Best way to self-learn Japanese?

I was taking a college course (Beginner's Japanese II) and I ended up running into a family emergency and missing most of the semester. The teacher told me that since I'd missed so many classes, she encouraged me to drop this class and retake it again next semester. The problem is that I really want to start Intermediate lessons next semester. What are the best books, online programs or software that can help me reach that level before the fall semester starts? I do have to end up dropping this class if I don't want to receive a low grade, which is what the teacher said. There aren't any tutors in my area, I checked. :(

Any ideas??? Please help!

well. I have been useing this website www.123japanese.com the past few weeks. it seems pretty good for learning.

I recommend this site.
Smart.fm

...Just posted today at Tofugu.com:
http://www.tofugu.com/2010/04/06/tofugu-100-best-japanese-learning-res...

This is an awesome collection of Japanese learning resources. Definitely make use of it.

That guy is awesome!
Yet somehow he reminds me of my brother.

Hey,

if you want to have a well written, easy to understand, grammatically well-grounded book that introduces stuff that you really can use & hear in everyday's conversations, I'd suggest Minna no Nihongo.
It's not a "quick and dirty" text book with some useful phrases only (like there are so many out there), but goes well into the needed grammar.

On the other hand, I'm wondering whether you don't have a book already for your course? It might be counter-productive to use different resources that will hopefully improve your Japanese, but will probably not lead you to the exact same point where the intermediate course will start from.
If you already worked with a specific book, there might be some people here with good ideas of additional material that complements your literature.

Good luck,
Kai

timxirish, thank you very much for the link to that list of resources...that is very helpful!!

Japanese pod 101 is good. Different levels with daily podcasts (& accompanying notes if you subscribe).
There's also Japanese videos, tv programs, etc online to help with listening practice.
Good luck, I know self study can be hard!

It was already said but once again smart.fm is by far the best website to learn Japanese. I became so addicted to this website smart.fm that I changed my way of life. I used to take a shower when I wake up in the morning, and then take my big breakfast. Now I changed completely, I wake up and go straight to my pc to complete my lessons. I recommend you Mina no Nihongo 1-6 to start, together with Japanese survival and Telephone. Dont forget Hiragana, of course. I learned so much that I created a Goal to Portuguese People who are willing to learn German and I will creat more in the near future. This website is better than any other school if you are a beginner.
Save some money is not bad sometimes.

Yes, I have a textbook. It's Genki I.

I would also really like to take the JLPT 4 test at the end of the year, so study book recommendations for those お願い!

Yes, I can read hiragana and katakana just fine. I can read hirgana and katakana without even thinking about it, so I think I'm set with the kanas. Kanji might be a little tricky.

I'm Chinese, so I can understand the Kanji characters, but I can't read it in Japanese. I end up reading the kanas in Japanese then switching over to Chinese when I read Kanji. 超めんどくさい.

I'll check out smart.fm. 皆さん、ありがとうございます!

The more tips the better! Thanks!

Unicom's JLPT books seem the best-regarded, and I find their products useful; Bonjinsha also publishes collections of tests used in past years.

(A word of warning, though: the lower-level JLPTs are more for personal satisfaction that practical usefulness. If you're taking it to help get into the intermediate class, though, then please disregard my big, dumb disclaimer.)

*Than* practical usefulness, rather.

I hope you understand I was talking about the N4 and not the previous JLPT 4. I am doing it to give myself a goal in order to speed up my learning of Japanese. I am going to Japan Fall 2011 for exchange for 6 months. I'm hoping that by the end of those 6 months I can try for 2 and skip N3. But we'll see how that goes. Depending on how well I progress then, I might have to aim a little lower at N3.