So im learning how to read/write/speak Japanese, and I have a few questions.

Okay, I am new here and I recently started to teach myself how to write Katakana. I want to learn how to write/read/speak Japanese. Heres how I plan to do this

I will learn how to read/write katakana and Hiragana via internet, using flashcards. Next I will pick up some children books from the library and try to decipher as many words as I can from those while practicing stroke order on Hiragana and Katakana words on a daily basis. Then once I get comfortable enough to the point where I feel I should move onto kanji how should I do it?

Like should I learn how to speak and write kanji or speak then write or write then speak?
Is this a good learning strategy?

My main goal is that here in 4 years I would have learned how to write/read atleast 1500 kanji and make conversations in Japanese. I do realize that at some point im going to need a tutor or somthing to help me with the speaking process and to let me know if I am writing everything correctly. I will try to put in about 1-2 hours a day to meet my goal. So please any of you high level speakers let me know if this is a good learning strategy and let me know if 4 years is enough to achieve this feat. I understand that the speaking is going to be quite difficult unless I make some friends that speak Japanese or go live in Japan for a few months. I am under no time limit as to how fast I need to learn Japanese its just a set time but I dont want this process to take longer than 7 years. The point I will stop trying to learn is after I can read articles and watch Animes in Japanese. I will always try to use Japanese daily but I wont try to make it a point to master as much Kanji as possible (That would just be a nightmare!) Okay, I think I have said everything I need to say, if any of this makes any sense lol

Do a search on the forum for "children's books" and "bad idea".

Mike Cash said:

Do a search on the forum for "children's books" and "bad idea".

Click to expand...

Hmm so would you suggest I use strictly text books? Having said that if I switched it up and used text books instead what else should I do? Also can you please answer my other questions? I really have no idea on what im going to do as far as learning the language. So can you please give me some suggestions? Thanks

I agree with Mike cash that children's books isn't a good idea... You don't want to sound like a little boy when you practice your speaking with someone.

Taking a subscription of something like the Hiragana times would be a lot better, or by getting JLPT reading comprehension books.

2 hours a day is quite a lot and it might be too difficult to keep up with it. Doing 1 hours in the morning and a 15/30minutes review at night might be a better idea.

Try to make some Japanese friends (but don't be the weirdo), and practice speaking.

I really like the matome books, so you might want to have a look into that.

Good luck with your study

Davey said:

I agree with Mike cash that children's books isn't a good idea... You don't want to sound like a little boy when you practice your speaking with someone.

Taking a subscription of something like the Hiragana times would be a lot better, or by getting JLPT reading comprehension books.

2 hours a day is quite a lot and it might be too difficult to keep up with it. Doing 1 hours in the morning and a 15/30minutes review at night might be a better idea.

Try to make some Japanese friends (but don't be the weirdo), and practice speaking.

I really like the matome books, so you might want to have a look into that.

Good luck with your study

Click to expand...

Yeah I was thinking 2 hours might be too much and like you said I was thinking I should do 1 hour in the afternoon then 30 minutes at night. I know im not going to progress and catch on as fast as those who take classes and stuff but I want to learn this at a decent pace faster the better but if it requires me skipping steps I dont want to do it.

If you learn too much it will be hard to memorize it and to stay interested in it. Just make sure you discipline yourself to do it everyday (in this case 2 hours would be way too much).

Just get started and try things out to see how it works for YOU! Everyone has different ways to study, so even though others will give you advice, if you can't use it is pointless. So yeah, just get started and try to set goals.

Learning Hiragana and Katakana is the first step and should take you 1 up to 4 weeks I think. After that you have to review these every week and you can start learning some Kanji. Have a look at the kanji that Japanese kids use might help. Kanji ﾅ?ﾂｿﾅｽﾅ｡ - Japan Portal

Davey said:

If you learn too much it will be hard to memorize it and to stay interested in it. Just make sure you discipline yourself to do it everyday (in this case 2 hours would be way too much).

Just get started and try things out to see how it works for YOU! Everyone has different ways to study, so even though others will give you advice, if you can't use it is pointless. So yeah, just get started and try to set goals.

Learning Hiragana and Katakana is the first step and should take you 1 up to 4 weeks I think. After that you have to review these every week and you can start learning some Kanji. Have a look at the kanji that Japanese kids use might help. Kanji 漢字 - Japan Portal

Click to expand...

Alright yeah I'll take your advice 2 hours does seem like an overload and thanks for the list I will definitely check it out again when im starting off with kanji

Davey said:

2 hours a day is quite a lot and it might be too difficult to keep up with it.

Click to expand...

A typical White person standard

@FinancialWar... I hope I misunderstand your comment...

If you really want to learn a language I think you should discipline yourself to study everyday, and if you would work/study and then come home after that being tired already it might be very difficult to keep up with studying that language.

In my case, I work at least 8 hours or more a day, got 2 kids and still have my other Communication and Multimedesign study besides studying Japanese. You got to be like superman/women, or not the typical white person in your opinion, to be able to study an extra 2 hours a day effectively.

It makes me wonder how much time you studied seeing you passed the lower levels N5 and N4.

FinancialWar said:

A typical White person standard

Click to expand...

I don't know why you wouldn't or shouldn't get banned for this comment.

Everyone has their own end goal, and there's no harm in taking it slower. Depending on how you define studying, you can put in 1-2 hours a day easily. As for which order you do things, you should try doing everything equally. Hiragana and katakana you can easily master in a week, maybe two if you take it slower. And, you can't practice your reading comprehension without studying Kanji at the same time.

I would recommend getting a textbook to begin with just so you have some structure in the beginning. I used Nakama and I hear Genki is pretty good as well.

Half-n-Half said:

I don't know why you wouldn't or shouldn't get banned for this comment.

Click to expand...

He has already been warned and received a maximum infraction. He better watch his tongue.

wow, I should get banned for that? How was that an insult? It's cultural difference. No wonder Amy Chua said what she said about Western societies. How is 2 hours a day a lot?

Davey: like you, Studying Japanese is not my first priority and I only started taking JLPT when they started with the N system in 2010, I started with the N5 because I want to get all the certificates.

To the OP, thank you for your PM, but it would have helped a lot if you told us your daily schedule from the beginning.

If you do have a lot of time you can of course try to study more hours. Just try and see how it goes.

FinancialWar said:

How is 2 hours a day a lot?

Click to expand...

]

As I said, for most people that would work/study studying Japanese effectivelly 2 hours or more a day would be a lot.

For someone who is living in a multicultural place such as Sydney I find it surprising that you generalize this much.