Best Learning Methods?
 

I'm trying really heard to learn Japanese on my own, and I was wondering if those who are already familiar with it could advise me on exactly how to do that. So far I know a few basic sentences, words, and grammar rules, as well as about two dozen hiragana...but that's it.
:P
Also, are there any good sites that provide lessons and tests of varying difficulty? That might help me to memorize...

I don't know how effective self-teaching is given the difficulty of learning any new language.

I strongly recommend you memorise all the hiragana and katakana first before delving further. This isn't too difficult to do on your own (just keep at it and practise writing/reading/listening/speaking them)

I think you should definately consider joining a class though, because it just gets more difficult from here.

I can't offer you any online teaching sites I'm afraid.

I can give you some of the sites that I reference all the time. I've been self-teaching for the last few months, too, but I'm going into a class this coming semester at my college.

This is a website that has a Kanji dictionary as well as a neat little thing that shows stroke order and direction for a specific Kanji.

Neat pictures of what hand-brushed Hiragana and Katakana look like, along with some beginning Kanji and commonly used emoticons. Explore this one, as it also has some other neat references.

When you progress far enough to start learning Kanji, this one is really good combined with the following website.

Another Kanji dictionary. I like this one better (I find it easier to navigate and much more helpful), though it lacks detailed stroke animations.

This is a Java applet that is essentially a deck of flashcards for Kanji. Again, this is for when you get that far.

Kinda similar to when you go to Google language tools (another invaluable resource) and translate a whole webpage. This leaves the webpage with the original text, but allows you to mouse over a word and see a translation to help you learn to read. It's very helpful, and I've only barely tapped into it.

If you feel like downloading some freeware--I haven't used it yet, but I held on to the URL anyway :P

Japanese Language PODCASTS! Sweet.

And last: www.japanforum.com . The place where you can ask questions, talk to some native speakers, find resources, and just goof off.

Oh, and I would be in big trouble if I forgot Wikipedia and Google. Without those two, I would never have found ANY of the above resources.

I also recommend that you never watch an English dubbed anime again in your life. English subs only! Listen well, you'll pick up a lot of vocabulary. And definitely pay a lot of attention to the characters who of your gender--I hear that learning from a book makes guys talk girls and girls sound like they're talking to the Emperor!

Best way to learn a new language go to that country and stay there for a couple months and you'll learn the language thats how I know spanish cause I was around it all my life so I picked it up.

I agree with this. Learn hiragana and katakana on your own, but you really should have organized lessons and a teacher to learn kanji and pronunciation/usage.

this kinda works for me, but after you've learned basic japanese, try to think in your head in japanese

I also agree about learning hiragana and katakana, learning through romaji will only slow down your progress at the end of the day.

learning by yourself, in my mind, is not a good way to go about it when you are just starting out in the language. I really think until about the intermediate level you should be learning within a classroom to get a better grasp of the language. then i think by about mid to high intermediate you can move on to teach yourself more productively.

I don't believe you need a teacher to teach you kanji. Kanji is something I strongly believe can be self taught and time is better spent in the classroom learning pronunciation, grammar, usage and so on. The written scripts can be learnt at home (kana and kanji)

if you insist on learning by yourself, then get some books text books for beginners, one that appeals to your way of learning and also get a good grammar book such as the one released by The Japan Times called A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. they also have an intermediate level one for later in your studies.

use JLPT 4's vocabulary list as a good starting point of words to learn and work your way up through the levels.

seriously though, go get yourself into a classroom, even if it is just a couple hours a week, it is better than nothing.

　I would suggest you to cram the grammar first. but dont have to remember all of them, just to get an impression.

After that, read manga, or play novel games... set up a word list for new vocab. And go back to grammar book when you come across grammatic difficulty, you can solve the problem quickly since you are already familiar with the grammar book.

Best Learning Methods ?
 

well if you go online you could get a disk called "passport to 35 Languages " It's quite handy .

if you really want to learn japanese.. than nothing can stop you!
my advice is to watch a lot anime and drama which you can hear properly what they are saying and try to figure out the word.. it's kinda fun if you know what I 'm saying.. hehehe..

but it is better for you to buy the pocket dictionary..