Jesus....x2 what rich_f said.
He's very, very right on two very important points.
1. Don't quit. This...is a difficult topic. For one thing, it's a lot easier to say than to do. Chances are good that there will be many, many times that you just feel like giving up, because there will be a lot of times where you feel like you haven't made any progress or you don't think you can reach that next level. But remember this, it's not about failing OR succeeding. They are not two different paths you can end up on. The road to being good at anything is paved with countless little failures and successes, you just need to learn to pick yourself back up after a failure, and enjoy the little successes that you experience along the way.
There are two things you can do to help you from getting discouraged by those inevitable failures. First, if things are getting rough, either you don't feel like you're making any progress or things are too hard, you need to change what you're doing. There are plenty of different ways to go about studying, and all those different ways come in all different skill levels. If you've been using Anki for awhile and not making much progress, try listening to some podcasts instead. If you're getting hung up on vacabulary, switch to grammar for awhile. If your progress with self-study has stagnated, maybe it's time to find a teacher or a learning partner.
Don't just give up, be proactive and keep trying to find a method that works for you.
That being said, don't give up on things and change to something else unless you feel you've given it your best and it's run it's course. Everything will be hard in the beginning, but if you keep at it, it'll get easier.
**The other thing that will help you to stay to course is your goal. Sooner or later you'll start to wonder WHY you spend so much time learning this language, because you will get frustrated or lose confidence at some point. Whether or not you quit will be based on your answer to that WHY, and if that reason is strong enough. Always keep your goal in mind.
2. Definitely don't get caught up in the meta, like he said. Talking about studying can lead to some great insights, and I've learned a lot from the week I've spent on this site. But from my previous experience with drawing, I know exactly how easy it is to get caught up with discussing HOW to practice stuff, and neglect to actually PRACTICE. No offense to this site or anything, but it's probably best to only come here sparingly, to get help if you're stuck, and then go back to actually studying. Which I should be doing right now....
As for study methods, there are four basic parts to any language. Reading, writing, listening and speaking. Some people say that if your goal is only to have conversation ability, then you can focus on just listening and speaking. But I'm of the opinion that they all stack on one another, and that learning all 4 will increase your progress and understanding exponentially as compared to neglecting 2 or even 1 part. But, if you feel strongly that you only need certain parts, then by all means give it a try. I'm not here to tell you what to do.
However, I'll give it my best shot to aid you on learning those four parts.
Reading and writing:
This, for me, is the backbone of my study. It's what I'm most comfortable with, and I know that when I was young my vocabulary in English was vastly superior to my peers because I read books for fun, all the time, when most of them didn't.
To begin in this area of Japanese, you first need to learn and memorize Hiragana and Katakana. They are the two basic alphabets of Japanese, and they MUST be learned. There are 46 characters in Hiragana, and 45 in Katakana. Both the characters in Hiragana and Katakana make the EXACT same sounds. The only difference is the way they are written. You need to memorize both, but after you learn one, the second one will be twice as easy cuz you only need to practice how to write the second.
Most Japanese students are expected to memorize both of these kana alphabets in under two weeks, sometimes only one. It is totally doable, but realize that even after you have them memorized, it will still take a couple months before you become really comfortable with them.
I wouldn't worry about kanji just yet. Kanji is a whole different beast, and not really necessary if you just want to understand TV shows. So you can always start that later when you feel you're up to it.
Resources:
-There are many websites and books that can teach you Hira/Katakana, pretty much every beginner source has them. I would use something that has audio, because you need to know the sounds they make. ら、り、る、れ、ろ are written in romaji as ra, ri, ru, re, ro but are actually pronounced with a sound that is a mix between R and L. So audio is going to be essential. Anki decks can be really helpful for memorizing them.
