Blue Yeti today.

[@milanschouten6533]

Liquid Metal Japanese now that’s an O O F

[@liquidmetaljapanese510]

@@stayskeptic3923 Oh man...

[@mikeditlevsen]

the RØDE NT-USB microphone, not a cheap one either, but also a great microphone that have the same direct feedback.

[@mo-pu7tq]

学問のすゝめ!?それをシャドーイング出来るのがすごいです。

[@hukuhukuinthesky]

学問のスゝメ😊日本人よりちゃんと勉強してる。

[@brayism]

that thumbnail is legendary

[@AI-bx1sz]

日本語ネイティブだけど、これは古い難しい日本語から私はこんなにうまくシャドーイング出来ない自信がある　すごい！

[@wobbegong-u4r]

Ironically the only thing I did not have already were the corded headphones.

[@cophnia61]

Hey Matt, do you know the software called "Melodyne"? It's similar to the infamous Autotune, which is used to tune off-key vocals in musical production. Melodyne though is more advanced and, among other things, it has the capability of analyzing an audio source off-line and then it'll show you a timeline with the audio split in a lot of small chunks with their pitches. Do you think it may be useful to analyze a Japanese speech and its pitch accent? EDIT: check the youtube video with "watch?v=Gymfz5kcqyQ" at min. 5:00 to see what I mean and if this can be used in an useful way to the purpose of learning pitch accent in real spoken Japanese too.

[@johnalmberg7512]

Great idea, thanks!

[@일본어-v6u]

Can you explain, or link a video to show how you set up your personal mic for best sound quality? Thank you ~

[@jonamachado]

Honest question: using only one side of the headphone and (maybe) closing the other ear with one of your fingers (like singers do) wouldn't have the same result? 😅

[@Cioghy]

I kept hearing about shadowing, but didn't know how to get about it. Great setup. And the double speak reminded me of Naruto ep 09 :D If you activate your Sharingan you might be able to even speak ahead of the audio source lol

[@baltimorewhisperer]

Is there any problem with importing an audio file into audacity, recording your own voice into an audio track and then listening to the playback of that audio track?

[@aboose-]

another good microphone to do this with -- audio technica at2020+ USB.

[@jackneals5585]

I actually like that mic better than the Yeti. It sounds more crisp to me. I use the at2020.

[@IdolNewsJP]

As for the mic, the Samson Meteor Mic will run you about €45(49USD) and will be more than enough for most people's needs!

[@nadperona]

I tried shadowing with a normal earphone mic plugged in to my computer. I can hear my voice. I think i has delay. I make more mistakes because I can hear my own voice. I am not sure with Blue Yeti (without delay) will will me not to make mistakes.

[@Jredthepolyglot]

Would this work if I used airpod pros with a ps5 headset ? Because obviously I can’t have AirPods and earbuds in my ear at the same time but I could have the headset on over my AirPods

[@angelsjoker8190]

What's the advantage of OBS over Audacity (seeing that you also have the latter)¿ I use Audacity with two tracks for shadowing, one recording track and one source audio track. The good thing is you can keep and save the tracks independently. So whenever I want to only listen to my output, I can mute the source track and when I want to compare my output with the source, I can listen to both tracks (I could even edit the tracks so I have them overlapped with no delay).

[@gheeup]

I'm not sure if those links are already affiliate links, but if not you should make them. Not that I could use them because I use Australian Amazon, but I'm sure there would be people happy to have you get a percentage of their purchase :).

[@tonypop1007]

True

[@portt2569]

could it be a good idea to use all that setup while talking with natives, once you just practiced output? i mean, i think it could be helpful

[@jinjurbreadman]

so you said do this for 20 minutes. do you record just one long 20 minute shadowing session and then listen to it? in the video you did 2 one minute clips. do you normally do 1 minute clips or 20 minute clips? if you 1 minute clips, do you listen immediately after to each one? Is the exercises supposed to be 20 minutes including the time spent listening, or excluding?

[@koutta-idiomas8118]

Some turtle beach headsets have the voice feedback for a low price if someone is in a budget.

[@carlosalarcon5496]

Hola, me podrías decir que modelos pueden hacer eso? muchas gracias

[@koutta-idiomas8118]

@@carlosalarcon5496 No recuerdo T.T Ahora tengo el redragon H510 Zeus y tambien tiene lo mismo del feedback.

[@k.5425]

Matt, what are you shadowing? An audio book like you said in your how to output video??

[@Azo_zok]

I always wonder how is shadowing work Thanks

[@CallOfCutie69]

Will Apple Airpods Max do?

[@Ashe94]

liking the music

[@olivereckert2492]

How do I find a good person to shadow in my target language?

[@mattvsjapan]

Check out my "how to start outputting" video

[@khajitt]

You don't need expensive setup, just use free version FL Studio and install ASIO4all or WASAPI. Drag on drop the file you want to shadow, turn on your mic, and boom, no audio delay with zero cost.

[@spookylovin]

You should make a little video demonstrating this....

