weatherman

I'm currently doing this, though to be fair I didn't start both languages at the same time. I got to the upper intermediate/advanced level in Korean and then decided to pick up Japanese. As you probably know, it's not ideal. I knew this coming in as well, but I really wanted to learn Japanese and at the same time wasn't ready to give up studying Korean. Anyway, after about six months, I haven't experienced much confusion (probably because I'm at a different level in each language), but I am absorbing information and improving much more slowly than I would if I were just doing one language. For languages especially, I think putting all of one's time and attention into improving is ideal for reaching what I'd call "fluency." With that said, if you're willing to accept the slower pace, I'm proof that it's certainly possible to make progress in two languages at once (with a few caveats, of course).

I'm still a beginner myself, but from what I have read and been able to figure out through trial and error, it really seems that with Japanese you really need a multi-prong approach. For basic grammar, for example, people seem to recommend Tae Kim's book or Genki as a kind of base text. For Kanji, on the other hand, a lot of people, myself included, like Heisig's Remembering the Kanji as a good way to learn all of the Kanji characters quickly and get deep into the language right away. Beyond that, I think it's just a matter of exposing yourself to the language (through conversations with Japanese books, anime, manga, etc.) and learning lots of new words. Anki flashcards can be great for the latter (check out the Core2k and Core6k Anki sets) and I know some people try to average 30 or more new words a day, plus reviews. I'm trying this out myself now and like it, though I think I could only do it with recognition cards; production cards would just take too much time. App-wise, I used Human Japanese to learn Hiragana and Katagana, though I can also recommend NukeMarine's videos on YouTube for that: http://www.youtube.com/user/NukeMarine. Hopefully, some people who are a little deeper into the Japanese language than myself will come with their own suggestions, as I'd also like to hear more about what has and has not worked for people.

I realize this is an old post, but I'll answer anyway (and also hope to hear how those two methods have been working out for you over the past month or so). I'm also at the beginning stages of learning Japanese and have been really impressed with the Pimsleur method. I just like that it gets me talking and notice that the words/expressions that I know/remember best are the ones I have learned through my Pimsleur sessions; I think it's a great method for picking up a language. I've never used Rosetta Stone for Japanese, but I have my doubts about how effective that would be. People always note how it was developed for Spanish learners and doesn't translate well to non-Romantic languages. I'd be interested in hearing if you've had success with it, though.

I had always thought and heard it was better to just bite the bullet and learn the kana and kanji at the beginning, but then came across the article below a few days ago and started wondering if that was right. It deals with both Chinese and Japanese, and kana and kanji, but either way the professor who wrote it seems to be of the opinion that delaying the learning of writing and focusing on speaking and learning through English characters at the beginning can be beneficial. Anyway, some food for thought. http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=10554