Studying Japanese Language/Literature/History

we have a huge used book store here, they have practically everything. but when i asked if they had any japanese learning books or dictionaries they looked at me like i was nuts lol. they do have a small section of dictionaries etc from other languages but there was no japanese.
i do have an english-japanese dictionary already anyway but i was hoping for some other stuff. i guess i have to order online if i want books

Hey there, though a little late, I would like to join the Japanese studying "nation" here :)
Have been studying over a year. Started by myself...for 5 months...then found a professor.
I love Japanese language and always study "with love" maybe that's why my sensei always tells me that I master Japanese a little too easily :P
My problem is: RESOURCES, though I can find everything I need in the internet, sometimes I want a real textbook!
I already know more than 330 kanjis...have studied a lot of grammar...If to judge by the levels of Norokushiken, I'm in between (old) 3rd and 2nd levels...(I think)...
I dream about being in Japan.
Lately a center of Japan opened in Yerevan (my hometown, capital of my country), there are more than 1000 books and mangas in Japanese, am going to rob it, as soon as my term ends in the university :)
Lately I have started studying Japanese history...Have read Japanese authors (in English :P)...

@VioletSakura

It's never too late to join :) Welcome! Getting resources seems to be hard for people. If we get enough members involved, I hope we can start a book exchange. We can send each other books when we are done using them. That way we only have to pay for shipping.

@ohmiyazutto

I am like Violet, and I study "with love," so I am not very rigid with how I spend my time. I try to study something Japanesey at least one hour a day. Last month, there were only 2 days that I did not study at least an hour and that was during my final exams.

For the last few months, on an average day, I spend about 3 hours a day actively studying. I don't do it all at one time. Most of the time I study vocabulary, kanji, and reading comprehension (~80% of the time). The rest of the time is spent on grammar and composition.

Whenever possible I try to expose myself to passive listening, either Japanese music, videos, movies, anything in Japanese by native speakers. I couldn't even estimate how many hours a day I do this. There's some debate about whether passive listening helps with learning a language, but I think it does (check out the "How did you learn English" thread for some first-hand stories). There are many times when I recognized the word before I ever had any idea what it meant. It also helps with learning the rhythm and pitch of the language. I don't think that you could learn exclusively from passive listening, but I think it does help when you're actively studying as well. My Japanese listening comprehension definitely goes down if I have been around a lot of English language.

I definitely agree that passive listening is the best way of starting understanding the language...
You know what my main problem now is? It's speaking! I understand almost 80% of speech, but as we say here in Armenia "my tongue hasn't gotten used" to speaking Japanese... I mean, I can speak about daily basis things... Have had an opportunity to speak to native speakers, but my mind just keeps constructing complex sentences, that it just can't turn into Japanese...My sensei keeps telling me..."You know the alternative way of saying the sentence, and I know you can, why do keep making the sentence so difficult to let out?? :)

Oh, and also we listen to dialogues about new grammar and words we did during the session :) (It seems I can't learn how to use (even find) the Edit button on this forum)

ahhh library, good idea!! thanks :) i live in a small township, our library sucks. BUT the city has a bigger one, i'll check what they have. it kind of sucks as well but you never know. i can't have a card there since i don't live in the city but i can borrow on my mom's card or my husband's student card, since he goes to the university there. which also means i can borrow from the university library which might be my best bet. even though school's done til september he is working on a research project so he still goes to school every day. i think i'll go with him one day and chill in the library while he works. or i can maybe just sweet talk him into bringing some books home for me hahaha

and good idea about the dramas...
Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo is a good drama to watch. most of the characters are gaijin taking Japanese classes. they speak fluently but a little more slowly and clearly than a native Japanese so they're easy to follow. plus the teacher sometimes talks about useful things like the different levels of politeness, the origins of kanji, stuff like that. it's a short series anyway so worth a shot ne? i'm up to episode 7 but it's not working for me i have to find another mirror.

as for how long/often i work on it, pretty much the same as Kawaikochan except i'm not up to kanji or comprehension yet. but yeah i'm learning for fun mostly so i don't follow a strict schedule, but i try to squeeze some in every day. even if i don't do any lessons or practice i watch drama and listen to jrock on almost a daily basis so lots of passive listening. i agree it does help with pronunciation and tone etc. when i first started learning i had no trouble at all picking up the "alphabet", different sounds and pronunciations, except that i still can't wrap my tongue around that R sound lol. sometimes i hit it by accident but then can't replicate it.

it's not great but it has some funny moments. the students all have really dumb reasons for going to Japan, like one girl thinks ninjas are real and wants to see some, another is into old samurai movies and is obsessed with the idea of honour, stuff like that. so you get to learn a bit about the culture and history as the teacher tries to set them straight lol. and if nothing else you can just laugh at her rediculous outfits.

i started making hiragana worksheets today. my hand started to cramp up so i didn't get very far lol. i had just written some other notes as well and the pen i'm using isn't the best. but anyway i took them from that tofugu site i posted in the resources thread. my printer's not working so i wrote them out really dark so i can put another paper on top and do the practice without having to rewrite the whole worksheet each time. copied out the particles cheatsheet too, i think that will be handy.
i like having everything organized in my bookmarks so i can find things quickly, and yet sometimes it's just simpler to have it on paper. plus it gives me some practice at writing kana.
that's about all i did today but i kinda feel like i accomplished something ( ^_^)Y