Wow, just reading this entire thread has inspired me in great deals! (Well, maybe not great deals, but it has inspired me) I do understand Xentron on self studying. For about a year, I tried to self study in Japanese... It worked, however because I did not have anyone to practice with the basic things I knew went down the toilet.
Currently, I am taking a class once a week to just keep up with learning. I am the type of person who wants to be ahead of the class, or wants to know what is going on before the teacher covers it... I guess it prevents me from being embarrassed when my teacher asks me "So, please say this..." It is actually embarrassing to me when I stutter when reading Japanese. x_x But! That only means that I am learning, right?
I appreciate your tips and pointers, GTJ. I have never thought of actually trying to think of things in Japanese, rather than in constant English. I guess that is where a few of my flaws lie.
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Get Genki. Genki I and Genki II. These are the best textbooks you'll ever read. It helps to get the workbooks, too. I went to the university that wrote them (Kansai Gaidai), and I gotta tell you they're amazing. They're paperback, too, so they won't break your bank.
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That is the book I am actually using in class. (lmao) But, it is very very useful! However, it is always good to get another book to get a second opinion on different topics. I self-studied chapters 1-4 in the Genki book and got stuck on chapter 5, only because I felt as if it was very overwhelming to do it all on my own without the help of a teacher to get me to pronounce everything in the correct manner. And it helped! Retaining the info in a different subject though... >_>;;
As for going to Japan... I would love to go to reinforce speaking in Japanese, however... It is something I have to put in the budget sooner or later... -Sigh- I just wish I had to proper resources to go for more than a week. I have been told about the J.E.T program, but I am not interested in teaching children... =/
PS: Sorry I didn't use the "Quote" command correctly... I am just a little slow. ._.