Intelligent Discussion Thread.

I will write that down.

What learning aids did you have to offer, Spidey?

Grammar
Kana
Kanji

You don't have to read the "read why most kanji textbooks suck" section, but the other two sections are pretty nice. You can read the first section of it if you're not convinced that a dude like him can be good at teaching the kanji (his site used to be named "Kanji Dicks", and he makes a lot of lewd jokes to help you remember stuff).

The Genki text books are good too, from what I see. I haven't used it much though. You can find it in PDF form online if you look. My weakest point is grammar because I focused so much on kanji, so I suck when it comes to forming sentences on my own, but I can comprehend a good amount of Japanese if I read or listen to it (easier to read in some cases).

So a few pointers I'd like to give you to avoid screwing yourself over when you're pretty far ahead:

Don't rely too much on furigana. Use it only for kanji you really don't recognize. Try your best to remember what the kanji is before giving up and looking up its reading. Remember to break down kanji that look too difficult. Sometimes you know the kanji but just won't remember what it is, until you break it down into radicals and it fits in your head like a puzzle. I relied too much on fugirana when I was learning my kanji, and you've no idea how much of a safety net (in a bad way) it becomes. Relying too much on furigana for kanji is like relying too much on romaji for kana. Only use it when you're first learning, so you can get the pronunciation. Don't go back to relying on it again.

For right now, Rikaichan is okay for you, but try not to focus so much on the literal meanings it gives you. It's good for individual words, but can be confusing when you're trying to translate a sentence with it. Since you're still just beginning, it's okay, but I can imagine this becoming a similar safety net to my own if you get too used to it. Try not to rely on it too much if you are. I usually have Rikaichan off as much as I can, and only turn it on when I'm really stumped or haven't learned the word before.

Don't be like me and jump straight into kanji when you think you have "enough" grammar under your belt. I have a tough time jumping back into grammar, because I pretty much brushed past it pretty quickly when I first started Japanese. I'd recommend kana first (you seem like you've got this) → grammar → a bit of kanji → then kanji and vocab at the same time, alternating between the two rather than focusing on one. I say this because the earlier you get accustomed to kanji, the easier it'll be to learn. However, you don't wanna be like me and end up sucking when it comes to sentence structure.

Final word of advice: Don't stress yourself. Don't beat yourself up over "if I had only started this earlier" or anything like that. You turn something you wanted to learn into a chore, and so you end up less motivated to learn it. Reward yourself every now and then. If you're feeling bored. think of creative ways outside the study material to practice. Like putting on a Japanese song that you like and actually listening carefully to the lyrics, and how they're used. Try to read something simple in Japanese. There will be a lot of times where you feel like you're not getting very far, because it's gradual. I remember when I was first started I'd beat myself up over what I don't know, and over small mistakes. When I decided to try to read a manga in Japanese (Yotsubato is a very simple manga to read through, with lots of everyday phrases packed into it) I surprised myself that I actually did know more than I thought I did.

In other words; don't stress the small stuff. Climb at your own pace. You don't wanna slack around on it, but you certainly don't want to work yourself so much that you end up disliking the learning process. Even Justin has his times where he doesn't think his Japanese is as good as it should be, despite the level that he's at, it happens to all of us. Don't focus on stuff like that. Go with your own flow.