The language is called "Nihongo," made up of the words "Nihon" (Japan), and "Go" (language). As you proceed with your plans on studying Nihongo, you will gain access to a world known for its quaint and popular cultural symbols, and a surprisingly progressive and egalitarian way of lifestyle not known to most people outside of Japan. This article is based on the experiences of this writer, who gradually studied Nihongo for at least 5 years while being employed in a Japanese multinational general trading company back in the Philippines. He learned more about the thinking ways of the Japanese, and has become more appreciative of the culture as he went about studying the language. His tips include:
1) In studying the language, you have to clearly identify your purpose first so that you will always have something to lean on especially when you begin to encounter challenges in the progressive difficulty levels of the lessons. Based on the experiences of this writer, Nihongo is actually more complicated to study than Chinese. He finds the grammar rules, specifically those referring to "past, present, future" tenses more complicated than Chinese. In Chinese, you only use certain words to convey the time when the action of your sentences is happening (and there would be no conjugation rules needed for you to remember).
2) You will also have to define where to go to get the best teachers of Nihongo, so you will become competent in the language way more than the time before you started learning the language. The author studied a big portion of his Nihongo lessons from the school being run by the local Japanese Embassy. As such, you may take note where you may get your lessons, preferably the best school closest to where you are located.
3) You can also study the language by poring on language websites. Or you can use CDs or Podcasts whenever they are available. You may also watch Japanese movies, as the best known of them have English sub-titles.
4) As in Chinese and Korean, the vocabulary is interesting to learn and memorize. You will spend time learning how to count in Japanese, which is a big hurdle to overcome. There are separate sets of counters for practically any item you will get yourself on, just for you to make sense in counting in Japanese.
5) It is also great to have a good dictionary to guide you with your lessons. Of course, you can consult the Internet for this, but it's also helpful to have handy dictionary with you. If you have friends in Japan, you may ask them to send you the latest electronic dictionary that allows you to see the words written in Nihongo, and the translation in another language. This is actually a very helpful tool to remember new words as they come along each class time.
6) Decide if you would also like to learn writing in Nihongo. It has three (3) ways of writing, altogether used anytime. They are: Hiragana (characters used to write words that originated in Japan), Katakana (characters used to write words that are essentially foreign in origin), and Kanji (characters that were originally from China, and have the basic etymological meanings as those used in Japan). Depending on your time and motivation, you can actually learn to write in the 3 writing systems right away. A good teacher will guide and coach you on how to do this. Note that writing in Nihongo is totally different from learning its phonetics (pronunciation), the grammar rules, and its lexicon (vocabulary).
7) You actually have an edge if you are able to read, and write in Chinese or Korean. This is mainly because you share a common writing system that is used in these languages.
8) If you can afford to go to Japan to learn Nihongo, please take the plunge and consider it as a wise investment. The language is best studied in an environment where you hear Japanese spoken constantly, and you see how the Japanese lead their lives. You will understand right away the formalities being demanded from students of Nihongo to learn, i.e. the contexts behind the usage of the language. There are levels to consider when speaking, and writing the language, depending on who you are talking with. You will begin to understand how the language is used currently in Japan. You will be amazed at how the language is practically spoken anywhere in Japan, with variations on the tones of dialects depending on where you are located. You will be able to observe the interesting homogenous traits of Japanese society when you realize that practically anywhere in Japan, the language you are studying will be applicable, and right away useful.
9) The spoken language is pretty monotonous, in a way, when listened to more closely, than Korean. It also has peculiarities that make its sound very differently from Chinese. For example, you will seldom (if at all), encounter words that have the letter "l" (for example, the word "apple" with its letter "l") in Nihongo, which letter is very much present in Chinese. As such, you can be rest assured that when a word has the letter "l" in it, it's not of Japanese origin.
Gambatte kudasai! (Take heart!)