start with hiragana, then katakana, then kanji, since kanji is the hardest. make sure you get hiragana and katakana down pretty well. then start with simple common words, daily speech, common phrases. and then grammar. grammar can get pretty confusing so make sure you start with easier stuff. such as conjugations, and sentence structure. good luck.

From Japanese kanji.

Start with hiragana and carefully learn pronunciation. "ん" is most difficult. There are many Japanese dialect resources, such as podcasts, skype, and so on. The correct pronunciation helps you learning Japanese very fast.

Try using JapanesePod101.com. Their learning method is quite effective. When you sign up for a free lifetime basic account and 7 days free access to the premium content. I have to admit I haven't signed up for the premium account yet but will probably be soon. I suggest you set some time to study Japanese. What I do is that I set about 30 minutes a day to study and practice what I've learned every time I can. If you're stumped, go back here and ask questions. I just signed up here and I'm already loving the community activity. :)

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