-Once you get past learning those, you move onto vocab and grammar and basic sentence forms. Once you get to this stage, you'll want to buy a textbook of some sort. Yeah I know, they cost money, but trust me, you'll want one. The three most popular I know of is the Genki series, the Minna no Nihongo series and the Japanese for Busy People series. I've only used Japanese for Busy People, and I can tell you know you'll need a teacher for that book. It sucks for self-study. The Minna no Nihongo series I've heard mixed things about, so if I was going to buy one it'd have to be the Genki series. But I'd recommend you do some research and decide which is best for you.
-Once you start getting lots of grammar and vocabulary under your belt, the next logical step is to try and start reading beginner stories and articles. There are plenty out there, but I'm not going to list them. Cross that bridge when you come to it.
-There is also a site called Lang-8, where you write in Japanese and natives correct your spelling and grammar. But you won't be able to get the most out of it until you can formulate at least basic sentences in Japanese.
Listening and Speaking.
This area I'm not as familiar with unfortunately.
-For listening, JapanesePod101 has great podcasts that you can listen to. They speak in Japanese, then give you it in English, then they break the sentences down and explain all the vocab and grammar. However, they require you to have a membership, which is expensive. Like $100 a year or something. But they let you try it for free, and you can download all of their podcasts for free during the one week trial...
-For speaking, there is a website that uses Skype so you can speak to native Japanese people who are trying to speak English. So you help each other by practicing speaking in eah other's languages. I forget what it was called....but that's kind of advanced, since you probably won't be able to form a complete sentence in Japanese until you've got a decent amount of vocab and grammar under your belt.
-The last option for this is taking a class. This will be either college, or a paid class at a Japanese culture society, which is what I'm doing. I go to the Japanese-American Society of NJ, which is kinda pricey but much cheaper than a college course. Having a teacher will help you in all areas, since you practice writing, reading, speaking and listening. It's also a huge help to have a native Japanese person who can correct you immediately if you make a mistake. Definitely something to look into, you can google to see if there are any culture places/language schools near you. There are also independant Japanese tutors who will come to your home and teach you one-on-one, but that's more expensive.
In conclusion:
For reading and writing...
-Hiragana/Katakana, google it and find a website that has audio and stroke order.
-Buy a textbook as soon as you have those down. DON'T buy one in Romaji. Romaji is a pointless waste of time.
-Anki will be a huge help in helping to learn, memorize and reinforce everything. Download it.
-When you feel up to it, try finding beginner/graded reading stories and articles and begin reading. Context is everything in language, and learning words and grammar points outside of context will only get you so far. Reading will bring everything together, but it's very tough at the beginning.
-Once you get far enough, there is a site called Lang-8 that you can use to write journal entries, and have native Japanese people correct you. Very helpful, but you probably won't be able to make much use of it in the beginning.
Listening and speaking:
-Try to find podcasts around the internet. JapanesePod101 is great, and I think Smart.fm was a great source but I'm not sure if it exists anymore.
-That website I breifly mentioned where you can videochat with native Japanese people is great, but like Lang-8, you won't be able to really use it until you can formulate at least basic sentences in Japanese.
-Keep watching Japanese TV, anime, drama, anything. You'll notice over time that the words you learned somewhere else will pop up in the shows you watch and listen to, and getting repeated exposure to words and sentences you've learned will help reinforce them and give you a little confidence boost.
-Lastly, if self-study proves lacking, there's nothing wrong with going for extra help. Having a dedicated teacher in a structured learning environment can do wonders for your progress.
Wow...I realize I just pretty much wrote a damn book. Sorry about that, kinda got carried away lol. Anyway, what I said is by no means the de facto study method, but it's what I've learned so far. I'm sure others have different approaches, so take the ones you like best and just start. I find that if you spend too much time agonizing on HOW to start, you lose time that could have been spent actually learning, so it's best just to START. Somewhere, anywhere. I started with Hiragana and Katakana, and I still believe that was the most logical first step. Have to learn your ABC's first, right?
Edited: 2014-08-31, 5:59 pm
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I hope this will give you more motivation to start studying the language!
