Hi. Recently I started to learn the japanese language but have found some obstacles and am wondering if anyone who is learning or has learned another language has any tips.

I bought:
Japanese for dummies (it's a good book because it explains things very easily and clearly but I don't like the fact that it has no work for you to do to practice what you've learned)
A couple of books on hiragana/katakana/kanji (am not planning to learn until I am decent in speaking japanese)

And I also bought the Rosetta Stone learning software. I heard it was really good but I tried it out and it has me very confused. It shows me pictures and says what they are in japanese and I have to memorize and match them. I really don't understand because some of the pictures they show I am not quite sure what they are showing, and the program doesnt give a translation of what it is.

If anyone has any experience with this software, am I doing something wrong? It feels more of like a workbook rather than a learning software, because its popping up sentances at me and im not sure whats a verb and whats a noun or even what the picture is saying.


I can't take classes as I live in a small town and am only 16, and there aren't any classes around me so i'll have to wait till college. Does anyone have any tips on how to learn this language a little easier?