I'm totally confused right now. See I was very enthusiastitc a few days ago about learning Japanese so I memorized hiragana and katakana since everyone said that they are essential building blocks. But now I really don't know what to do... learn grammar or kanji ? wrt grammar I haven't found any decent websites out there and kanji is, well, overloading my head... so guyz plz help me out I really really really want to know what the characters in drama and anime are saying without reading the subtitles...

learn your grammar. there's no point in trying to learn kanji--it's too hard-took me 6 years of japanese school, [because i'm japanese and i'm living in america] and now i'm starting to forget most of the kanji. i can still read by guessing.. why don't you buy learning tapes--from the bookstore or something-to get used to hearing japanese and learning that way? if you want to understand doramas, that's the best way--actually hearing it. but bravo on memorizing katakana and hiragana!!
i can tell you're really determined.

thanks for the kind comments

since you've gone to japanese school for 6 years, can you recommend any useful grammar books/websites/etc so I can get started. I watch a lot of anime so I hear tons of japanese daily (even though the grammar is probably not that great since anime has a lot of slang and street talk)

wrt kana, it might be helpful for those starting out to know about this website which has very helpful applets that significantly lower the learning curve (http://www.chipchat.com/NihonGo/ ). I remember Hiragana took me a week, but Katakana took only 2 days once I found this website. If the letters are all messed up, then try using microsoft jvm .. it's worth the extra effort.

I would say pick up a Japanese text book and start plowing thru it. ;P

Try to choose a text book that is a part of series (so that you can progress to higher levels easily) and has CDs/audio tapes available. The Japanese for Busy People series from Kodansha fits these requirements and is readily available in North American bookstores, but if you live near a Japanese bookstore try the Genki series from Japan Times. Some university Japanese courses use Genki as their textbook, so try checking out your local university bookstore as well.

Genki.........hrmm it seems to be an alright text book but it relys too much on ENGLISH explanations to get through the pratice sections in the text... I recommend "Minna no Nihongo" its pretty much the standard for Japanes Language learning for those people who come to Japan to study Japanese rather than studying in their home country. Its an excellent series, and it comes as a two book set. One book is your grammer and explanations in Japanese and english, and the other book is entirely in Japanese so you can pratice what you've learned in one book in the Otherbook. Excellent series you should definetly check it out. you might have a hard time finding it in bookstores so i would recommend getting it online!

Do not fret, learning Japanese can be a frustrating as well as fun experience as it is a new culture.

Anyways, what you can do after learning hiragan and katagana is lots of things. I'll list out what helped me:

1) listen to japanese music: helps out your pronouciation

2) grammar books: get started as someone posts previously, it will be useful. As other people mentioned, don't rely on all romanji book as it will hinder your character recognition

3) look at drama: This is most rewarding, not only you get to see the culture, you learn it as well.

4) VOCAB'S: this is so important; how can you talk without knowing words. Start from the basics.

I think I cover the five senses, haha~

Ganbarou~!

If you're really bent on learning Nihongo, why dont you just sign up for Japanese class... It's the driving force that keeps you on the go about learning the language.