Learning Japanese - Part Two: Method Part 3
Additionals
Let me include some more advices in here
* Listening, Listening, Listening - Listen to all of the conversations around you to try and pick up and reinforce vocabulary and natural speech patterns. Always carry your electronic dictionary around and get into the habit of using it to look up and save in memory as many unfamiliar words as you can. This is a very useful habit
* Palm Pilot Memos - Keep a running list of questions and words that you want to know more about, and save them up to discuss with tutors. Also keep a log of useful expressions, a list of frequent mistakes, etc.
* Tapes to listen to over and over again to memorize all key grammar patterns and pronunciation, making use of time spent shopping and doing other tasks. (30-60 minutes a day)
* Real Life Practice - Try to speak as much as possible with Japanese at every possible opportunity. I found it very important to not to be afraid of making mistakes – you have to jump in over your head initially in order to keep improving. I also did multiple sink or swim home stays, living with Japanese families who did not speak English as well as day trips with Japanese-only groups (time depends on the day) also the visit of any of your penfriends or collegaues mate’s family will do as a start.
* Textbooks (Minna no Nihongo, Japanese for Busy people, etc.), Manga textbooks (it might seem strange but I find the illustrations useful for effectively understanding the usage in some particular situations), grammar explanation books (Dictionary of Japanese Grammar, Dictionary of Particles) (1-3 hours a day)
Also there are many other systems as internet learning, but they can only be used as an additional help alone they are not worth much
Here are some links for starting up with Japanese for you
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