>>586129Do you want to just talk like a gaijin and understand spoken language decently enough while being illiterate ?
Get Pimsleur or a JapanesePod101 subscription and grind it out.
Do you want to compreehensively learn the language and get fluent enough to deal with most situations.
1) Install Anki, download premade decks for the stuff bellow.
2) Get "Remembering the Kanji vol.1" and grind it out - it's exhaustive prep work but it's 3~4 months that are going to save you 2 years down the line. Don't skimp on it, don't use abreviated versions, don't worry about it not being the end-all resource for learning Kanji - Install a pre-made Anki deck or or use the KanjiKoohi website for review and keep your streak and your reps going.
3) Learn Hiragana + Katakana, any beginner japanese book worth its salt will start with them but you can just check the guides on JapanesePod101 and grind it in a day or two, then spend roughly a week to consolidate what you've learned in a week.
4) Install Microsoft IME or Google Input Tools so you can type in Japanese, the google one has an App for android phones and Chromium-based browsers.
5) Torrent Genki I and II (the old edition, not the new one, there's plenty of material for stufy free online for the old one, not so much for the new one) and study through it - there's also people on youtube who have taught the entire book on video.
5-Alter) The Japan Foundation has released their Irodori books for free, they roughly cover the same content as Genki and are good and have more modern formatting, they also pair with their Marugoto Platform which gives you a good exercise platform.
6) Supplement grammar with Tae-Kim and CureDolly. Use Jisho and Yomichan for your dictionary needs - if you need a physical one, Kodansha's Kanji Learner's Dictionary is excellent. Use the Anki Core Decks (Japanse Core 2k, Core 6k) to help with learning new vocab.
7) While doing 5 and onward, check easy to understand material, Shirokuma Cafe, Yotsuba&!, Erin's Challenge. NHK Easy News.
8) During the entire process, watch things in Japanese, try writing and building sentences in Japanse, try incorporating Japanse in your life. Be curious and play with Japanese while enjoying yourself.
This process should take you about two years and will likely bring your japanese from the border between beginner and intermediate (roughly passing N3~N3 on JLPT). At this point you should be able to speak enough Japanese to not die, have some decent level of comprehension and and read like a 5th grader (or above if you did RTK vol 1 properly and stuck to it until the end). From then on you can:
9)Grind media and try to improve your skills by using it, as well trying to find conversation partners online.
9-Alter) Do 9 Regular while studying books like An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese and/or Tobira and/or do the Kodansha Kanji Learner's Course+Graded Reader companions to round up your Kanji Reading Knowledge.
9-Alter-Grand-Fate) Get a student visa, enroll in a Japanese Language School for Gaijin and immerse yourself full time in Japanese for a year. If you're a college-Educated native English speaker you can apply for the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme and do so while being paid to do so (you'll have to deal Japanese work ethics, so it's not going to be a cake walk).
10) Do your reps for a few years until you reach a level you find satisfactory, maybe get into the JLPT test mill while you're at it and aim to pass N2 if you want to use Japanse for work purposes. N1 for work that involves the language directly (and for bragging rights).