[@khajitt]

@@spookylovin unfortunately im no youtuber. But all the things i said is super easy tho, especially if you are familiar with ASIO4all and FL studio, you can even let the fl studio run in the background and use it as a "voiceback" kinda device when watching youtube, so you dont have to download an audio file.

[@spookylovin]

@@khajitt I by chance have FL studio and ASIO4all with it....but really don't understand your directions. A step-by-step guide would be great...lol

[@khajitt]

@@spookylovin Do you know how to turn on your mic in FL studio so that you can hear your own voice in realtime? If you don't then what you need to do is open the mixer, select any channel, and at the top right of your mixer channel tab select input > choose your mic. Voila, instant realtime voiceback, then to turn down the response time tweak the asio4all audio sample size. My asio4all have 11 ms time response and there is no noticeable input lag Edit : you can even change asio4all to wasapi and get up to 4 ms audio delay, but the downside is that you can't play audio outside FL studio, so you have to import each audio file you wanna shadow.

[@spookylovin]

@@khajitt And do you just input an audio track in one of the channels? How about just recording your voice over that?

[@paulwalther5237]

I have to ask. Why use two headphones, the big over the ear noise cancelling and the cheap earbuds? Why not just have everything go through the Bose?

[@yoshiegg6537]

Bose headset noice canceling doesn't work when you plug it in directly with the Aux. Also this video is outdated the new Sony wmx4 is much better than the Bose 35 in comfort, clarity and noice canceling. I have both

[@flamboyant505]

Very informative thanks!! Where do you find the source materiasl used for shadowing? I want to start learning mandarin but can't find any good material for this technique

[@PatChatGC]

Well my headphones just broke I guess this might be the time to try out these noise cancelling headphones haha are these the kind with active noise cancelling or are they just passive?. At least I already have a blue yeti!

[@coconutpineapple2489]

Are these method shadowing and retention?

[@TheLittleRussian2]

I guess I'm stupid but I don't get what you need the earbuds for.

[@burntt999]

I just tried Funnynin's suggestion and it worked big time. which was download voicemeeter for windows and it has incredibly low latency. i sat there clapping and snapping trying to see if i could actually hear the lag.. its really fast. if you try it and like it, give his message a thumbs up so more people will know about it. (i guess that's how it works?)

[@HypronVideos]

Nice video. I have everything required (Samson mic with low-latency monitoring and Sony MX1000)... But sadly using the noise cancelling headphones for any amount of time makes my tinnitus flare up like crazy (regardless of the audio volume). Look after your ears folks, tinnitus sucks ass. Mine probably got damaged from sitting in a loud train every day for 4 years...

[@masao37]

Really? What the fuck, sounds messed up

[@FlowUrbanFlow]

The kind of ear buds you showed with the jelly don't work in my ears, I need the hard ones. The problem is, they're soooo hard to find without being horrible quality. Oh yeah, and the Samson Go mic is comparable to the Blue Yeti and only like $35

[@raymeester7883]

+Matt VS Japan At some point, you need to start watching Sam Ovens' course and his videos. You have done a phenomenal job with the AJATT and ANK/SRS community. I hope you start making that six figure income a month for the work you have done and start a lucrative niche. Your work is incredible.

[@ビンガム]

well said

[@DengueBurger]

A month? Lol

[@raymeester7883]

@@DengueBurger That's a hundred students signing on to a month for a $1000 course.

[@DengueBurger]

@@raymeester7883 yeah that's kind of a lot. what would the course have and how much could one learn in a month? $1000 seems excessive, too, considering most patreons are $10-15/month max for very useful information

[@GGLitcHH]

Great video Matt! I have a question for you: I’ve been trying to read manga from ライン漫画 recently but couldn’t figure out how. I downloaded the app, created a line account, but my line account is in the wrong region so they won’t let me use line manga. You’re really resourceful so I was wondering if you know of anyway I could access the manga??

[@GGLitcHH]

Never mind finally figured it out. Now have full access to everything in line manga!!

[@KapitalJackGame]

What's some good material that we could use to begin these shadowing exercises?

[@mattvsjapan]

Watch my "how to start outputting" video

[@jvu2ilj26]

Those BOSE headphones are actually used in aviation... Particularly because of the noise canceling feature.

[@PhantomPickle]

That's true but the aviation headsets will set you back a lot more. My dad and I own a couple A20s and they go for around $1,000 per headset.

[@Wolfyx52x]

There is also now a Blue Yeti Nano that has been released (I think after this video was uploaded), which is a little cheaper. I bought it and have no problems or worries. Just search for a shadowing parent. Maybe a channel called 高須幹弥高須クリニック. What do you guys think?

[@wroughtiron7258]

You do *not* need noise cancelling headphones! You can buy a pair of rifle shooter's earmuffs from walmart (et al,) for $15- $20 that kill 150dB of sound. Combined with earbuds in both ears you will not be able to hear anything.

[@bergvicio-jornadablackmetal]

9:40

[@Wilpsn]

You can have no lag if you have an USB interface like an Focusrite Scarlett. That is why if you have any interest in making music you should never buy an USB microphone. Any cheap 20$ XLR Mic on an USB Interface will sound as good as the Yeti.

