Hi Wynn! Nice to meet you!
I've been studying Japanese for a year and a half via university. We were taught with Minna no Nihongo (みんなの日本語）, which goes through elementary level Japanese and gets you prepared for more intermediate things. We're now going through Shin Nihongo no Chuukyuu (新日本語の中級) which is early intermediate Japanese at the beginning and starts introducing more difficult grammar at the end.
In answer to your questions:
Yes. Learn how to write Japanese first. Let it be the first thing you ever do! Hiragana and katakana aren't hard to learn. Once comfortable enough with these, move on to simple kanji. I recommend learning the main 500 kanji first; with enough kanji, you'll then be able to spot patterns with radicals and the next 500 will be easier. (Of course, I'm not at this level yet! I wish I was!)
Set yourself a realistic goal to learn these in. Focus more on reading than writing. This said, my writing is rather sloppy so recently I've just been concentrating on that!
Listening and speaking shouldn't be forgotten, of course. Try Keyhole TV once you're familiar with Japanese, but before this, try beginner's podcasts. There are loads around. I recommend one called JapanesePod101. I enjoy their audio blogs!
Quote:
Originally Posted by StormingWynn
Hello, I'm new so excuse the newbiness. I have a few questions before I begin learning the Japanese language. Should I learn the Katakana, Hiragana and a few Kanji before I even start to set up phrases? Should I learn the rules of grammar first? Or should I learn both at the same time? How long should I expect to work at the language before I can even begin to form phrases?
A little something about me. I live in the US. I'm a college student working for my degree in Biophysics. My hobbies are learning languages, video games, cars and reading among other things. I know 3 languages; Spanish, English and French. I can understand a couple more like Portuguese and Italian. Japanese will be my first "eastern" language.
Thanks
~Wynn
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