[Kurisutii]

Originally Posted by Columbine

I disagree with the above poster that anime is especially useful. Most people who I've met who've 'learnt' japanese from anime speak incredibly oddly and can often come across as kind of immature/rude.

Japanese IS hard, but then it isn't. Speaking the language itself isn't all that complicated, i don't think, once you get over the 'it's so different to english!' hurdle. The hard thing is being persistent, having motivation and keeping it up. It's a ~slow~ language to learn. Do not expect to be fluent in a year.

But if you're passionate and interested, it's a lot of fun to learn. Try finding a tutor if it's in your budget, because it can be difficult to study by yourself. Make sure they teach -WITHOUT- using romaji. That's quite important.

There are LOTS of resources around and books on the public market. again, get one that either phases out romaji completely, or doesn't use them at all. I'd suggest Genki; it has some niggles, but it's quite easy to follow the exercises (and figure out what you're supposed to do) and the grammar explanations tend to be quite clear. Definitely try and watch some Japanese TV though. especially 'live situation' type TV where people comment more in a natural every-day style. Daily-life Dramas are great, but of course, it's all very scripted. On the upside, the actors tend to put on less voices like in anime.
Try and learn kanji in context, or as words. Not just 'this symbol has this sound', because that can be confusing. Plus if you study the kanji in their context, you can learn new words at the same time!

thank you a bunch