When we launched for the first time in learning Japanese, this long and exciting intellectual adventure, the most important thing and know where to begin and how to advance. I would like to create a running list of all the best resources, textbooks, apps, tools, and everything else that could be useful in the process of learning Japanese.
The way this will work is that anyone can post a resource here, and I will add it to the list. When you submit your item for addition, you should include a brief description of what the tool is, how to find it (for example a link or download if applicable), and why you recommend it. If your tool is useful, I will add it into the list. Hopefully we can create a truly great reference point for everyone to use and learn from.
Textbooks
A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar by Seiichi Makino
This book simply has no peer. It is by far the clearest, most thorough, most concise and well-thought-out Japanese language resource out there. If you really want to understand Japanese and how it works, this is the tool for you.
Japanese Core Words and Phrases by Kakuko Shoji
This book seems quite useful, and is well-indexed... but this is really for intermediate to advanced students of Japanese. To use this book, you should be able to read some Kanji, and already have a good knowledge of Japanese sentence structure and a reasonable vocabulary.
Handbook of Modern Japanese Grammar by Yoko Matsuoka McClain
This book is excellent for intermediate level.
Japanese the Manga Way
This book it explains the grammar of Japanese by using manga. the speech is much more natural. You can also learn casual speech from this book, the author does make note of what is polite speech and what is casual speech.
Website
http://learnjapanesepod.com/kana-invaders/
It is pretty similar to space invaders (hence the name), you can choose if you want hiragana or katakana characters to "rain" down and to shoot the character you have to spell how it is pronunced for example; ひょ = hyo, グ = gu.
http://www.fluentu.com/
It's a site where you can pick out videos in native Japanese to watch and then learn the translation and grammar of the video. you can also select videos based on your skill level from beginner to advanced.
http://www.tofugu.com/
This website is not just about learning the Japanese language but also the culture of Japan. Many articles released from this site are about Japanese news and explanations of words and cultural norms.
