For those who know Japanese: Where and how did you learn it?

[MarCas92]

I am trying to find some good resources to learn, I live in a small town so local resources are probably scarce to none. Where did you guys learn? What would you recommend?

[Big Momma]

I spent all of High School and about 4 years in college learning it (It was my minor but I dropped it to focus more on my degree).

If you want to go the free route, I've heard good things about Duolingo. I've been learning a small bit of French with it, and it seems pretty good so far. I mean, it's Free, so...

[TheDevilsCorpse]

I just clicked on your link. It might be helpful for some languages, but it doesn't have a Japanese option. So I don't think he'll benefit from it.

[Big Momma]

I just clicked on your link. It might be helpful for some languages, but it doesn't have a Japanese option. So I don't think he'll benefit from it.

Well shoot, I guess I never really bothered to check. Just assumed it had most major languages. Sorry MarCas!

[Ajay]

HumanJapanese is a great starting point. Unlike a lot of similar programs, this focuses on teaching you Hiragana and Katakana alongside the basics, before moving you onto proper vocabulary. What's the use in learning a language you can't read, right?

There's also the Learn Japanese subreddit; they're very helpful when it comes to getting quick answers on confusing vocab. There's tonnes of great discussion on the best ways to learn the language, too, so you'll likely find something helpful there.

[SPRSYJN]

In 2009, two buddies from work and I decided we were going to take a vacation to Japan, being the Japanophiles that we were. To avoid any potentially awkward or difficult situations during our trip, I spent 2 years practicing Japanese using pen pals over this really useful website called "live mocha" which was essentially a free version of Rosetta Stone (from what I understand, the website is nothing now like it used to be), but you could add friends and video chat with people who were interested in learning your language. I learned a lot in that time, and made some great friends I talk to even today. I consider my level to be intermediate/conversational while being able to read hiragana & katakana (and a handful of kanji). It's a hard language to grasp initially, but it's a fun language to learn and the Japanese people are always very flattered and honored that you took the time to learn their language (and will praise your accent if it's any good!)

[Daimo-Rukiri]

You'd think I'd know Japanese due to relatives and love of anime? Well you'd be wrong... I know enough to read manga reasonably well, same with anime but I wouldn't do subs of any sort...
If you really want to learn Japanese, find a friend or if you have family of there that would be your best source! Skypes free ya know! Rosetta Stone is good if you want to fork over money, live mocha basically the same concept except it's free!

Practice reading manga, and I know nobody likes really watching the news but newscasts are pretty easily to follow as they're speaking at a normal rate not as fast as you can which is a lot of anime actually...

[DBZMerciter2005]

I studied it for two years in high school and later got my BA in Japanese Languages and literatures. I didn't stick with it because I graduated when the economy collapsed in '09 so my skills are extremely rusty. I've been using iKnow to try and get back into it. It's a great little website that does a good job pounding the vocabulary into you and using it in real life sentences. You'll have to study the kanji on your own but that's not all that hard in the long run.

Honestly the best way to learn to speak any language is to converse with someone else that can speak it, preferably a native. There are multiple online resources that can do that but I haven't tried anything out yet.

Good luck!

[SaiyaJedi]

I started teaching myself hiragana and katakana with flashcards while still in high school (yes, because of Dragon Ball). I also occasionally met with a military spouse originally from Kōchi, who was living in the area at the time. She had experience teaching English to native Japanese speakers, and attempted to apply those skills in reverse, but it was less than ideal.

For university, I made a point of seeking out a college with a Japanese language program and full-time native instructors, then studied abroad in Kyoto during my third year. (I unfortunately made the mistake of opting for a half-year because of a relationship I was in at the time, which naturally imploded while I was out of the country. For those considering studying abroad in college, do yourself a favor and go for the whole year.)

Then after I graduated, I decided I wanted to do something bold before going to grad school and settling down into a career, so I got a job with an eikaiwa (English conversation school) and headed off to Japan. ...I quickly found that I hated it, though, so I quit pretty much immediately, and (using connections gained from already knowing Japanese in college) managed to get a job working with a local school district in Osaka, teaching at middle- and elementary schools. I made further connections through that, which got me an interview with the prefectural school board and a job at a high school. In the meantime, I ended up meeting someone, starting dating, getting married, and having children (and also passing level 1 of the JLPT somewhere in there). This was all quite beneficial for my Japanese, but before I knew it, seven years had passed and I was still not in grad school. So now, my wife, children, and I are back in the US, and I'm intending to start grad school next fall. Fluency in at least one foreign language is one of the requirements for my chosen area of study, so my Japanese will come in handy for that.