Garrett wrote:
Konnichiwa! I would like to learn Japanese.
Hey dude,
I am Luke, new to this place. Firstly I would like to congratulate you for your good choice of languagen of which you desire to study.
Fredaykin is right. One cannot learn through merely a forum. You have to utilize methods to develop the process of language learning. I personally like the audio based highly active methods of Pimsleur programs. It is best to combine several methods as the all have strengths and weaknesses.
PIMSLEUR for activity. It forces us to respond verbally and actively contructing our own sentences through its audio based guidance. This kind of task is necessary to be able to talk fluidly and develop good prununciation
http://www.simonsays.com/content/index.cfm?sid=128
LINGUAPHONE courses are good for their huge and wide base of vocabulary and deep grammatical explanations. However the Japanese course by Linguaphone unfortunately only uses Romaji. Therefore, one must also combine this method with other materials in order to learn how to read and write.
http://www.linguaphonegroup.com/
Other good methods include Foreign Service Institute. You should also get additional books on grammar, written, ect...
I really like Remembering the Kana, there are awesome little stories and mental hooks to help us dominate the two kana syllabary scripts
http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Kana- ... 962&sr=8-1
Good luck with your studies
Luke