u/Ok_Kaleidoscope_2178

Hi all, I'm currently wrapping up my studies with Genki 1, I have over 1000 mature cards on Anki with a premade Genki deck, a tutor and I've booked the N5 exam for July. Broadly speaking, I'm getting about 80% on the JLPT Bunpro tests so I'm assuming that I'm comfortably around the N5 mark. I have a trip to Japan booked the month after the exam and I'd like to take my studies to at least N3, where it starts to become a little more useful. My question; are there any books, novels, manga etc. that may be easier to obtain while I'm in Japan to assist with language acquisition? I'm already considering picking up second hand copies of Yotsuba and the supplementary novels that come with みんなの日本語 (the adventures of miller-san). Is there anything else, particularly useful, common or obvious that may be cheaper or easier to pick up while I'm over there? I'm thinking that books and manga make the most sense but anything that would be good for listening or writing too would be good.

Hi all,

I signed up for the N5 in July and have just started practicing the exam specifically. I did my first practice exam last night, I sat in my office, put on a 90 minute timer and got to work. I used the Bunpro practice exams and got 63% overall, with 87% in vocab, 55% in grammar and 50% in listening. I currently use Genki as my main study item and I'm on Chapter 9. My vocab is fine, i think my grammar will be fine eventually but I'm concerned about the listening. It genuinely sounds mostly like whitenoise to me. How can I improve my listening? I've tried listening to n5 level podcasts but i feel no improvement whatsoever.