>>28055352>>28055771I took pretty much took exactly the same path at the beginning as the DQ anon. I started with Core 2/6k and RRTK and skimming Tae Kim's guide, which was the recommended path back then, pretty much exactly 2 years ago. You can probably skip RRTK, it's of dubious value but it helped me understand the internal logic of Kanji better, so it might depend on the person. It doesn't really matter how exactly you go about starting as long as you are committed, but I definitely recommend grinding some sort of Core Deck, the Tango decks or both for a couple of months to build yourself a foundation of vocabulary and then start mining media within a couple of month, I started after 6 months but in retrospect I should have started after like 3-4. DQ anon went with text only RPGs, which help a lot with reading obviously, I started with anime with Japanese subtitles which trains both reading and listening combined, so he's probably a better reader than me while I'm a better listener but still a decent reader, I only started with games a lot later. Ideally you do both to consolidate what you learn in one domain with the other, like I do these days. I don't do any specific listening training except for subtitled anime and watching FBK streams but my comprehension is quite high, so it'd definitely recommend at least incorporating it. It can be daunting at first because your vocabulary will be bad and you'll look up lots and lots of stuff won't make sense immediately, but it's just a matter of repeated exposure. It didn't take too long after I started mining to make rapid progress and that translated quite smoothly into comprehension of FBK streams. I'd say it's quite realistic to make meaningful progress within 6 months and gain a respectable amount of comprehension within a year. What's most important is to have fun while doing it so it turns into an actual fun hobby instead of a chore. For me, watching something I wanted to watch anyway in Japanese, getting better at that, enjoying it more and subsequently also getting better at understanding streams created a feedback loop in my brain that has kept me going for 2 years without missing a single day and I enjoy it a lot. Like the other anon, I'm not good at all at writing sentences and never even tried to speak, but that would just be a matter of practice as well, I think. Just never had any opportunity or need to train it much as of yet.
If you're serious about wanting to learn I can provide you with some links, resources and methods and do another write-up within the next couple of days. The first step is always learning Hiragana, though. That's probably the easiest part and you could start doing so right away. Remember, the best time to start learning would have been a decade ago, but the second best time is right now.
