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..

Best Learning Methods
 

Where do you find one of them dictionaries i have looked in book stores and they dont have them

I don't know if there's a *best* method, since every person has different learning skills. But there's one thing that is true for anybody: to learn a foregin language you have to put a lot of effort in it. There's no way you can learn a language in just a couple of hours. It's a process that requires time and dedication.
I don't think it works. You should hear spoken japanese only after you've learned the proper grammar, not otherwise!!!
First start with a grammar book and *learn* it. Then watch anime, dorama and listen to spoken japanese.

Best Learning Methods
 

ok well early the cd i mentioned with that as well because you learn your basic stuff as well and it has actual japanese voices in it for when you want to hear how it is said and you can record it while going through them each time and have conversations .

I'm completely self taught. I started on YesJapan.com Lesson plans range from 15 bucks a month to $30. Every word has a sound file (incredibly important!). It gradually introduces kana and kanji. If you get stuck there is also "ask a teacher". They usually get back to you within 24 hours. And also gets into how friends actually talk to one another (PL2 speech). The vast majority of text books stick to PL3 speech. It's worth every penny! Good luck!

i would say many text books get into conversational speech but you are not going to find them doing so in the beginner level. you need to know conversational speech, it is very important, so of course text books do teach you this.

Despite looking high and low, I never found one that did, but that was years ago. Maybe times have changed.

strange.. all intermediate books i have use a lot of conversational japanese. mind you they contain little english in them. they won't teach you slangs etc, that is for you to pick up in usage.

i am having trouble finding a teacher. once i get into high school i can take classes in a university but until then my parents are just going to buy me software...

I am self-teaching myself some Japanese, too. At least, some basic ones just to understand a little bit when/if I ever visit Japan, meet someone who is Japanese/listen to Japanese convos, etc. Things like that. A site I use reference a lot is GenkiJapan.net. It really helps a lot if you are a beginner. The person in charge of the site replies kinda fast if you have any questions. He's quite good. :] I am still a beginner, so I need a few advice tips, too.

My methods of learning is by reviewing over my Japanese notes for a long, long time (At least 20 minutes a day or something) until I can get them by memory; review my pocket Japanese phrases book, and basically use some Japanese words to describe stuff, like I would say to myself, "Today is Nichi Youbi (Sunday)." And I know it's kinda odd to use English + Japanese word in a sentence. XD I don't know how to say "Today is. . ." yet. :S

Okay, enough of this explaining stuff. Does anyone have any more advice? I need help with the grammar. I only know simple words and numbers, months, days, etc. It would help a lot for any tips. :)

今日は日曜日　(kyou wa nichiyoubi)

I really don't know what advice to give that hasn't been already given. I learned my grammar from textbooks.

I got mine at Barnes and Noble

Oh, thank you! -Writes it down-

Online Teaching Sites
 

Useful online teaching site I've found is Verbalplanet:

It's a paid site but you can get a one to one lesson with a Japanese language tutor. Alternatively if you are up to doing a bit of teaching you can earn a bit of extra money by becoming a tutor. Stuck the URL below:-

Online Japanese Language Tuition | Personal Japanese Tutors & Teachers

Cheers

Hmm. Looks like this got bumped a while back..

Still, for the sake of completeness, I'll append my opinions here (that, and I like talking :p ).

As for paid online tuition, I would only go for that if I had a deadline by which I had to grasp a language. Or if I had lots of money. You can learn a language without tuition, that's what my brother did.

I say all too often the need to talk to native speakers. If you cant get to Japan physically, email Japanese people, mail them, chat to them on Skype, anything you possibly can. Have a dictionary (Jim Breen's is gold) on your internet browser while you chat. Whilst you take a break from that, learn the grammar (no shortage of sites with grammar!) and additional vocab.

I think most normal people get periods of up to an hour where they are stuck with nothing to do. Take that novel out of your bag, and replace it with something you can study Japanese with.;)

I actually started using nothing but books from borders and cd's, rhe CD's were mostly to get the sound of native speakers. I kept a slew of japanese songs both rock and rap. I found that if you listen to the language every day atleast for a little while then the language begins to slow down and you can pick out words. I also watched japanese tv shows(fuji san kei TV if available in your area).

It didnt matter what the show was I would sit witha note pad and a dictionary and jot down words and try to put them in sentences after looking up the meanings. I was fortunate enough to find a few people I call friends (Thanks Gen And Yohei and Kenji)that live in Japan with whom I speak with on Skype.(that's hard though because I live in the US and the time dif is killer :) )But I found that rosetta stone works VERY wellalso because it shows you words and pictures and it's easy to use.