What would be a good way to start learning?

[sekaitomo]

konnichiwa. If you want to learn Japanese, my site might be useful for you. You can visit http://clix.to/gumi. I hope it is helpful for you. I am very happy if you have fun with that. arigatou

[MrKorrrn]

does it cost anything? ^o)

[Justice4243]

Merging with: What would be a good way to start learning?

Also made that thread a sticky, as I'd say it's probably the most useful thread of this section.

[mekada]

sekaidomo your link is kinda really good :D

arikato

[spap81]

Hi
give a look to this site http://japanese.about.com/, it has some usefull informations

[Lemmons998]

this site http://lrnj.com/ has a game to learn Kanji with. if you're willing to pay money you can learn the other two with it...

[puppychow17]

Learning Japanese shouldn’t be a complicated thing. People often think that it is, and overcomplicated things for themselves. Granted, learning another language can be a difficult thing, but it shouldn’t be a complicated one. Going around finding “this program” or “that program” will waste more time than it will gain you. You’ll be spending time taking shortcuts and come out way behind in the end. The best way to learn Japanese is to sit down and study it. A lot. Every day. It won’t come right away, and you won’t feel like you’re making progress, but I promise, you are!

The real secret to learning Japanese is perservering, which is pretty fitting since the Japanese culture is obsessed with that concept. I know it takes more time. So many people, though, want to rush through things and they end up coming out with patchy Japanese that they forget a week later. If you want to take Japanese language learning seriously, then you will have to work hard at it. You’ll need to want it. I want you to want it too. I know way too many people who study for about a week and then decide that they don’t care enough anymore (then go back to watching anime 24/7, of course).

Another thing that might help you learn is to watch this video: The Secret to Learning Japanese! Amazing!

If you’re interested in learning Japanese, watch the video above, then read through alljapaneseallthetime and do that, too.

[dg10050]

Just thought I'd link to an awesome series of videos on Japanese.
Irasshai | Georgia Public Broadcasting
This is a Japanese program sponsored by Georgia Public Broadcast. Unfortunately, the program itself is being phased out in favor of a new online Georgia Virtual Schools course which is more for High School students living in the state of Georgia (though I believe you can still sign up as an out of state student, but I'm not sure how it works).
I'm also beginning to learn a bit of Japanese and I plan on taking the GVS course next semester (I'm a high school student in Georgia).
These videos have been a ton of help. Hopefully I'll already know a good bit of Japanese when I start my class.

Also, I want to point out an awesome flash card software than I'm using to learn kana.
Welcome to the Mnemosyne Project | The Mnemosyne Project
When you see a flashcard, you can rate how easily you were able to remember it (or if you could remember it at all). It analyzes all of this and creates a schedule of when to show you which cards for maximum memorizing. I'll definitely be using this to learn Kanji.

[FalseMalevolence]

I personally used the "Japanese from Zero!" (link here and here) series of books, not too expensive and work really well, assuming you don't mind getting a "homework" feel from a workbook type thing. As the title suggests, yes you can start from absolutely nothing. It's taking a bit for vol. 4 & 5 to come out though the first 3, or even the first 1 are a good start. :)

At first with #1 I just did the numbers 1-10,000,000 in about an hour and since then I've remembered almost all of them (with the exception of a couple of the few inconsistent ones.) though I'm only starting to learn as well. ^^ The numbers were only pre-lessons, I only looked at them once, and so far the next few lessons (some basic grammar and characters) all stick after only reading them and practicing once.

Maybe it's because I like the "homework-ey" feel to it (not that I ever did homework in the first place.... >_>) but the stuff in there sticks to you like glue, and at least the first volume is quite good for starting.

[llsektorll]

Out of all the books, ebooks, programs, and etc... I found this site still to be the best. Why you say? Because the writer himself is Californian and learned the language through his interest in anime. So its very much geared to anime fans. If you want to watch anime and not read subtitles then then this is for you. Its very basic and meant for starters. Its short and to the point and can help you understand Jap without always having to rely on subtitles!

Maktos: Japanese Is Possible!