Favorite Japanese Language Learning Materials?

[dayunbao]

I'm using the Genki books. Any one have any particular favorites?

[Shizuman]

I use genki and nihongo shark

[DocDoesFarming]

Nihongo So-Matome series are great if you want a handy collection of the grammar or vocab or listening practice. They are more catered for those wanting to pass the JLPT.
As a way of helping me to remember them I copied the grammar with the example sentences and made my own decks for revision.

There is also the JLPT Preparation Book Speed Master series. Similar in style.

Anki is handy for learning new words providing you find the right collection, also there's Memrise.

[Zasso Nouka]

Rosetta Stone works quite well for me, I quite like the interactivity of it and the lessons are just about the right length for someone with such a short attention span as me

[LeeB]

Best language learning material: girl/boy friend or wife/husband!!

Actually, I was more interested in leaning the written language and usually carried around a copy of Nelson's "The Modern Reader's Japanese -English Character Dictionary" to read when taking the subway/train or bus to classes.

[Ibaraki llama]

I use genki and nihongo shark

Nihongo shark's kanji study method is the only way I have been able to learn kanji. I highly recommend it.

[dayunbao]

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone. Ironically, Chinese was the first foreign language I learned, so the kanji isn't too difficult for me. I already know a lot, in fact. Chinese has really simple grammar though, so Japanese grammar is what has me most worried.

[Zasso Nouka]

Best language learning material: girl/boy friend or wife/husband!!

Sometimes though that can lead to some amusing mistakes. A friend of mine who learns from his girlfriend shouts 'yamete' when he wants his her to stop doing something which just doesn't sound right coming from a near two metre tall strapping chap

[Ibaraki llama]

Yes, lots of foreign men (myself included) who speak Japanese like a woman. My wife thinks it's cute. I don't want to sound cute. I try to copy how the men speak on some of the Japanese dramas but my wife just laughs at me.

[dayunbao]

That happened in China, too. Men would use effeminate manners of speech because they'd copy their girlfriends.

I listened to my girlfriend have an interesting conversation with herself about which version of "I" (boku vs ore) was most suitable for me given how macho I was/wasn't, lol. Chinese doesn't have multiple version of "I" that sound more or less macho.