best way to learn japanese

i want to learn japanese so im wondering whats the best way to do it. i want to go to a college in japan somday. im just a sypmohre in highschool but they say highschool goes by fast and it does so i wanna be ready eraly and also some high academic ones so i can challenge mylesf but i not really a straight a student cuz i have A.D.D so some average ones too but at least i want to challenge myself and not just take the easy way out and just pay for my grades like these spoiled rich kids anyway i would like your help
please i really wanna go there i want to marry somebody in japan and live there and almost forgot any thing in video game desnig

Nani, not everyone learns the same so the best way for me may not be the best way for you to learn a language. Some options though:

1) Check local colleges or universities to see if they have a Japanese language course you could enroll in.

2) Find a private tutor or someone offering Japanese language instruction.

3) Start with some books. Check out your local bookstore to see what they have or check Amazon.com and read the reviews to see how good the books are.

Every time I ask some one that question they say rossetta stone is the best.

Rosetta Stone is good for listening and pronounciation, I also find that I can remember things easier as I have a visual representation so it really helps with my vocabulary.
However Rosetta Stone doesn't explain any grammer or particles or different forms of verbs so I use Minna No Nihongo along side the rosetta stone (get the Minna No Nihongo Grammatical translations as well)
For Kanji I have the Basic Kanji book and I find this very useful for remembering Kanji as there are plenty of exercises to practice with.

Hope that helps and enjoy learning Japanese :)

I'm not fluent in Japanese and I learn a sort of strange way, but these are some of the things that helped me!

Step 1: Learning Kana

I got a copy of a Japanese kana chart and got a Japanese manga (not hard to find -- if you live in England or US I can help you find one) and made some copies and sat and figured out the furigana that's beside the kanji until I learned kana. I was really determined so it took one month. That was 11 years ago. The kana really helped when I was in Japan. Heck, it just helps in general.

Get a kana book and trace and copy kana. I did this too!

Step 2: Learning pronunciation

Watch Japanese dramas and anime. You can get an idea of how Japanese flows this way. Also watch any other programs you can get your hands on.

Step 3: Directions and stuff you'll need when you actually visit Japan

NHK Japanese lessons! They can be found at crunchyroll. They're fantastic. They start out with this guy (he's supposed to be American but I think he's South African or something) who moves to Japan for work, and he learns as he goes. These are fantastic. They teach you what to say when you don't know what to say!

Step 4: Lifetime learning/Conversational Learning

Find yourself a local Japanese tutor. There was a really good US-based website for this, but I can't remember what it is. If I do, I'll come back to this topic.

Ask any Japanese friends or penpals to write their e-mails in English and Japanese. This is very helpful. If you know some Japanese, you can try to connect the English to the Japanese.

Good luck! :)

Try to get yourself into a One Year Exchange program.

High school is the best time to do it. Almost everyone I know who attended a one year exchange student program is now close to fluent (some already are).

Ask your school counselor or check online for exchange programs offered around/in your city.

I think Junior year is the perfect year to do it, so don't wait on it. :)

Don't bring your friends, go alone so you learn it better ;). Good luck.

I wish I had started learning Japanese when I was in High school.. Or even better I wish I had done an exchange program here. I never had any interest in Japan until about 3 years ago.. I was Sophmore in College and decided that I wanted to travel. I decided on Japan after lots of thought. Anyway, in the mean time I ended up getting a Japaense girlfriend in the Us in the process of trying to study Japanese. Amazingly that was totally counter productive for study. We broke up she went back to JP and now I'm living in Japan as an English teacher. My Japanese sucks, but is sufficient sometimes. I really want to learn more, but my job is rather counter productive for that. I can't use any Japanese in class.

My advice to you is come here if you can.. See if it is what you're expecting it to be before you get too much tied up in it. It's a nice place, but don't believe what people tell you. The best suggestion I ever had was go without any expectations. Things are not going to be how you expect.

edufire
Iknow
anki

All are great resources in of themselves. Also clean up your English grammar.

i brought a book...Japanese for dummies it works get to a extent and i also went to freejapanseslessons.com or something like that, printed out the kana characters and wrote one by one over 100 times to remember and it works...also i have my japanese coach for the Nintendo DS that helps a litte to...but thats just me...i still suck but im better then i was last year and i only been doing it for 3 months

It's a lot different for everyone, and I'm not even close to native level (let alone 3 year olds), but this is my opinion.

I have rosetta stone, some Japanese books, My Coach Japanese, a textbook (like in college classes), and some other stuff.

Rosetta stone - very good, but it seemed slow learning to me. Maybe I need to give it more time, and it's good for pronunciation and vocabulary.

My Coach Japanese - I thought this was going to be good, but I don't retain the information well. I would have spent the money better on candy (sorry, creators)

Books for Hiragana/Katakana/Kanji - they're okay. But I really like Remembering the Kanji series, I only got mine in today, but I already memorize (can read, write, recall) 15 basic kanji in the 5 minutes (or less?) that I've read it. I read some reviews, and they're all very positive.
Genki Textbook Series - good, but not the best for learning by yourself, since some need partners.

I highly suggest All Japanese All the Time, there are some things I am unsure about, but the motivation articles and advice are EXCELLENT. I learned kana before the kanji, and I would suggest learning in that order, but do whatever you want.

The best thing, is being surrounded by Japanese (aka. year abroad, summer abroad, etc.) Listen to Japanese music, watch anime or shows in Japanese, write Japanese, etc. All this is on All Japanese all the Time.

I consider my self lucky - I'm not even in high school yet.

Hope this helps and good luck!