Starfield

I try to learn both the Kanji and the readings. It's easier once you know more. When I first started out, I was extremely confused and overwhelmed with everything. Kanji for me, was already tough. However, on top of learning the shape and memorizing it, there were all these "meanings" and "readings", which also needed to be understood. Japanese is a very beautiful and rewarding language, but it sure is tough. For example there's "下", "shita". It was one of the very first Kanji I learned. It looks simple enough, but also has multiple readings.

Learning Japanese on your own is not necessarily, hard. As others have pointed out, it depends on your motivation and passion for the language. Most people get a teacher because it gives them the extra push to study more. I'm self-taught. I learned Japanese from reading language books and watching Japanese shows. If you want to learn Japanese, be sure to also watch something. Don't just read. Watching and listening to Japanese, helps sharpen your hearing senses to words and also gives you a better understanding on how it's spoken.

Everyone knows the importance of literature in the world of books. Some people prefer American literature, while others choose English literature. Both are equally important, but some find English literature to be too daunting. We have many "famous" novels in both categories. We have "Of Mice and Men", "Little Women", "To Kill a Mockingbird", etc, on the American side. And we have, "Pride and Prejudice", "The Mayor of Casterbridge", "Nicholas Nickleby", etc, on the English side. Growing up, I read mostly English literature, simply because I loved the language more, but that's me. Which do you guys prefer? Please share your thoughts below.

I love Goodreads. I always use it to check out new releases for both fiction and non-fiction. It only has book reviews, which is a must for me before purchasing any book. I also love the many "genres" you can search from. I used to use Amazon to check for reviews and look for new books, but not anymore.