General

@uOnPeriod: By all means, don't even try. Whatever reason you have at this point to learn the language, it's not a legit nor good reason at all.
You don't even know anything about the language (not even how it's written....), probably don't even know the difference between Kanji/Katakana and Hiragana let alone the culture.
Japan isn't all colorful and squeaky as you may think it is. Japanese people are rather strict, they get offended incredibly easily, there are diff stages of politeness and a lot of rules you gotta follow in everyday life (there's a lot of small things you don't even think of normally like not lowering your head when you eat)
With your current mindset your experience in Japan would be a complete nightmare.
Even if you say you'll learn it, there's A LOT to learn (not just the language itself after all) and you'll most likely give up halfway (if you even get THAT far) and you should really spare yourself the time...

@DiceyLove: Where are you allowed to use your phone then in the first place o.O
and that PDA thing would probably kill me if I were to go over there for vacation with my Fiance since we hold hands and smooch a lot... I did hear that ANY sort of showing affection in public isn't wanted (not even holding hands) and they're also rather cold in the relationships themselves (e.g. not saying "I love you" frequently).. what a personal nightmare!

[quote=DiceyLove]
and this.
if you don't know anything about Japanese customs you could seriously offend Japanese people
my second day in Tokyo I was texting on the subway, and people were legit giving me nassty looks [i didn't know using your phone on public transit was considered rude]
and definitely NO pda allowed in Japan LOOL[/quote]

I prepare to learn new customs :L

[quote=otamegane]Watch loads of anime with subs. This will be your bread and butter. When you find yourself able to pick up words like "sugoi" and "onichan" you're half way there!
[i](Tip: Make sure to pay the most attention to the subtitles. Your brain will naturally pick up the words.)[/i]
[/quote]

Watching anime with subs won't help you learn the damn language.
It takes about 1.4 million English words = 800k japanese characters
I've been watching anime since I was in grade 7 and now I'm going to my second year university, by watching anime I've only learned the EXTREMELY basic stuff like brother, sister, good morning, yes, no etc...
I lived in tokyo for 2 months last summer and I thought I could understand japanese [I'm Chinese BTW] but in hinds sight, no. The best way to learn Japanese is to carry conversations with other people who can speak Japanese fluently as well. The people in Japan legit know no English, so I was basically forced to learn it well. And by the time I left Japan I can hold a conversation, that's about it. So watching anime with subs is probably one of the worst ways to learn Japanese since the subs DO NOT always equal the English equivalent.

[quote=Nashi]I suggest you stay the hell out of Japan.[/quote]

and this.
if you don't know anything about Japanese customs you could seriously offend Japanese people
my second day in Tokyo I was texting on the subway, and people were legit giving me nassty looks [i didn't know using your phone on public transit was considered rude]
and definitely NO pda allowed in Japan LOOL

[quote=ShiroMugetsu]Do you even Boku no Pico?[/quote]

I love you.

[quote=Nashi]I suggest you stay the hell out of Japan.[/quote]

best advice so far

edit: @otamegane
> Rosetta stone
no, just no

[quote=icemage11]You don't "speak" Kanji or "Standard Tokyo". There are 46 sounds in Japanese and they're used for speaking. (Like a,i,u,e,o,sa,shi,su,se,so etc). Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji are forms of reading and writing. If you want to be able to read anything in Japan or write anything, then you must know Hiragana, Katakana, and some Kanji. If you're serious about learning Japanese then yes you must learn Kanji.[/quote]

Best post so far, thanks for the clarification

I suggest you stay the hell out of Japan.

It's not that they speak different languages; there are just slightly different dialects, like different areas will have different accents and inflections. Even if you don't learn all of those inconsistencies, people from other areas will still be able to understand what you're saying.

Watch loads of anime with subs. This will be your bread and butter. When you find yourself able to pick up words like "sugoi" and "onichan" you're half way there!
[i](Tip: Make sure to pay the most attention to the subtitles. Your brain will naturally pick up the words.)[/i]

Skip Kanji. Your need to know over 3,000 of them to be considered "literate". (VERY few japanese even know them) In addition they have many pronunciations. Impossible for a foreigner.
[i](Tip: Due to Japan's illiteracy rate after WWII the british began phasing out kanji. In a few years it will be pointless to know any. In Korea they've already advanced past its use.)[/i]

Learning the sylliballe syllabaries katakana and hiragana is optional until you can speak fluently. Any decent teaching program will use [i]romaji[/i].
[i](Tip: Romaji is using Latin letters to spell out Japanese words. Ex. [b]Konichiwa[/b] Any good program such as [b]Rosetta Stone[/b] (highly reccomended) will give you this option. The easier the understand the faster you learn.)[/i]

In closing if you're doing poorly don't be discouraged and beat yourself up over it. It's been proven that older people have a very difficult time learning a second language. 90% of those who do speak a second language do so before age 12. This is why older immigrates become shut ins and depend on their children so much.

kanji is very important for reading things~

sadly, japanese people are against immigration ;3

You don't "speak" Kanji or "Standard Tokyo". There are 46 sounds in Japanese and they're used for speaking. (Like a,i,u,e,o,sa,shi,su,se,so etc). Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji are forms of reading and writing. If you want to be able to read anything in Japan or write anything, then you must know Hiragana, Katakana, and some Kanji. If you're serious about learning Japanese then yes you must learn Kanji.

[quote=civfanatics]If you want to actually be fluent and able to read most Japanese text, then yes you need to learn Kanji. The Japanese written language is a combination of Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana. Kanji is generally used for nouns, verbs, or adjectives; Hiragana is generally used for particles, conjunctions, common phrases, and words for which there is no kanji; Katakana is used for foreign words or for emphasis.[/quote]
Ahhh so each one is used for different parts of speech?
@otamegane
churs

It's spelled 'Japanese'.

You're welcome.

If you want to actually be fluent and able to read most Japanese text, then yes you need to learn Kanji. The Japanese written language is a combination of Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana. Kanji is generally used for nouns, verbs, or adjectives; Hiragana is generally used for particles, conjunctions, common phrases, and words for which there is no kanji; Katakana is used for foreign words or for emphasis.

*slowclap