[kouichisan]

another way to learn would be to have Japanese speaking friends to practice with. Reading books is great... but if you never practice what you learn, then it takes even longer to learn it. I studied french for five years during high school... and I don't remember any of it, because I never used the language outside of the lessons.

I learned to speak and understand urdu without ever opening a book by just talking to my friends. And I am not even Pakistani or Indian.