So, I don't know where to put this but is there anyone in the community who knows Japanese? if so what is the best way to learn it? 

I know a little bit. I use to go to Japan twice every year for about 5 years. Speaking I'm all right at. Reading I can get by. Writing I am horrible at. And don't get my started on kanji. I think I recognize like 4 symbols.

Uh. It really depends on how you learn.

1.) If you're more a hands on person like me, then reading Japanese books/manga and try to make it out there for longer than 2 weeks is the best way. If you know anyone over there, then that'll help a lot. And when you do go, venture out alone. Just try to remember a few key phrases in order to let people know what language you natively speak as well as the regular stuff. Where is the bathroom? Help! Where is the nearest train station? Thank you. You're welcome. Good bye. Pleasure to meet you. Etc.

2.) If you just want to increase your knowledge over a while then I'd suggest sticking with anime and trying out some kid manga. A romaji book would help your speaking ability tremendously as well. I read Doraemon, Anpaman and a few other children's animes. There are also some simple adult themed anime. Biggest thing is to likely not try to tackle Katakana as well as Kanji head on. Once you learn Hiragana, Katakana isn't too difficult. Children manga is almost entirely made up of Hiragana. Eventually try to tackle some more difficult books like Bakemonogatari, Bungaku Shoujo or Katanagatari.

E.G. In this page alone I only count 5 kanji.



E.G. Bakemonogatari or Katanagatari. They have wonderful stories as well as memorable characters. And NisioisiN loves kanji word play. So the use of kanji is very excessive. This is a very advanced type book. Something likely equivilent to our, 'Tale of Two Cities'. I'll take a photo of the book when I get home. I have the first two Bakemonogatari's so you can easily see how complex they are. So complex that I've owned them for two or so years and have not even finished one of them yet. haha... ha.... sad.

-- Ok here is what it looks like for an advanced book that's anime related --

Bakemonogatari Vol. 1



3.) You could always do the Rosetta Stone program as well. There is a system they have which will let you study Japanese for $19.99 a month. The course is entirely online, but you learn at your own pace. So you get out of it, what you put into it. It is the full Rosetta Stone experience, just all through your browser.

When I get home tonight I'll upload links for the books that I used to help me survive over there.

BONUS!!! Also, though it translates phrases horrendously, Google Translate doesn't hurt. At least when it comes to word translations. Learn the grammar for Japanese and you can likely figure out the rest of it.

I'm not a good teacher, nor am I an expert in anything Japanese. Actually far from it. But I do have a LOT of mileage in Japan as well as many friends who are native speakers. So I'll do what I can to help.

 Wow I usually just learn from watching subbed Anime and pick up on a few words. But what you said is very helpful. 

By... "TheAwsome"

 It's helpful, but it's entirely built on the foundation that you yourself will go to extra lengths to study it. Learning a language takes years. Especially if you're trying to learn fluent. It really requires a lot of patience as well. It's almost like learning to play an instrument. It sounds awesome at first, but it's unfulfilling for a long time.

You'll learn a few things and a couple songs and feel like you're getting better exceptionally fast. Then you'll hit a wall where you don't improve at all. And that wall lasts months. Then you slowly get better over time and the pace does not increase at all. You'll need to take breaks as well which always slow down the process.

The rosetta stone process is amazing, but it works in the same theory which answer 1.) stated. All these solutions are based on immersing yourself in the Japanese language. If you do not hear it constantly and you do not reply constantly, you will not learn it. Simple as that. Your memory holds so much more information now than it was when you were a child, so you literally have to pound it in.

The end goal is to just surround yourself in the Japanese language.

My friend who is teaching me Korean put if in a very simple way.

Him: "Do you think in Japanese? Or Korean?"

Ape: "No I think in English and reply in those languages."

Him: "I think in those languages when I'm speaking it. So it's fluent. Until you can think in the language you want to speak, all you're doing is translating to yourself."

 Oh... think the langue... that is intriguing I like it. As for the  rosetta stone I will have to wait until I have the money for such a program. Did going to Japan help you? I'd imagine it would as that is full immersion with the langue.

By... "TheAwsome"

It absolutely helped me. Tremendously. Being in the country forces you to learn it. If you want to go out and see the world, carry a pocket book, a cellphone translator or pocket translator and just don't be afraid to look stupid. Most people will not even blink an eye at someone elses inability to speak Japanese. Well, most the time. I'm half korean half white, so sometimes I get mistaken for Japanese since I look asian. Then they just shake their head at me like I'm an idiot, bahahaha.... hah... ah.... sad.

My first trip was for two weeks. Everything I learned I forgot within' the following two weeks. Second trip was for a month and a half. That trip taught me the majority of what I know when it comes to conversing. I spent half the trip just wandering around by myself getting embarassed,accused and several other actually fun and life warming experiences. I attribute the majority of what I've learned to that trip alone. The rest were kind of just repetitive motions to help me remember what I learned. I talked to the same people and went to the same stores so I didn't learn a whole lot that was new. Maybe a few slang terms.

Kansai-ben is definitely for the win.

Also if you're interested, I just received an email from Rosetta stone today about a new deal they have. If you're the type of person who wants to own a physical copy of software, then this might be fore you. The monthly payment plan also can help you if you're wanting it.

Roseta Stone $150.00 off and receive free shipping!

Food for thought, that's all.

Like theawesome, I have picked up a few words or key phrases I know by heart by watching subbed anime. However, this does not at all mean I fully understood the phrase or know how change it for polite or not polite saying. 

I did try using rosetta stone in the past for japanese. The problem I faced with it was that it told me certain words associated with pictures but I never fully understood why I'm saying something. Its like this: I know how to make a certain chicken dish very good but when I first made it; it turned out very bad because there was a certain order to go about to prepare the chicken, seasons, and other spices that go along with it. In this sense I understood certain nouns and key phrases of japanese though some of the lessons of rosetta stone but I never grasped how the sentence I produce from my mouth is correct such as the places where the nouns or other words are associative with words. It was very frustrating to try rosetta stone while trying to grasp the difference in sentence structure and trying to understand what kanji or other japanese symbols I was seeing.

NeNe keeps telling me how bad Roseta is because it only has you to memorize words and doesn't actually teach you the language.

Now she wants to force teach me Japanese by having me memorize stuff....

 Huu. Thank you so much for explaining it with that analogy. Now I'm hungry since I only drank a smoothie for lunch.

But seriously, I completely understand the frustration with the Rosetta Stone method. It really is just memorizing. Unless you have the chance to interact with people or actually experience compiling sentences and using the inflection of the grammar then you're exactly right. You won't truly understand anything.

My friend from Panama is the one who got me into reading children's manga to learn how to read and to understand grammer. It might be the best way to learn for you too, who knows. I found that it was much better than watching and listening to anime because it forces me to either memorize the words or look up every single hiragana/kanji. Plus if you get a decent story it's a lot of fun. But still takes a lot more time.

The fastest way is just to live there. Always will be. But that's really impractical.

But wouldn't it be awesome to be able to introduce your kids or grand kids to Doraemon through first hand experience?!

 NeNe sounds very persuasive.

By... "TheAwsome"  

 Monumentally.

 Hmm her persuasive ability is powerful indeed. She "convinced" ~Web to do Artaku!

By... "TheAwsome"

Well the only reason why I wanted to learn Japanese is to read more manga and play some video games that are only available in japan. 

 I see. I'm not sure the reason behind wanting to learn Japanese is for me. I guess it is sort of a joy I get from learning it.

By... "TheAwsome"

Well, whatever the reasoning might be I'll do whatever I can to help. I have a few books at home, one especially helped me a lot, that I'll upload the information for them after work.

Here's one that helped a lot. This helps speaking.

Complete Japanese: The Basics (In Romaji)

This one will help a lot in reading and understanding basic grammar.

Nakama 1: Japanese Communication

 Hmm I suck at English Grammar I wonder how bad I'm at other langues?

By... "TheAwsome"

 If you're anything like me, all of them. lol.

ok, so get the books check; then what manga would you recommend to read a children's level to understand Japanese?