How hard is it to learn Japanese?

Being the weeaboo that I am, I've taken an interest in learning the Japanese language, but I've always been intimidated by the thought of learning a new language. I'm not sure how many of you are actually fluent in Japanese, but I'm hoping at least one of you is. If no one is, sorry for wasting forum space. <_<

So, I've come up with a list of questions I'd like to ask you. I acknowledge that it's different for everyone, but I'd just like to get your opinion based on your experiences.

How long have you been learning Japanese?

How well do you speak the language, in your opinion?

I've heard a few people in a couple forums say that it's much easier to speak the language than to read and write it. Is that true?

Do you or have ever attempted to speak any other languages besides your native language and Japanese? If so, how would you compare the difficulty between learning that language and Japanese?

Would it be much more effective to take some sort of class, or could I get by with just books/software/etc. and teaching myself?

Do you have any book/website/etc. recommendations for someone with zero experience with the language?

That's all I can think of now, though I might come up with more later on.

I will say right now, japanese is one of the easiest mainstream languages to learn... English is actually a very difficult language because of all the rules

Ive only taken japanese 4 years, but the onyl reason it seems hard is the different writing style.. my class learned the reg alphabet (not kanji) in like 1 month so thats the easiest part actually

the only reason speaking is easier than writing is kanji, which you only really need to read cuz you can write without it just fine

I speak it well enough to go around japan by myself without a translator, which i did for about 3 weeks

I'm actually chinese and can speak cantonese (cant write it.. enver bothered to learn, and obiviously i speak english too) chinese = the hardest language but i wont get into that

To be honest, any language should be learnt in a class then practiced in real life situations... only peopel who have a talent for picking up languages should learn by themselves

Suggestion is the Genki series of teaching japanese.. it comes in different volumes from beginner to advanced.. i used it in school and it worked

ask me other quesitons if you need to

Minsc has never learned Japanese,
But like most languages, Minsc thinks it all depends on how often you're exposed to it. Do you have friends who speak Japanese? Do you read/watch Japanese culture?

The more you're around it, the easier it is to learn.
Isn't that right, Boo?

One thing is clear, learning your first language always the easiest.
(Pretty much automatic for kids.)

For one...Japanese is an easy/hard thing to learn. If you focus on it, its easy. If your lazy(like me) is sorta hard. Me, my eldest sister, her boyfriend, and my older than me but youngest sister, are all learning Japanese at the moment. My eldest and her boyfriend are far off and pretty much know it. Me I'm iffy and so is my other sister. Its a fun thing to learn none-the-less but you can't be lazy and you have to speak it everyday...other wise you will forget it quick...But that goes for any language you try to learn.

:) How do you feel learning it from a game? Project LRNJ made a game that teaches you japanese. The website is www.lrnj.com .

That's a cheat! Learning through games.. pfft... takes all the challenge out of learning.

What are you saying? <_<

Eh, Japanese will still eb the easiest language class ive ever had (includes English class)

Eh i had the opposite happen in my school.. a bunch of japanese kids were in it, but they were the "oh im so gangsta i dont need to go to school" but their parents forced them inot the class.. they ended up staying with it every year and they loved the class lol

Japanese is an easy language to learn? It looks hard for me pretty weird how English is the hardest language (which is true I've heard many people say that) so lucky for those who know it? :P . Currently taking Spanish my teacher says its one of the easiest language.

Like i said in first post, it only looks hard because of diff alphabet.. i mae less grammatical mistakes in japanese than i do in English actually

i think Japanese is a difficult language, but my first language is English. so Japanese feels a bit weird for me to say. but its such a cool language:>!

Lol When I say look I don't mean how the letters/words, I'm talking about how it's spoken and etc..

Well from my experiences I'm currently doing the Rosetta stone program... unfortunately it doesn't teach you grammar (so much for reading japanese mangas :() but apparently grammar is the easier part... and I plan to just take a few years course on Japanese and so far with the 4 courses I've taken not using Rosetta stone it seems rather simple enough. But if you really want to learn it take a few years course, go to japan for a while and you'll be pretty fluent.

Japanese... I only started it during this summer, learnt it by myself for about 2 months, and here I am. I have a huge advantage I suppose because I am fluent in all aspects of Chinese, so kanji is actually a blessing to me (in writing). I would say just keep using it. That's why going to Japan will really help improve your Japanese.

Anyway, I'd like to see how good some of you are... let's converse in Japanese! It's good practice.

あの...　日本語を習うことはちょっと難しいんですけど、頑張って！　僕は日本人と一緒に住んでますから、日本語を練習できます、そしてまま日本語を喋れます。　でも、日本語を習う時間は短かったですから、すごい日本語ができません。　日本語をできることは便利です、同人誌を読むとき。

So I guess the answer is, not that hard, take a course, and go to japan for a while... buy girls panties from a vending machine or whatever floats your boat man... as for that translation there... I don't even have the Jap language pack installed X_X.
(When I say Jap I am NOT being racist/discriminate - gonna change this to my sig)