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what should i start with i want to learn all the styles to it before i go to college because i want to take japanese and english as my majors

i want to major in both english and japanese so i can teach in both areas

Please pardon the length of this post, but I feel that to give proper advice in this area, I need to show you where I'm coming from.

I spent a year trying to teach myself Japanese through various media before I began studying at a university. My first class there was 1st year intensive Japanese, my very first official class in the subject and my very first university-level class. It was an 8-week 15-credit course covering the entire 1st year's material. It would have been hell if I hadn't already taught myself the kana, a handful of kanji, and some other fundamentals. When I entered the class, I basically knew my colors, numbers, days of the week (and their kanji), and "where's the bathroom?", but it made a huge difference. I had also read tons of books (or rather, the first couple chapters of tons of books), studied the first dozen or so lessons the Pimsleur audio series (which is available in CD format in most public libraries, and easily ripped for use in mp3 players--I highly recommend it), bought and regularly used Japanese Tutor for the Nintendo DS (which was almost useless--don't bother), and interviewed and taken handwriting samples from everybody I knew who knew anything about Japanese.


Just attending a university class and doing the required homework has done more for my learning than anything else I've tried. Even with the preparation I did beforehand, that class was crazy hard, but I watched my handwriting and speech making leaps and strides every day. Entering as a Junior, that class has given me the opportunity to go much farther in Japanese before I graduate than I otherwise could, which, as a linguistics major, is very important to me. I'm currently finishing the second quarter of second-year Japanese.

My favorite resources:

1) A little book called Read Japanese Today. You can find old editions at used books stores for super cheap, and it's a quick, relaxing read. It breaks down everyday kanji in a way that is easy to remember and fun to learn. This book made me love kanji.
2) Pimsleur. It breaks phrases into manageable pieces, then gives you lots of practice pronouncing and recalling them. It helped me gain an understanding of sentence structure, basic vocabulary and grammar, and the pronunciation and rhythm of Japanese. Plus I learned lots of useful phrases, mostly while walking to work.
3) My mentor. It's important to have someone you can ask questions, someone who's more familiar with Japanese than you are. It's also important to take their advice with a grain of salt, but don't ever dismiss it without consideration--you never know when that crazy thing they said is actually right.

I just noticed that was all one sentence. ^ XD

I don't know if it would help you, but I learned kana the same way I learned the English alphabet - tracing repetitively.

I do not like language classes. I took one for Spanish once. Slow paced. Lovely how well that stuck. I'm much better off speaking with my Hispanic friends. My point is that self study can be effective if you're really dedicated. Everyone may learn at a different pace, but that's no reason to stay in your comfort zone.

Pimsleur or whatever it is called is not needed in my opinion.
Assuming you've already got a good "feel" for the way the language sounds, kana will give you all the pronunciation you need for vocabulary/sentence building without kanji.

For vocabulary you can pretty much use whatever you want, assuming it is accurate.

Grammar you can learn almost anywhere on the web.

As for the kanji, I don't really know what to suggest other than Remembering the Kanji by James W. Hesig. It is the best. [:

Whatever path you choose, download Anki or at least check it out. There are many shared decks for different areas of japanese. For most, you'll need to know the kana. It is free.

I didn't use Anki for kana, so I can't say really. It should work, though.
It's a good idea to learn to write them too. [: