I have started to the grasp the very root of learning Japanese and is still at an early stage. So, I will share what I gather to help me in order to learn the language. I must say that learning Japanese is fun and it also reminded me a lots of  Chinese Characters I learn during my primary school year but did not put that knowledge to use until now.

I must admit I’m a bit rusty around those Chinese characters but it still do me good to understand the meaning behind the word. Practically, I have drop Chinese as a language for further study back when I enter secondary school because I don’t like it and lean toward more to English as the language of instruction for me.

The beginning~

I recommend Guidetojapanese.org to start learning Japanese as the site will be teaching basic grammars, writing scripts, vocabularies & tons of practices to improve on. Sometimes the grammer explanation part can be a bit messy and you don’t get the slightest idea what’s going on. So, use with a combination of this site Japanese.about.com to do comparison and evaluation to grow a stronger understanding.

Writing scripts

I found the charts given from Japanese-lesson.com are quite useful when memorizing the characters.

• Katakana Chart

• Hiragana Chart

Dictionary

The dictionary I use is Wakan a small & lightweight program that packed a punch with tons of features. I’m still dappling around the software as I go through the Kanji. You can learn Japanese and Chinese at the same time just by switching the button above. Another plus is that you can select which dictionary to use.

Or you are too lazy just to install this software there are still alternative for example WWWJDIC can help you to perform the same function as searching a word or a kanji.

Online learning

Smart.fm is a good alternative if you want to learn Japanese language or other languages as well. You just need to choose a lesson you wanted then start it up and that’s it. Having prior knowledge such as hiragana & katakana first before jumping into one of their course will save you time.

I still remember that I strictly jump into an intermediate course to start off but I was doom to fail because I have no knowledge of any writing scripts until I study them. There are courses for teaching you hiragana & Katakana but it’s not as effective to learn the stroke order yourself with a pen and paper on hand.

If you are Chinese educated or still retain a small part of it then you are in luck because you will feel more easier with the kanji part while learning Japanese. I’m one of those in the second option as I have attended a chinese school when I was in primary.

Apart from studying in smart.fm you can also opt for Livemocha as they provide the same tools to study.

In Conclusion

These are some of the essential materials needed to start. The materials here have been serving me well to start off learning Japanese and currently I’m trying to gain an understanding with their grammars and its patterns. I won’t say it’s hard but its fun to learn a new language from scrap and working toward to achieving that goal of mine.