I have been working on learning Japanese on and off for the last 6 months or so, but I think I am finally making some headway. I know I have alot more to learn, but I am starting to get some of the basic conversation stuff down and just about have all of the Hiragana figured out. I decided to learn Japanese for a number of reasons, but mostly because I have always wanted to learn another language and my sister and a friend of mine are both working on it as well. I figured that if both of them were learning as well it would give me someone to practice with and thus have a better chance of actually learning something. Learning Japanese has a number of other benefits though:
1) We are planning on going to Japan at some point in the next five years so it would definitely come in handy then.
2) There are alot of Japanese companies in high-tech industries.
3) I could make fun of people who think their kanjii tattoos mean “war” and they actually mean “fairy”.
4) and most importantly, I could watch un-dubbed Anime and buy Japanese gaming systems before they are released over here. 
I have been buying way too many books on Japanese lately, but so far the only one I have really gotten into is Remembering the Kana. This is a great book on learning Hiragana and Katakana through some interesting techniques (alot of visualization and word associations). I also picked up these small flash cards which have been helpful as well. My other main tool has been the Pimsleur CDs, I ripped all of them and dropped them on the iPod and try to listen to at least one a day. Pimsleur is a great way to learn, much better than any of the other language CDs I have heard.
I think I’m learning Japanese
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Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto! … I mean Mr. Avery
What about all those Asian spas you like to frequent? It’ll come in handy there…
Nihongo no benkyou ganbatte kudasai.
Ganbatte James. Nihongo wa tanoshi ne.
I’m learning Japanese as well, the best way I learned the kana was making flash cards and going over them when i had free time at work, and school (lunch, study hall). The best thing you could do learning the Kana. Is forget about romanji. period. When you learn the symbols and remember how they sound from listening to a Japanese person talk. You forget about how you would really mis-interperit if you tried to read them then add the western sound to them. Such as the R sound is really a *trilled* "L". Then make Basic Kanji Flash cards with the Kanji on the top then the Kana on the bottom, so you can read the kana, and try to remeber what that kanji means, then on the back right out what it means in English. NO ROMAJI! because by this time u should be able to read kana just as well as in romanji. -Ryan "??????
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