The basics: Hiragana & Katakana
A big part in learning Japanese are the two main alphabets Hiragana and Katakana. Hiragana could be compared to our Alphabet. Each sign stands for a specific letter combination.
For Example: A -> あ I -> い U -> う E ->え O -> お
So if you remember the 44 letters you are able to write Japanese words.
Katakana is the same set of letters just written differently for the propose of writing non Japanese words.
For example if you want to write the word hon for book, which is a Japanese word you would use hiragana: ほん
But if you want to write Hotel, which is Hoteru, a non-Japanese word you would use katakana: ホテル
Easy right?
Katakana is a little bit more difficult, but mainly because you learn it and not use it that much, since it’s mostly used for foreign words and names you start to forget it after a while.
If you really want to go and learn Japanese, I recommend learning Hiragana early on.
And don’t worry it’s not that difficult.
Books I used and recommend
I used Doitsu kara konichiwa as my beginner books and got to book number 4 before I switched to kirari nihongo.
Kirari nihongo are textbooks made especially for preparing for the JLPT "The Japanese Language proficiency test"
This is not really something you need to do in your journey to learn Japanese.
Using JLPT Textbook however is a good idea for those of you that have been learning for a while by themself and need a guide on what they should learn in what order and methods to test themselves. After each bigger chapter they are question pages where you can test yourself.
Another book I can recommend are the Genki Volumes. I studied with them when I went to Japan for the first time and stayed at a language school in Tokyo.
If you have the chance of going to Japan and learning the language, I can really recommend the school Genki Jacs. Its a language school for learning Japanese located in Fukuoka and Tokyo and looking back was one of the best times I had in my life.
Kanji yes or no? – What are your goals?
Do you need to learn kanji? The only answer I can give you is, maybe. It does depend on what your final goals are. In every language there are three big parts to conquer.
First being able to understand, second being able to speak the language and third writing it.
There will always be one you are better in and one that’s like your worst enemy.
Japanese is a language you will probably study your whole life to become somehow fluent in in all three sections. So, if your main goal is to understand Japanese for anime, TV shows or music, then you don’t need to spend your time in learning kanji. If you just want to travel around and be able to chat with the locals, order your own food or get by with talking, then you will probably be able to do that with very little kanji knowledge.
Kanji, even though they are a pain in the ass, have their benefits and uses. Learning them will open up a new world in your view and understanding of how the language in itself works.
But whatever you decide on, I can guarantee you that learning Japanese will change your life in one point or another.