im going to get a book for this, to note down all the things i need to remember, and learn. but someone who knows... answer me this.

should i learn in Romaji, Kanji, Kanji + Furigana or Hiragana + Katakana?

I really want to learn in the non-latin based form, but maybe note down all of the ones i use to remember their pronunciations.

im doing ok in rosetta stone atm using Hiragana/Katakana and native speech.

halp.

also consider this as my log for learning Japanese.

My opinion:

Conversation level spoken Japanese will be far effective. For that along with Rosetta Stone, you should use audio tutorials (like Primsleur's Japanese). They will really help you A LOT.

Script wise, you will, at one point, have to learn all of them. Perhaps, you can start with Romanji so that you understand the language. Hiragana + Katakana + Kanji are important, mind it.  If you ARE serious (as I am), you can take up Japanese classes. The thing about Japanese (or any other Language) is that you learn a lot more when you are being taught by someone. The key is interaction.

sadly, learning japanese with love for anime alone is not enough. :P you WILL, trust me, give up after 1-2 months.
experienced. set more goals for yourself, not just i want to be able to understand anime bla bla bla. every single narutard out there want to too. except the dummies watch it on Cartoon Network xD

it has been 3 years since i started learning by myself, the first two years was total slack. i got past all hiragana, katakana, and 40-60 kanji, was able to very slowly read raw manga. with the help of dictionary.
and then i gave up for two months, using i still have a long way to go as an excuse, when i come back, all the kanji is gone from my head and i had trouble reading hiragana.

so i decided to set goal, I'll go to japan, be able to live there for two years, and live a happily ever after story.

so yeah, earlier this year i started studying seriously, using "My Japanese Coach" as a teacher, and Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten as my translator, both on DS.
my japanese coach is good, but with some flaws, eg it demands a high level of self study, as there's no revision lesson, (the minigames is not enough) no homework (they should've set some for you to do in real life). and a steep learning curve.
the dictionary is great though, i must say. :P you can draw your kanji (still have to do the correct strokes order) or Eng~jap words.
after the lesson, i tried to spot as much hiragana, katakana as i can as possible on NND. and try to read em ALL, ALL. no skipping.
then kanji, then the whole sentence :P
now i can pass 2nd kyu(i think) on a japanese test.

uhh now i don't see where I'm going with this, but i gonna continue to bla bla bla anyway.
-no no learning japanese though anime,manga. games is acceptable, not visual novel though, because they are the same as anime manga. if you ask me why:

Quote: Learning Japanese though anime
...is highly discouraged. Seriously. Ask anyone who's ever tried to learn through formal methods, and chances are they'll agree that attempting to learn the language solely from anime, doramas, and the like is futile and stupid. Take a class, use a CD or lessons online. Do something formal other than watching TV.

What foreign TV does do is provide a decent supplement for oral Japanese. Since your interactions are probably going to be clunky at best, television allows you to get a feel for the basic nuances of the language: speed, tones, rhythms, etc. There's also the chance to pick up a few extra words for your vocabulary. Depending on the material, TV shows can also provide some cultural context and basic social rules. The latter is especially important, considering the Japanese language revolves entirely around who you are in relation to who you are talking to.

If you wish to find good programming to try the above, I personally suggest kids shows. By their nature, they'll tend to avoid complex or sophistacted conversations. Even though the style of speech wouldn't be recommended for everyday use, it's easy to follow and a good way to cut your teeth. My personal choices are Chi's Sweet Home and Pythagoras Switch (which has the bonus of being educational, too).

now, i haven't tried it myself but rosetta stone is said to be only work with certain people, there's a level of effectiveness, but not for everyone. so watch out.

one note though, there used to be some japanese in my house in new zealand, as well as school. i talked to them often since some of em are real otaku (man, got to fear his room) and try to understand the convo. it helped me alot :P

Pretty much yea... Not to mention that almost all Asian languages are very different from Western languages...


Anime is good for fun but not good teachers.

Your call really.

nop, all language is practically easy. it's like learning a new fighting game with complicated combos. except here, the combos is extremely complicated. same kind of alphabet only give you a certain advantage. it's like moving from street fighter to tekken, mastering the combination forward, down, down forward, punch in SF will get you an easier time playing as some of the character in tekken.

when i was little, english was goddamn hard. but now that i think about it, there's not much apart from past, future, present. and their perfect form, along with the normal daylife combination sentences like "i want, i need, but, and, bla bla bla"

depends on the person really.

by the way, I'm serious here, play game helps.
for my english
i played though ffx and learned where you suppose to go high and low in a sentence and which type of sentence
i played maple story, and got my quick responding skill (arguing with kids is awesome)
i played though alot of other games, and my vocabulary is vastly larger than other kid at the same age.
i played though phoenix wright, and my reading skill is greatly improved.

do what you like in that language helps. but do it properly.
my brother also play games, but he skips all the dialogues, don't give an eff about the story, and button bash his way though fighting.

i doubt watching anime does anything to you though/

my intention is not to understand anime hurr durrr

i have been fascinated with Japan long before i even watched anime (and im talking years, here).

I really really want to live there one day, and before i can even think about doing that i need to learn, understand and appreciate the language.

Now before you all jump the gun and tell me im going to fail, that has just spurred me on to prove you all wrong. Just because i watch anime does not mean it is my sole reasoning behind wanting to learn it. Understand it may eventually just be a side effect, one that i have no problem with, mind you.