TL;DR Is the best way to learn Japanese: Learning Grammar + Vocab –> Immersion –> Trying to speak (as opposed to trying to speak earlier on in the process)
I realise this is a very subjective question; obviously what works for some people will not work for everybody. I have slowly been getting started on Japanese, taught myself Kana as prescribed in the start of Genki and figured I would just chug along using a Genki based Anki deck and the Genki Workbook Study resources to slowly work through it. Usually I would learn to read a Japanese word, then try to memorise its meaning and then see if given the English word I could recall the Japanese word. I read a lot of (likely too many) different guides but I felt like this method was appropriate based on what I was reading from all these different guides.
However, I spoke to multiple people about this and they (figuratively) stared at me in abject horror hearing me talk about how I was learning. They pointed out that thinking of Japanese words in terms of their English translation rather than having an idea of what concept is being described could be detrimental to my learning. Now I realise everybody has their own opinion but hearing a lot of people say this made me uneasy about how I should go forward learning, so I came here for some more opinions.
Important context*: I am looking to acquire some basic language skills for a University Exchange happening in less than a year so I am trying to keep my expectations realistic and am not hoping to set up the perfect plan to master the language in X amount of years.*
Some people told me Genki is great in my position (Wanting to learn to speak and converse in the language ASAP rather than full mastery), others suggested some other resources like Renshuu, an Anki deck called kaishi, JPDB and more.
Now a multitude of people have told me that since I just started I am far away from using the language and that I was too focused on already wanting to apply the language with my method of learning. People recommended that I focus on picking up the grammar from Genki, not worry too much about the specific vocab its teaching, and try to build a vocab foundation of the most common words ASAP. Then using this to get comfortable enough to immerse myself in Japanese content and from there on out to look into trying to apply it.
Should I just continue what I have been doing or adjust my course? Does it really just come down to personal preference? Is my goal relevant in terms of how I should approach learning or is it all the same? Should I avoid applying the language for now and mass learn the language to eventually immerse myself? Are there any no-goes I am currently doing or traps I am likely to fall into?
I realise ultimately I probably just have to pick and choose who to listen to and who to ignore since there will likely be many divided opinions on the matter. Either way, any thoughts, tips, advice or comments are welcome!
by 1337Mishka