[@user-setonai]

学問のすすめのシャドーイングは正直信じられないです(笑) I'm Japanese but I cannot shadow it well.

[@sigalius]

an other option is to have friends who speak your target language listen to you and make corrections in your every day life

[@TehCacti]

there are headsets have a voice feedback feature built-in like the Sennheiser pc360, but I'm sure there are cheap headsets that do this and have noise cancelation

[@maxxrenn]

Are you reading it or just listening and repeating? It sounds like you know it off by heart. I wouldn’t be able hear the next bit over me repeating the previous bit. 🤔

[@mattvsjapan]

Just listening and repeating. I make a few errors that it wouldn't make sense for me to make if I was reading/reciting something. Being able to clearly hear both your voice and the recording is the whole point of the setup.

[@SayHelloToOblivion]

I second barry's comment. I was in awe watching this video and thinking, not sure I can even do that in English, lol... Maybe it's something you build over time? You are doing two things at the same time that require concentration. Repeating (whilst concentrating on your accent) and listening for the next part. Plus, the first part of the equation (the repeating part), I imagine takes way more concentration as the whole point is to better your accent. Would it be a huge hindrance to just pause the shadow source? Also, what was that last part of the recording where it was just you speaking without the shadow source? Do you do that from memory or are you just saying anything you want (improv)? Btw, I'm nowhere near the point of shadowing, just curious for when I get there.

[@mattvsjapan]

@@SayHelloToOblivion Practice makes percect. I could bearly keep up when I first started, but I have been shadowing daily for quite some time now. At the end I was still doing the same thing: listening and repeating. I simply wasn't recording the audio of what I was listening to so that you could hear my isolated voice

[@SayHelloToOblivion]

@@mattvsjapan Ah, I see! Thanks, Matt, for sharing your setup with us. Great video for sure.

[@witchinghour-i2g]

I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks he still has a heavy accent when he speaks, especially on か行 and サ行

[@acuencadev]

~$200 noise-cancelling headphones... Mine cost $1. ~$100 micro... I am using my laptop built-in micro. Man, I am poor.

[@M4G1CSKILLZ]

Fun tip: Earmuffs do the same, if not better job for the noise-canceling part

[@gervaisbaudry]

the price of the Blue Yeti went up to USD 200!

[@ImSidgr]

I caught this one early

[@plemplem]

dude that mic surely is a thick boy

[@3dprintedgamer684]

Doesn't the Blue Snowball also have the same audio jack feature ? ANSWER: NO. Blue Snowball will not work work this

[@mattvsjapan]

does it? I thought it didn't

[@3dprintedgamer684]

@@mattvsjapan I could be wrong. I will try to find out from those who I know who have it. But hopefully this comment may be seen by others an corrected if I am wrong. Keep up the great content

[@danielrooney6953]

I have one and unfortunately it doesn't have a jack.

[@3dprintedgamer684]

@@danielrooney6953 awesome. Thanks for the clarification

[@jimmlygoodness]

2:05 😂

[@BokuNoShousetsu]

To perfect this set-up i wonder if it would be worth looking a Japanese voice-to-text software. That way you can kind of have a measure for how good your accident is if the software is able to tell what you are saying. However, even with a native speaker voice-to-text can be a bit funny - although voice-to-text software have gotten better over the last few years.

[@maxim_ml]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4HKepmFbpegd7c

[@kacper3438]

When i Shadow (in english) i cant keep up and end up saying total jibrish

[@kleyyer]

I haven't tested it, but for those who are not using an USB microphone I recommend checking this video explaining an way to fix the delay problem: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6m6YWawYtqNeMU

[@usodarou]

linux loopback :D

[@cristophergutierrez6241]

what is that

[@mattsilver1121]

shadowing is usually done while you're listening to a video and after each sentence pause the video (press spacebar on your keyboard), repeat what you heard (no subtitles), then unpause and continue. That's how i've always done it at least. No special gear needed.

[@dmac1653]

second

[@languagepepe2855]

first

[@sanl2210]

Well i'm brazilian so those 500$ would turn into 5000R$ so nope =p

[@based9930]

If you think $100 for a microphone is outrageous you aren't serious about learning.

[@DriveCancelDC]

None of you will be fluent if you think this guy gives good advice. You learn more about learning the language than actually learning it, lmao.

[@AJGress]

Are you fluent? Please elaborate. If you know a better way you should share it with the rest of us

[@usernameryan5982]

Luke there is literally nothing that he emphasizes more than that he can’t teach you the language and he will only show you how you yourself can learn the language. Your logic can be extended to seriously everyone. Actually teaching someone a language is an impossible feat, people like Matt just tries to guide you through efficient progress. I suggest that you watch his theory vs practice video

[@ビンガム]

That's the whole idea. He teaches us how to acquire the language.

[@sidma5661]

You sound like you know a lot. Tell us how we should learn Japanese.

[@ponxzu]

Luke that’s the whole point🤦🏻‍♂️